My husband made a really great point this afternoon(Re: Foley)....

[YellowRubberDuckie]

Ever notice that most pedophiles come from strict religious fundamentalist backgrounds?
Duckie

[bertha katzenengel]

1. Most of the ones we know about, anyway. Because their hypocrisy

shines like the top of the Chrysler Building.

:hi: It is a really great point.

[lildreamer316]

2. Simple...they

are taught to be so sexually repressed, and to not find womend sexually attractive, that either homosexual tendancies come out in a wrong way and/or they are attracted to children of either sex because they do not see them as threatening or as whole people. (Yes, I KNOW homosexuals are NOT pedophiles, I just think there is such an emphasis on the evil of homosexuality in fundamentalist teachings that those who ARE gay tend to pervert their natural tendencies out of extreme guilt.)
This is one of the main problems I have with most (not all)branches of organized religion. I'm tired of people suffering because someone thinks sex is bad and we should be ashamed of our own bodies.

ANYway....

[YellowRubberDuckie]

3. That's true.

Like I've said before, I grew up in that kind of a household. I cannot tell you how many times I've said penis in scientific terms and got my face slapped. I learned about sex from my sister, not my parents. But I did learn everything I know about drinking from my parents. Kind of fucked up.
Duckie

[philosophie_en_rose]

4. Maybe the fundamentalism is just a cover.

I'm as anti-fundie as it gets, but I think it's just as likely that pedophiles choose fundamentalism as a cover, rather than fundamentalism causing pedophilia.

After all, they can prey upon children taught to blindly obey and parents that believe they don't associate with "bad" people. Not to mention, they can hide behind the reputation of being holier-than-thou and hope that believe children over such a "nice guy."

[Ptah]

5. pedophile - pederast? You decide n/t

[Love Bug]

6. I think they may be attracted to fundamentalism because they hope

God will cure them, just like the pedophile men who become Catholic priests. Unfortunately for them, and their victims, it just doesn't work that way. I don't blame religion for making them pedophiles, but do blame religious organizations who shelter these perverts and prevent justice for their victims.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

9. He said they grew up in this strict, fundamentalist households...

They weren't attracted to it, they grew up in it. But I see what you're saying about the people who weren't.
Duckie

[VeggieTart]

14. I think it's a sort of vicious cycle

They probably do grow up with a very religious background. They hate and fear sex as a result. They start developing warped and twisted desires. They return or stay within fundamentalism hoping that prayer, blah, blah, will "cure" them when they are exposing themselves to the very thing that made them "ill." They prey on similarly religious kids because they know from experience how easily manipulated they are.

And I have to wonder how many ultrareligious abusers were themselves abused by similar men in positions of authority.

[NC_Nurse]

7. fundamentalism is an addiction

just like drugs, alcohol, whatever...

[Crazy Dave]

8. I read once that statistically....

....it's sexually abused children's own heterosexual parents that are in the majority of all the reported cases which is sad being that the parents are the ones who should be protecting their kids.
One point I noticed and pointed out to my wife is just how corrupt a lot of these politicians are and how much above the laws they make and want us to abide by they put themselves or consider themselves immune to.

[Haole Girl]

10. This is true

It's been documented, many times over.

[Benfea]

11. Maybe, maybe not.

Keep in mind that the news can create all sorts of false images.

People from strict religious backgrounds engaging in pedophilia is more newsworthy because people have the misconception that strict religious people are somehow more moral than everyone else*. Don't make a judgement on this based on what you see in the news. I wouldn't make a statement like this unless I saw a formal study on it.

* Studies show that religiosity either has no correlation with morality, or in some studies, a very slight negative correlation with morality (e.g. the more religious a person is, the more likely they are to lie).

[idgiehkt]

13. I don't think so.

Pedophilia tends to make the news when it's a public figure, period, and then it comes out alot of times that the person was raised in fundamentalism of some kind.

I especially don't agree with this: "people have the misconception that strict religious people are somehow more moral than everyone else". That may have been true at one time but in this day and age it just makes people more likely to think they are lunatics of some stripe, because it's in the public consciousness how this kind of anti-sex upbringing twists people's minds and maims their emotional development.

[Benfea]

16. Even if that's the case...

...politicians are self-selected, so you can't make generalizations about all people of high religiosity based on politicians alone. Believe me, I'm usually the first to lash out against the fervently religious (I've had several posts deleted from DU for criticizing Christianity), but I also demand a certain (however shaky) level of logic and reason in matters like this.

[fleabert]

18. just about everyone in my family thinks that way...

as much as I try to give the facts, they believe that with religion (christian only of course) comes morality and ethics. And I do mean about everyone in my family- I can count maybe three that would not agree with the religion=high morality bullshit, out of every family member I have ever spoken to- ever.

born and raised in Texas, tyvm. :-)

now, the family I have chosen? they got their heads on straight... and some of them were also born and bred in the south, so you never know.

[MountainLaurel]

12. An interesting flip side

Is that pedophiles will often target children from such backgrounds: These children have been taught since day one that they are to obey their elders and told they are sinners in danger of hellfire if they don't. So, not only are these children more likely not to question what is happening to them, they will not confide in their parents or other adults and they are more likely to blame themselves for the abuse.

[OnionPatch]

15. Repression and shame are the cornerstones

of screwed-up sexuality (perversion). Fundie, Republican households have both in abundance.

[xchrom]

17. social conservatism whether it's wrapped in religion or not

is the best friend a child sex abuser will ever have.