The Creative Minority Report points out the obvious anti-Catholic bias of the USA Today in it's headline regarding this morning's news of Penn State that in no way involves the Catholic Church.
I've been complaining about this bias for a long time and calling for the media to report accurately, as they claim to do.
Perhaps Matthew Archibold puts it best when he asks, "Why report facts when Catholic-bashing is so much easier?"
Of course, there's always a fair amount of traditional anti-catholicism afoot.
ReplyDeleteBut what you and the Creative Minority Report have identified in the USA Today blog is a very specific and more pandemic strain of bias directed, not so much against catholics, but against the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. And that bias has emanated from the tsunami of disclosures over the decades of Church leaders mishandling and covering-up child sexual abuse by its clergy and insensitively dismissing the legitimate concerns of their victims and the families of their victims.
And we all know that those infected by that noxious "bias" you have identified even include millions of faithful catholics who, after exposure to case after case of "willful blindness" (that's what the USCB generously calls it) by too many of their Church's leaders to child molestation and rape committed by their subordinates and peers, remain committed to the Church but justifiably now take more of a "trust-but-verify" to the actions of its clergy.
The USA Today blog post that suggested Penn State follow the hard-won lessons (and learn from the John Jay Report) of the Catholic Church seemed to me to be quite on target.
You may recall that the NYTimes years ago similarly published an article suggesting that the US learn from the English and Russian experiences in Afghanistan in preparing for our invasion/occupation strategy for that country.
Referencing relevant historical parallels, however unpleasant or redundant they may be to some readers, that can enhance understanding of a story usually makes for more informative commentary.
Which is why those of us that have witnessed the massive financial hits taken by some of our larger dioceses at the hands of the plaintiffs' attorneys are waiting to see what the ensuing litigation is going to do to Penn State's $1.5+ billion endowment.
So let's let Penn State learn (even later, apparently, than the Diocese of Philadelphia did) from some of the mistakes, and some of the reforms, the Church has made and be grateful that reporters have the history of our Church from which to draw analogies.