I guess the Vatican figured they’d pick somebody who really knew the subject matter. I’d quote from the article itself, but the bullet headline and bullet points unfortunately suffice:

Roman Catholic church’s paedophile investigator jailed for possessing thousands of child porn images

• Church orders review of child protection across the South West of England
• Father-of-four was responsible for children’s safety at 120 churches and community groups for nine years
• Police found more than 4,000 child porn images on his church-supplied computer

DEAR GOD!

[h/t The Stranger]

This is predictable. Just as so often conservative Catholics want to deflect attention from child-molesting priests by using their crimes to smear gay people [see: Bill Donohue], Evangelical hate group spokesmouths are now taking the crimes of Jerry Sandusky at Penn State as an excuse to spew bile at gay people.

First up, Bryan Fischer:

The press has focused largely on Paterno and others in the Penn State hierarchy who covered up Sandusky’s pedophilia, some of whom even committed perjury to keep his dark and dirty secret from being exposed.

But perhaps some of that press focus is diversionary, to direct the attention of the public away from one of the darkest pathologies associated with homosexual behavior: homosexuals molest children at ten times the rate of heterosexuals.

Homosexual activists will of course lamely argue that since Sandusky is married, he is not a homosexual. Fine, call him bisexual if you will. But his sex crimes are same-sex crimes, and 10-year old boys whose bodies have been cruelly invaded could care less what label homosexual activists want to slap on their abuser.

As Tintin at Sadly, No! replies, “Sadly, No!”

Also, gay activists will not argue that due to Sandusky’s marriage, he is not homosexual. That would be lame indeed, as we know for a fact that it’s extremely common for conservative Christian men to be simultaneously married to women and also gayer than Glee. However, we will argue that the fact that he’s married and has been molesting young children means that he is a freaking pedophile, as that is what science, reality and common sense suggest.

Let me be clear. A heterosexual pedophile who committed such crimes against young girls should likewise be sent to the chair. Forcible rape of anyone used to be a capital offense everywhere in this country and should be so again.

Without getting into the argument over what punishment should be meted out for these heinous crimes, for our purposes we’ll just note that Bryan Fischer doesn’t seem to know a damn thing about the phenomenon of child sexual abuse. People who molest young kids molest young kids, regardless of the gender of the child. Bryan’s desire to use this as a way to smear gay people is disgusting.

So is Porno Pete’s:

LaBarbera: How Many Boy Victims of Penn State Homosexual Predator Jerry Sandusky Will End Up Thinking They are ‘Gay’?

Ugh. Whichever ones would have been gay anyway, you moron. Indeed, and sadly, many, many kids have been molested since the dawn of time, by people of the same and different genders as they are, and they have grown up to be straight, gay, bisexual, and whatever else in between. There is NO evidence that being molested “causes” anyone to be gay.

Many openly homosexual (“gay”) men, like CNN anchor Don Lemon, were molested as boys or experienced abnormally early sexualization. Yet many of these same men do NOT see their boyhood victimization at the hands of homosexual male predators as causing their homosexuality. (This is due partly to the success of the modern “gay” movement that falsely ascribes “gayness” to a person’s (innate) identity, and emphasizes the ambiguous notion of “sexual orientation” as opposed to behavior that is sinful, destructive and changeable.)

Don Lemon has actually talked about this in detail, so it’s a wonder Porno Pete’s so completely unwilling to listen to Lemon’s words on the subject, while simultaneously playing armchair psychologist to a man he’ll never be lucky enough to meet.

Thus, how many boy victims of homosexual predator Sandusky will end up believing that being homosexual (“gay”) is “who they are”? How many will struggle with sexual identity issues? And how many will be told by LGBT advocates and liberal-minded people just to “accept being gay” as “who they are” because they were “born that way”?

Because the media and academia have largely become apologists for the modern homosexualist movement, they downplay or ignore obvious causative factors in the formation of “gay” identity – including pederastic molestation. CNN’s Lemon is a case in point: he is now an “out gay” celebrity, yet few question the absurdity of him not associating the molestation of his youth with his later embrace of homosexuality as a positive identity.

Porno Pete is a scientist and is therefore qualified to point out “obvious causative factors in the formation of gay identity.” Oh wait, no he is not, he is an amateur fetish sex photographer who leads a very small hate group.

There IS a long history connecting homosexuality to pederasty, and a disproportionate link between homosexuality and pedophilia: why else would so many child molestation victims be boys when only 1-3 percent of the population is homosexual? Since cases of women molesting boys remain rare, if homosexuality were not such a strong factor, nearly all of pedophile victims should be girls, which is far from the case.

