What do you do when you get caught with your hand in the cookie jar? Do you 'fess up to what you did and try to make amends? Or do you grab the jar, hide it behind your back, say it never happened and punish anyone who claims otherwise? The answer to this question seems to rely on religion. If one has God on one's side, then any behavior is acceptable and it's a short life followed by eternal hellfire to those who disagree.
When the Archdiocese of Portland realized it had systematically protected child molesting priests for decades and was about to be called to task for such, it declared bankruptcy and didn't have to pay out anything more to anybody. The Archdiocese of Tucson, faced with similar charges, is considering declaring bankruptcy. The Archdiocese of San Diego is taking a different route: they put their money in a straw corporation that the lawsuits can't touch. But there's nothing wrong with hiding your money so you don't pay for your crimes. As a Catholic representative in San Diego said, "We don't try to do illegal things." Oh, okay.
By the Roman Catholic's own estimate, 4,000 priests in the US faced charges of sexual abuse of more than 10,000 children in the past fifty years. Since 1962, at the very latest, the policy of the Roman Catholic Church has been to (a) move abusive priests to new parishes (b) tell victims not to say anything under penalty of excommunication (c) pretend like nothing happened. Whether it be flying airplanes into buildings or fucking children in the ass, there's no better excuse for doing anything you want and getting away with it than religion.
God was unavailable for comment due to a previous engagement: performing balloon tricks at a used car lot.
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