The War Against Religious Freedom – Thanks!

Writes Steven Wallace:

Hi Lew,

Thank you for the article titled, The War Against Religious Freedom. Very thought provoking!

All individuals, here in Idaho, are statutorily required to report child abuse to the prevailing authority or jurisdiction in which the abuse is taking place with a very narrow exception for certain clergy. Obviously, there is a moral imperative to do something positive to alleviate a bad situation of which we become aware, but the statutory requirement presents a moral dilemma for us all. Often is the case when an abused child is removed from parental control the child then becomes abused by the state agency charged with the child’s care and placement. Child Protective Service is notorious for losing track of these children and many of them wind up being trafficked or placed with people who’ve not been carefully vetted. What is a person to do in such a dilemma? Even with stupid laws there are practical considerations in weighing what course of action to take in the context of there being a higher law than man’s law in which we may be held to account for.

The state, as an institution, isn’t the only abuser of children. Religious institutions, protestant or catholic, all have a sordid history of abusing children under the veil of authority. I can’t help but think that an abuser of children going to confession knows the confidential and incriminating nature of the information he is giving a priest during confession could be used by that priest, if they are so inclined, to satisfy their own deviant inclinations and setting up a co-dependent relationship with the one doing the confessing. In my view the question is this, does absolution related to confession contribute positively or negatively to the child abuse dilemma? If the law requiring priests to report child abuse discourages confessions and the wannabe confessor can’t obtain absolution through the confessional process, might that inspire one, with a genuine conscience, to quit the behavior that was driving the need for confession in the first place?

I’m not Catholic so the sacrament issue associated with this law, from my perspective, is minuscule in comparison to the unchecked abuse of children by the church or the state. Priests and other individuals statutorily required to make this report have a moral dilemma as the cure could be as bad as the dis-ease. The upside, however, is those not trusting the priests or clergy because of this law may have to put on their big boy pants and become more personally responsible for their behavior to maintain a clear conscience. This would be a form of spiritual decentralization in the removal of earthbound intermediaries (men of the cloth, whether church or state) that have proved themselves to be less than trustworthy in many cases. Fewer children of parents, with a conscience, would be abused. I would submit that confessions by those seeking absolution, without a repentant heart, are null and void in the spiritual realm and represents an attitude and dogma not flattering to any religious institution. When dogma becomes superior to morality, it’s game over in the spiritual realm.

Thanks again,