Tolkien, Lewis, and Evangelization 

330,000 little boys in France were raped by 3,000 catholic pedophile priests, and it barely made the news, because people EXPECT that from catholics. Jesus said child rape was UNFORGIVABLE (Matt 18:6-14), and everyone who supported it will get eternal damnation. That means every catholic. What is amazing is that people can't see that satan runs the catholic church.

You might be interested in The Deed of Paskenarrion, it pulls from Eastern European traditions but is a great book in its own right.

This is one of the reasons why it's hard for me to join the Catholic Church, as appealing as it is to me, and as much as I love and respect so much of what it has to offer. It's hard for me to get over that; though, I have some theological disagreements too. Unfortunately, such deplorable behavior is found in the Protestant church as well.

@@cameronshorkey843 I would argue the evidence suggests the Catholic Church has had far more child abuse. The root causes are two, I believe: 1. Chastity in priesthood. It makes it far more likely that people who feel that their sexuality is disordered become priests, seeking “institutional help” not to live out their sexuality. But repressed sexuality is a very dangerous force and the more the sexual drive is repressed the more warped it can become, finally breaking through. 2. Not allowing female ordination. I think the three common arguments against female ordination are all theologically unsound but furthermore, “clubs” with only one gender more easily drift into dysfunction, mixing the genders creates more balance and harmony.

Child abuse is not a just a church problem. It is 1st and foremost a societal problem. Abuse in any form is evil. Society is sick. That it has made its way into the church is not surprising. Understand the church includes clergy AND laity. So if you are thinking about becoming catholic, please do. We could use your passion to battle this evil. If you have left the church because of this its your choice. Come help us or cut and run. God Bless.

@@cameronshorkey843 Pedos will always seek out places of authority over children. Either in the church or in the school boards. The catholic church has about 1.5% abuse and the current school system is about 3%. If you want to protect children be there to stop it.

Look at any human society in history. You will not find a single one that did not contain people who sexually exploited children. You can almost put it as a sub category of lust, which is a sub category of original sin. Child abuse is not a church problem (uniquely) it is a human problem. In fact, prior to Christianity, and Judaism, having sex with children, slave children often, but usually someone else’s children, was normal and accepted. There are cultures AND religions that have normalized child rape and child marriage. Many pagan religions ritualized the behaviour perhaps in an attempt to control it. (A tribe in Papuan New Guinea, ALL boys fellate tribe elders.) Marcus Aurelius was not a fan of sex with slave children, but understood it was culturally accepted and had no solution. If you go through the entire history of the Catholic Church, and Judaism and look at the behaviour of church leaders, popes, saints, rabbis, etc. you are going to find heinous sin - breaking of the commandments, etc. That is NOT the church, that is the people in the church. So far as the church’s behaviour legally, sheltering pedophilic priests etc, I think that was born out of scriptures where Christ taught forgiveness. In other worlds, the hands of the church leaders were tied by the belief that IF a brother confesses, and IF a brother is truly contrite, they must be offered forgiveness, as taught by our Lord. It seems as though the church has repented of this - with new understanding that pedophilic behaviour is not easy to solve, and is therefore sometimes best left to secular punishments. I’m not stating any facts here… just my current state of ignorance ❤. But I too struggled with this matter… greatly. My family had pedophiles, I have a deep horror (and frankly deep rage) at that illness. But I needed to come back to the church. And I thought perhaps the church, (proximally those is my community) needed me back too. So I had to somehow come to terms with the dark history. Every day since I’ve come back (about six months) I’ve read or listened to all I can on history… of the church, but also cultural anthropology. I wrestle with this. But as an atheist, I struggled with it too. I would ask my husband and men close to me: what is the issue of pedophila? Is it ubiquitous?? Most men I spoke to were horrified and angered by the thought… But I cannot allow the sins of man to keep me from at least trying to be close to God, from trying to be a servant of God, from being a part of my community, by giving thanks and praise where it’s properly due. I’ve worshipped science, I’ve worshipped the state, God help me I’ve worshipped myself. I’ve wasted so much time with false Gods. I have no more time to waste on idolatry. I cannot allow the sins and sickness of individuals within the church, or the missteps of mother church and her leaders to allow myself to waste any more time. And I can’t allow myself to continue being a hermit, to pray on my own (in selfishness) and pretend I’m still worshipping the false gods of science/state/self. I’m newly un lapsed, but it seems that prayer for sinners, and asking my community to pray for me AS a sinner, is one sane path. Also, I have noted that at the beginning of the mass, the attendants aren’t the only ones petitioning God for forgiveness. I note that the priests, monks, and Deacons are also saying the prayer and striking their breasts. I have too many excuses already to NOT serve. I have house work, paid work, yoga and workouts, RU-vid, Netflix, A million things that I can do other than go to church or pray. I’m not going to let the reality of sin stop me from trying to sin less, and give more. ❤