Developing over at Erin's blog:
Monk wrote: "Recently, I quoted John Paul 11 as saying: 'you resemble the company you keep.' [...] RC seems new to these environs - and has managed to raise more than a few hackles. However, the substance of his remarks is bang on. He is well worth listening to - especially now before he ends up resembling the company he keeps!"
Red Cardigan wrote: "RC, you keep missing the forest for the trees. I'm not sure, given what you wrote about the 'Gaia-worship' example, that you even understand what an analogy is. I'm also not sure if you aren't just a really annoying troll--you're beginning to seem like one."
Troll, formerly known as RC said: "Trolls ask inconvenient questions and point out flaws in thinking, especially those of analogies that don't work."
Lauretta said: "Would you like to tell Aaron Loughery from Ireland that there is no proof of Legion sex abuse? He is the one the stated that he was sexually abused, the man who abused him was sexually abused by a Legion priest, that man was abused by a Legion priest, who was in turn abused by a Legion priest who was abused by Maciel." [To read Aaron's allegations, click here and here].
TROLL said:
Aaron Loughery is a coward.If he had any integrity, he would press charges, and let whoever was accused mount a defense in a proper court of law that would determine his guilt or innocence beyond a reasonable doubt.
Instead, he mounts a whispering campaign, and you gossipers willingly participate. Where is that angel with the flaming coal to purify all your mouths?
I happen to know Aaron Loughery and he is no coward. He is a hero in my book and I'm disgusted that ANY one, especially any one who might consider himself a Christian, would ever turn this around and blame the victim. This troll needs to be yanked out from under his bridge and held accountable for his hateful words.
This troll only proves that people like Pope Ben have a lot of work to do to rid the church of its filth.
Gerry
At this juncture, I would simply like to refer back to the interview with Fr. Thomas Berg, published by Sandro Magistere where Berg says:
": I, like the vast majority of persons in the Church, try to remain positive and hopeful for the Legion and Regnum Christi movement. We only want the best for our brothers and sisters in Christ. We understand that this might involve taking some tough medicine, but I believe it is possible for a majority of these wonderful men and women will rise to the occasion because they really do have a profound love for Christ in their hearts. ... The Legion of Christ and Regnum Christi are composed of hundreds of good, holy men and women of God. I have the deepest esteem for so many of them. They, collectively, constitute a reason for optimism."
To condemn the entire congregation of pedophilia is going too far, IMHO. Those letters of Aaron that you linked to are shocking, and if there are members of the LC who are pedophiles, action must be taken against them, as action should be taken against pedophiles active in other religious orders.
However, I hold to Fr. Berg's statement that the majority are not guilty of such actions. To accuse the entire congregation of pedophilia without direct evidence is to impugne the reputations of far too many just men.
http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1339296?eng=y
Not Richard - What's even more shocking is to denounce Aaron as a coward, after all the years and effort he put into trying to bring this issue to the attention of Church authorities. Given the circumstances leading up to TROLL's post, I would invite you to explain where you stand vis-a-vis TROLL's accusation against Aaron.
TROLL has already submitted a retraction, which has not yet appeared on Erin's blog. (perhaps TROLL has been banned?) It is Not Richard's contention that given the information posted linked to on this site, and the misrepresentation of said information by LC detractors, TROLL was not fully informed of both the specifity of Aaron's accusations (which TROLL was calling for), nor of Aaron's actions in responding to a situation of injustice (in which the LC detractors were justifying his supposed non-action).
Luckily Aaron stepped in to inform all of his actions to redress the situation, including his input into the AV, all of which TROLL approves.
Not Richard agrees with TROLL that any situation of pederasty and pedophilia has to be both eradicated and corrected as being intolerable in a religious order. However, both Not Richard and TROLL are aware of parallel situations existing in other religious orders, the Christian Brothers, and the Brothers of the Holy Cross springing immediately to mind, in which it is the accused that are held to account, while recognition is granted to the large majority which has remained faithful to their vows of chastity. Both Not Richard and TROLL insist that values of fairness and due process be upheld.
Not Richard, in particular, wishes to remind all that Christ died for the perpetrators as well as the victims. One has to keep in mind the humanity of the guilty and create conditions for repentance and rehabilitation, correcting any underlying institutional conditions that may have led to abuse or concealment of same, while paying full attention to the healing of the victims.
"Not Richard and TROLL are aware"
Wait a minute there was poster named RC who became Not Richard to avoid confusion with Chonak.
And a poster RC at Erin's site who was called a troll and was immediately replaced by TROLL.
So when you say "both of you" are aware, it sounds kinda 'LEGION'.
There is the ignorance you claim and then there is IGNORANCE (like that remark about COWARDICE).
It's not that hard to figure out which is which.
anon, time for your meds.
Hey, for the record, I didn't ban Troll (as of yet, anyway). I believe in an "enough rope" commenting policy, which means that I tolerate a lot of commentary I don't necessarily agree with.
However, other commenters have on occasion mentioned problems with comments showing up, and I myself have seen times when the comment *count* won't change but I'll get an email notification that a new comment has been posted. So if Troll's comment hasn't shown up yet, he should try again.
I especially wouldn't delete a retraction. :)
Erin, are your comments caped at 40? A second attempt has been lost.