rigorousintuition.ca

Investigative journalist <!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://blogs.news.com.au/news/crime/index.php/news/comments/religions_link_to_sex_crimes/" target="top">Gary Hugh's blog "Gotcha"</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--> has a post on an Australian study, which sampled convicted child abusers on their religious beliefs and backgrounds. <br><br>The findings of the study include:<br><br>- Sexual offenders with strong religious backgrounds are more likely to have younger victims and to offend more often<br>- Sexual offenders with lifelong religious affiliations, including regular church attendance and such beliefs as God punishing sinners, were found to have more victims, their victims were more likely to be children and they had more prior sexual convictions.<br>- The group with the lowest rate of sexual abuse, or prior convictions, were those who had switched to religion in adult life. Those with religious upbringings were most likely to offend.<br><br>Very interesting when we consider that most people accused of ritual abuse are Christian fundamentalists ... <p></p><i></i>

As a survivor of religious-based abuse (including sexual abuse & a collapsed lung), I find it obvious that religious practitioners (particularly of the evangelical stripe) tend to achieve the highest manifestations of human barbarism.<br><br>Someday, perhaps there will also be a study of mental illness, societies that have resorted to torture, and societies that have resorted to genocide. I propose that it will be "discovered" that religious abuse also lies at the heart of these practitioners also. Because their very nature is schizoid.<br><br>However, I believe that none of these people -- Ratzinger included -- are remotely truly religious. If the greatest American, Martin Luther King Jr., were still alive, he'd excoriate their naked, open hypocrisy in a flat second.<br><br>The entire sordid degeneration of our times is really an indictment of not the torturers, but of we who stand against them. Because if we were truly bearing witness to justice, we would challenge these people's "religiosity" directly, and they would be unable to provide Jesus' rationale for torture, child abuse, or their latest daily atrocity.<br><br>We seem to be "horrified," but not enough to challenge their professed beliefs, which amount to ritual schizophrenia.<br> <p></p><i></i>

Well spotted Bio, thanks for the ammo. <br>Some of the comments on Gotcha are choice, eg. "there is nothing in the bible that supports this sort of behaviour.."<br>Err, except its records of millenia of debasing women and children (everything between Genesis and the New Testament).<br>Then, "Religion or church doesn’t make these people do what they do, they do it because they want to. Evil is born in peoples minds, it’s not as a result of either going to, or not going to church. " So why go to church if it makes no difference? lol organised religion makes people say & think the dumbest things.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br> <p></p><i></i>

It should be noted that for this study (and the general consensus of its responses in the blog linked), the assumption is that religion=Christianity. <br><br>While a figure of 3% was given for "other denominations" of offenders studied, it is most likely to mean other Christian denominations.<br><br> <p></p><i></i>

Not exactly an assumption, Avalon. They asked the sample what religion they were, and, of those who stated they were religious, the overwhelming majority were Christian. <br><br>I was reading another study that looked at sexual attitudes/practice, religious affiliation, and religiosity (how often they attended services). The survey was cut Catholic, Protestant, Muslim and Buddhist. It was pretty interesting - basically people that attend services infrequently have the same sexual attitudes/practices as those who are not religious, regardless of affiliation. But there were some things that religious people were no less likely to do - particularly, watch a porno or have an affair. <p></p><i></i>

I'd love to see that link, biao, if you have it handy. <p></p><i></i>