Well, Rambi, we certainly know at this point that the proportion of gay priests in the RC church is wildly out of proportion to the ratio of gays in the general population.
These are matters that cannot readily be studied scientifically, perhaps not even possibly. "Gayness" is a state of mind rather than a provable fact, and cannot be determined save by admission. We have lots of "confessionals" coming out from former priests, we have opinions of various experts on the subject, and the consensus seems to put priest gayness in the 50% range, with some claiming even higher. The ratio of gays in the general population is still stated "officially" as 2-3%, although about 10% seems be the more usual guess. I don't know of anyone who, at this point, doubts or denies that the priesthood has become an exceptionally gay profession.
Nor does anyone seem to doubt any longer that sexual predation upon young boys is, or at least was, epidemic in the RC Church.
I think it is eminently reasonable to connect the dots here. I think this is especially so, inasmuch as the general gay male population has hardly been untouched by these same speculations. NAMBLA is very real, and very outspoken in its advocacy of legitimatizing sexual relations between men and boys. I know of no such comparable element in the lesbian community. Officially, the gay community at large may disavow NAMBLA, but that has seemed to have little impact on the visibility or active campaigning of that organization for changes in the laws regarding sexual consent.
There are studies which have concluded that gay males have, on average, many more sexual partners than straight males. There are studies which have concluded that gay males are many times more likely than heterosexual males to engage in pedophilia. The problem with such studies is that they involve interpretation (which can be suspect) of available statistics (which can be suspect). No one is neutral on these issues, and the source of any studies on these subjects will always be the first point of attack from those opposed to the findings, for possible bias.
I'm afraid that in the end, our eyes, our ears, and our common sense are the only guide we have to what is the truth here.
JC (I still like you, too ... a lot!) |
