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rug

(82,333 posts)
Sat Jan 5, 2013, 02:02 PM Jan 2013

No Religious Exemption When It Comes to Abuse

By MARK OPPENHEIMER
Published: January 4, 2013

Just as we think we know what an abuser looks like, we think we know what an abusive religious community looks like. We may think it is highly insular — like the Satmar Hasidic community in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, a prominent member of which was convicted last month of sexually abusing a young girl sent to him for help. Or it is hierarchical and bureaucratic: if the Roman Catholic Church did not have so many bishops and archbishops who refused to dismiss or defrock molesters in their ranks, would so many pedophile priests have been able to carry on for so long?

But we don’t know a thing. Consider Yeshiva University.

As Paul Berger reported last month in the Jewish newspaper The Forward, two rabbis at the Modern Orthodox high school run by the university were accused of sexually abusing students in the 1970s and ’80s. Leaders, Mr. Berger wrote, responded by “quietly allowing them to leave and find jobs elsewhere.” The university president at the time, Norman Lamm — until last month a titan of contemporary Judaism — told Mr. Berger that he had let the staff members “go quietly.”

“It was not our intention or position to destroy a person without further inquiry,” Dr. Lamm said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/05/us/no-religious-exemption-when-it-comes-to-abuse.html?_r=0

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cbayer

(146,218 posts)
1. I hope this is not seen as sexist, but put men in positions of authority and power and give them
Sat Jan 5, 2013, 02:09 PM
Jan 2013

access to those easily exploited, and bad things will take place.

It happens in religious organizations. It happens in politics. It happens in business.

cbayer

(146,218 posts)
3. I think that is rare, though.
Sat Jan 5, 2013, 02:26 PM
Jan 2013

Women in positions of power just don't seem to be so easily seduced as men. Nor do they seem as likely to place everything they have achieved in jeopardy for some tawdry sexual encounter.

Jim__

(14,045 posts)
4. Is it religion or human nature?
Sat Jan 5, 2013, 02:47 PM
Jan 2013

One place to try to ascertain this is to look at police corruption, specifically, police officers letting other police officers off. Do we even need to look? A simple example: Boulder police deal with wave of misconduct.

Maybe more on point is the Abner Louima case. Certainly many officers in the police station knew what happened (The Abner Louima Case, 10 Years Later).

Is it harder to address this problem if it's a human problem rather than a specifically religious problem?


 

skepticscott

(13,029 posts)
6. And once again the
Sat Jan 5, 2013, 07:46 PM
Jan 2013

"Everyone is doing it" rationalization rears its disgusting head. And from predictable sources.

 

skepticscott

(13,029 posts)
10. The condemnation of child rapists
Sun Jan 6, 2013, 09:06 PM
Jan 2013

and their defenders and apologists on this board SHOULD be predictable, at least to anyone with an ounce of decency that hasn't been washed away by religious brainwashing.

But of course, you wish it would all be dismissed as "irrelevant" and fade from memory.

 

rug

(82,333 posts)
11. No, I was referring to your predictable comments.
Sun Jan 6, 2013, 09:16 PM
Jan 2013

Although I must admit your stenorous righteousness here is a nice touch.

Adsos Letter

(19,459 posts)
7. "Somehow, the victims never seem as important as the rabbi, the Zen master, the coach."
Sun Jan 6, 2013, 06:46 PM
Jan 2013

Or priest, or minister, or any other member of the organization, at whatever level. That's the real rub in any of these incidents, and that's what has to change. The perceived mission of an organization can't be allowed to become an excuse for denying justice.

An editorial in last month's Forward noted:

"Trust is the first casualty when institutions are not forthcoming about their failings."
http://forward.com/articles/168528/questions-for-yeshiva/#ixzz2HEjC7hjd


When it comes to criminal behavior I would amend that by a word; Justice is the first casualty when institutions are not forthcoming about their failings.


Edit: The usual struggle with clear expression.

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