Fairness for Churches
by Dr. David Eller
In the face of a bill in the Colorado State Senate
to temporarily set aside the statute of limitations on child molestation
in cases of abuse by priests, the state's Church leadership has protested
energetically that such an action holds the religion to higher standards
than public institutions like public schools. (If only the Church
invested as much energy in seeking out and punishing the abusive priests.)
Of course, I always thought that religious groups did hold
to a higher standard-their allegedly religious one-but apparently
not. Archbishop Chaput, who was quick to condemn liberal politicians
in the last election, called legislative effort unfair, unequal, prejudicial,
and anti-Catholic. |
Let's take the last claim first. If the bill is aimed
solely at the Catholic Church, he is right. Not only because one institution
should not be singled out for scrutiny, but because Catholicism is
hardly the only culprit in the gang of religious abusers. Anyone who
reads "Freethought Today," the monthly newsletter of the
Freedom from Religion Foundation, knows that that Protestant and indeed
non-Christian religious figures are just as likely to commit abuses
and crimes. Sadly, many of these crimes are sexual and are directed
at children, but by no means are these crimes the only kinds. Preachers,
church employees, and youth leaders commit murder, theft, fraud, embezzlement
and every offense of which humans are capable. The Catholic Church,
which is the largest and highest-profile religious institution in
the country, receives more than its share of attention, but all churches
are prone to the same failures. We should scrutinize and punish all
faith-based organizations equally and not give any a free pass just
because they are faith-based. |
Chaput's other charges are more fascinating. He seems
to think that churches get a raw deal in this country. I am all for
fairness; it is one of the cardinal principles of our society. So,
in the interests of fairness, I propose the following specific conditions
for fair and equal treatment of religious and public institutions/schools:
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1. faith-based institutions must report all crimes and
not hide behind "confidentiality of confession,"
2. faith-based institutions must not discriminate in their hiring
(only hiring "their own kind"),
3. faith-based institutions must open their finances for accounting
oversight,
4. faith-based institutions must comply with the same standards of
credentialing for their teachers and counselors,
5. faith-based institutions must test their students with the same
devices required of public schools, such as the CSAP,
6. faith-based institutions must teach evolution along with creationism
and "let the students decide,"
7. faith-based institutions must submit to the same zoning laws and
not request special "religious land use" exemptions, and,
8. faith-based institutions must pay taxes.
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Until the day comes when religious institutions meet
these common, equal and non-prejudicial terms, they should quite honestly
stay quiet about the "unfair burden" they bear. Religious
institutions are the most protected and shielded sector of our society.
They give less and get away with more than we would ever allow in
the public sphere. Not only are they held to a lower standard in every
conceivable way, but there is no evidence that they meet their own
purported standard of "moral" conduct. If they did, the
proposed legislation would never have come up in the first place.
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