Oct 6, 2008

Talking About Touching - Kansas City

Local Catholics should read Kansas Catholic on Talking About Touching, the so-called "safety program" created and employed in response to the scandalous sexual abuse of (mostly) young boys by Catholic priests in the U.S. Unfortunately, the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph under Bishop Finn has allowed this Planned Parenthood- and SIECUS-approved program to be introduced into some of his Catholic schools.

What really bugs me is the injustice of the system when the guilty Catholic hierarchy shoves responsibility for solving the sex abuse problem onto lay people and their children. First, it was treating all the parents like criminals to be investigated and fingerprinted if they want to work as volunteers or teachers of youth. Now, little girls and boys are assaulted by a personally invasive educational effort that places sex in the context of a dung pile. [One more injustice on top of parishioners' donations paid as damages to victims!]

Parents of children in Catholic schools should read this observation on the blog of Kansas Catholic:
Few children were abused by priests. But if all Catholic school children can be made to take part in a safety program that robs them of innocence in a different way, then the Father of Lies has someone else doing his work for him, work that reaches more than his last effort. And he even has the apparent sanction of the Church as the project moves forward.
My mother told us kids never to let anyone touch us (except the doctor when a parent was there). Modest clothing was necessary for a good reason--to protect us from bad people. Period! Why isn't that enough?