**** religion - it is a bunch of bullshit anyway - and should not be considered in ANY WAY when making or enforcing laws. You are FREE to worship whichever made up ****ing diety you choose....but we are a country of laws. DD
Seems like they're two separate issues. Pedophilia as judged by state and as judged by church. The priest can forgive the pedo of his sins, but the priest should be allowed maybe even compelled to report him to the authorities. Otherwise you just let a priest forgive death row inmates and prison problem solved?
Agree with all of that - I didn't mean to compare confession to attorney-client privilege and you're absolutely right that there are significant and legal/constitutional differences. I was more just thinking the idea that we make exceptions where "safety of children" is not always the absolute priority for various reasons. Another example would be if this guy told friend or family member or his barber about what he did. I believe they are also not required to report it. It's only certain professionals that are required to notify law enforcement (if I understand correctly) - so the vast majority of people are the exception rather than the rule here and we think it's legally acceptable (?) for people to not report that crime. It may be different if they were talking about a future crime (which may make people accomplices or enablers? not sure), but in this scenario the guy was confessing previous actions rather than future ones.
No, we don't know, but I'm not trying to make a utilitarian argument about the greatest good anyway. Just pointing out that abusers won't likely go to confession if clergy are required to snitch. But even if it isn't effective at protecting the most people, I'd still take the freedom of religion over the duty to report. Duty to report undermines the role of the church just as much as it would the justice system if defense lawyers had to report. I think your later point about exceptions to attorney privilege is valid. Maybe there can be a limited duty to report with a high barrier that can nevertheless be cleared when future harm is likely.
You can make it illegal but it wouldn't stop it from happening. Clergymen take their vows seriously. It's not a legal issue, it's a church issue, a concrete tenant of most religions. Confession in the Catholic Church is a sacrament, they already face this issue when deciding to become clergy. Going to jail isn't going to break them. Edit: that's not an argument either way, I care about innocent children as most people do. Apparently from the article it's already not protected in 17 states. As far as doctors, I don't really understand how that's protected, and down the line it really becomes ridiculous.
Pedophilia isn't new, murder isn't new, sin isn't new, victims aren't new. The church isn't changing.
Yes an No. Religious freedom doesn't matter when it comes to abortion. In that case, Religious freedom loses. But once a child, then it's yes, it's more important to be able to practice your religion than protect children...so long as your religion is Christianity.
Right, I believe disclosure requirements via laws only apply to those who serve the public. This is where culture comes into play. A culture that doesn’t tolerate child abuse will mean individuals are likely to report it. On the other hand, a culture that tolerates it, as seen in some Church institutions for years (and it may still continue in some), means the opposite. In places with such a culture, laws are a good tool to shift the culture. I don’t think we need them for the general public, but we do for some of these religious institutions.
If god is going to give the Pedo a free pass in heaven, then I think they should be held accountable on earth. No special privileges for the church. Tax them all. Make them report the abuse or shut them down. I mean for Christ's sake Little Mary Bible thumper is concerned about her children being exposed to books sitting on a shelf in a library but then send the same kids off to Pastor Pee Pee Diddle Diddle every week. Make it make sense.
