Why not boycott the Catholic church?

Question

My family is Catholic. I have priests and nuns in my family. I really love the Church, honestly.

One thing has really been getting underneath my skin about the Church though.

We all know about the priests that are raping little boys:

"Some bishops have been heavily criticized for moving offending priests from parish to parish, where they still had personal contact with male children, rather than seeking to have them permanently removed from the priesthood."

I have to ask the Catholics this; why not refuse to pay tithing until these priests are permanently removed from the priesthood?

"Some have alleged that Church members paid off victims of child abuse, either in settlement of compensation claims, or in order to prevent them reporting to the police. "

By paying tithe, you're protecting these child molesters. Why not put an end to it?

"I do not pay tithes for the pedos but for the upkeep of the Church"

Yes, sure, your tithe goes into that but that's not all that it goes in to. It's silly to think that your tithe only goes into things you like.

I'm not telling you guys to leave the church. I'm telling you that you need to fix something for the childrens sake.

I gave up on Christianity all together a long time ago.
I still respect the catholic church. However, I'm outraged that more isn't being done to put an end to protecting our children.

pffft

You think that I'm worried about giving away a few dollars? You can't believe that I would be concerned about children?

interesting

Answer 1

It is very difficult to really know "who is who" in the Church, but this also applies to the Boyscouts, Teachers, Camp Counsellors, and Sports Instructors. All of these have been touched by Pedophilia. While it is sad, it is still very hard to determine before the entry into the organization, as I said, "who is who".....We, as Christians are supposed to forgive and provide help for sick individuals, however there must be a positive change from the individual and organization to assure the parents and children (families) that this will not occur again. Then, perhaps it will decrease and eventually stop. If pedophilia is a crime in other walks of life, it should be considered so, in the clergy walk of life. Our ultimate responsibility is to the innocent children we put in their care and if they can't be trusted, we must find other means and ways to get to the source and put an end to it. People are more educated than years and years ago - they have access many resource materials to learn, teach from (tv, computer,videos, books, parent/children groups etc.) It is not always necessary to "leave" one's child alone with someone who could possibly be a threat - some parents look to these organizations as a place to put their children for a time, while they can do something else for themselves, like babysitting. If this has become too risky, then keep children with you as much as possible and learn together as a family. Many people in the Church today do feel their money is being channeled in ways they are not certain of even to pay off some lawsuits. Therefore, collections and attendance is down. The trust has gone out the window and who can really blame them? Life can be hard enough all week at work, transportation, finances, illnesses etc....without going to a Church that puts people on edge. There must be a positive way to handle it; we must look hard for that way! I also think God is doing a good housecleaning.....the lid is coming off the garbage.

Answer 2

ALL Catholic priests are not raping little boys.

A small number of them were. Hopefully, they've all been caught. And most of the victims were teenagers, a number of whom were actually willing to experiment sexually at the time. Not that this excuses the behavior -- it was still wrong and the men who did these crimes should be booted out of the ministry and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Yes, some bishops, acting on poor advice from psychologists, tried to move the attackers "from temptation," which was also wrong and short-sighted. This is not done any more. BTW, public schools did the same thing -- they just moved the people to different schools.

Currently, the rules of the USCCB are that ALL accused priests, sisters and other leaders/teachers be turned over to the civil authorities for investigation IMMEDIATELY. There is no paying off of victims, although it is appropriate for the Church to pay for the psychological care and counseling that the victims may need to overcome the attack(s) they suffered. So the Church is already doing what you think they need to do on that score. Plus there are other preventative measures that are being taken.

The process of cleaning up this mess is ongoing. It takes a long time. In the meantime, however, a lot of good work is being done through the Catholic Church. People are being fed, homeless people are being sheltered, sick people are being ministered to. If I were to stop tithing, it would NOT punish the child abusers in any way -- it would punish the poor and destitute.

You say you think that there needs to be more done to protect kids, but you aren't specific. Why don't you go to the USCCB web site to read what *is* being done and then develop a specific statement of what you think ought to be added to what they are already doing? I think you will be pleasantly surprised at the scope of the work that is being done on this issue.

Answer 3

You know, not all those who are accused of a crime are actually guilty of it. This whole situation is a lot more complicated than it appears on the surface, and it's going to take years to sort out the legitimate claims of molestation versus the ones made by people out to make a quick buck. I can't see shutting down all Catholic churches until everything's resolved, which is what would happen if people stopped tithing.

And using your line of logic, Protestants should refuse to pay their tithes, too, because Protestant clergy are statistically more apt to be involved in sexual misconduct than Catholic priests. (Do a Google search on that -- you'll be surprised at the statistics. I know I certainly was.)

So should we shut down all churches because some Catholic and Protestant clergy have misused their power? That means getting rid of a lot of food pantries, shelters, hospices, and hospitals, just to name a few of the charities that are funded and staffed by church members. And on the personal level, people would have nowhere to turn in a spiritual or emotional crisis if the churches were to close their doors.

Your suggestion seems like a case of throwing the baby out with the bathwater to me.

Answer 4

Well, if you want to become a cop, that's entirely up to you.

By the way, to avoid discrimination you should boycott the other denominations whose members did that as well. No discrimination.

You should also make sure that the charge is real and not made up to drain money from the Church

I am not sure that you really love the Church as you say. You are asuming that all those acused are guilty.
Since there is money to be made by suing the Church, exactly how many are really guilty ?

Answer 5

If you're truly a Catholic you know that 80% of Catholics don't tithe in the true sense of the word.

You also know that 98% of the Priests don't molest boys.

You also know that ALL pedophils in society can slip through the cracks....they've done it before and they'll do it again. So boycotting the Church will do nothing.

Answer 6

Look into other Churches and professions the statistics are higher and stop condemming all Priests, I do not pay tithes for the pedos but for the upkeep of the Church, get your facts straight and Peter P you are an idiot

I know where my money goes

Answer 7

Reasoning to Religionists, doesn't matter what religion,

But "reasoning to religionists is like sunshine to vampires" (patcondell)

By the way..watch the Zeigeist movie series on youtube starting with this 9 minute segment, enter the suffix, watch?v=KeZB2EsPqGE, after youtube dot com and gain knowledge; and then, search for The awesome wit of patcondell on youtube.

Then come back after the Truth sets you free.

Answer 8

You can find pedophiles in many religions,probadly next door ......as I know they are taken from their duties and set aside in some monasteries were they cant harm children anymore ....probadly to clean their sins........
I think they should be trial and jailed if proven guilty as anyone.

Answer 9

Well my goodness. How Christianly to call someone an "idiot" for agreeing with another human being that people shouldn't protect child molestors. Makes me glad I am not one. Then I don't have to be embarassed by the behavior of other Christians. Especially child molestor protector Catholics.

PS: you will go to hell if you give me a thumbs down

Answer 10

They have already been removed and steps have now been taken to prevent these happenings again. I would think you would have found that out from those in your family. Or are you just trying to rationize a way not to give money anymore?