Except for the fact that there’s a hell of a lot of science on the issue, which points to many factors that lead to boy victims. One of them is ACCESS. Let us look at the Catholic Church again for a minute, please. Who do Catholic priests have the most consistent access to? Young boys! So those who are child molesters are going to go for the kids they have the easiest ACCESS to. This is science, but it’s not that damned complicated.

Sandusky is married but obviously has a homosexuality (perversion) problem.

No, he has a child rape problem. It’s amazing that Porno Pete has missed that child rape is the crux of the Penn State debacle, so blinded is he by his hatred of gay people.

But we’re used to this kind of crap from bizarrely gay-fixated wingnuts like Bryan and Porno Pete.

Look, the Archdiocese of Boston has a really long, comprehensive list of all the Catholic priests [just those under their jurisdiction, mind you] who have been convicted, “punished by the church,” and whatever else, for sexually abusing children.  As P.Z. points out, it’s a long list!

Thanks for all your moral guidance, Catholic Church.  Seriously!  You guys keep up the good work and be sure to lecture the stew out of some godless homosexuals today, because seriously, your moral pedestal is completely intact.

What other organization on the planet has a list like this?

Memphis’s city council is currently holding hearings on an inclusive non-discrimination ordinance which has strong support from the community.  The first hearing went a bit like this, via Bianca Phillips at The Memphis Flyer:

The ordinance’s sponsor Janis Fullilove pleaded a passionate case for equal treatment of LGBT city workers, as well as employees working for companies contracting with the city. Fullilove called the need for equality at City Hall a “human issue,” and praised FedEx for taking the lead by adopting a similar policy protecting their workers. She also addressed the concerns of some conservative Christians that a non-discrimination ordinance would allow transgender people to use restrooms for the opposite sex.

“I know there are a lot of people with concerns about people going to the restroom. But how many times do you go into a restroom and look into the stall and ask, what are you? A man or a woman?” Fullilove said.

She continued: “If you had a daughter or son who was gay, would you not want them to be able to work and support themselves?”

(…)

Supporters of the ordinance literally sat across the room from opponents of LGBT protections (many of them wearing “one man, one woman” stickers as if the discussion were about gay marriage). Tennessee Equality Project’s Jonathan Cole, whose equality organization helped draft the ordinance, spoke on behalf of the ordinance’s supporters.

“Right now, it’s totally legal for the city or someone who contracts with the city to fire someone for being gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender,” Cole said. Cole cited a few stories he’d heard about city employees being denied promotions and even fired after their employer learned their sexual orientation.

Following Cole, Steve Gaines, pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church, spoke in opposition, but it seemed as though he didn’t fully understand the scope of the ordinance. Gaines talked as though he believed the ordinance would affect private businesses, but it actually only affects city workers and companies who contract with the city.

“What if a Christian childcare facility is forced to hire a man dressed like a woman?” Gaines asked.

Really, Bellevue Baptist Church pastor Steve Gaines?  Because I’m finding it a little bit too cute by half to believe that Gaines’ utmost concern is for the welfare of children.  Why?  From StopBaptistPredators.org:

Pastor Steve Gaines knew that one of his staff ministers had sexually abused a kid years earlier. What did he do? He kept quiet. Not until 6 months later, when the news was broken in a blog was the congregation finally informed. It was a “church matter” said the pastor, and he gave a sermon on “grace” and redemption.

For anyone who thought clergy sex abuse was “just” a Catholic problem, Bellevue should be a wake-up call.

Minister Paul Williams reported for child molestation.

He commonly counseled molestation victims, who told him their personal and painful stories.

Pastor Steve Gaines knew for 6 months and kept quiet.

Pastor Gaines calls it a “moral failure” and justifies his silence because Williams said there was “no reoccurrence.”

(…)

Seminary president urges Pastor Gaines to resign. “If Steve Gaines found out that a child had been sexually molested by one of his ministers and if he did nothing to address it, then he needs to step down immediately,” Dr. Michael Spradlin, the president of Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary said.

(…)

Deacon Michael R. Pruett urges church discipline, NOT for Pastor Gaines who kept the matter secret, but for those who brought this to light! “Where is love in all of this?” he asks. (Here’s the answer Deacon Pruett: Love resides in doing everything possible to protect the young against sexual abuse. That sort of love requires courageous truth-telling and transparency.)

(…)

Report shows that what pastor Gaines called a “moral failure” – and kept quiet about – was really minister Williams’ “egregious, perverse sexual activity with his adolescent son over a period of 12 to 18 months.”

Nice!  Pastor Gaines apparently decided to play the “It’s not child rape if he sez he only raped the boy once!” card.  It’s amazing (but strangely, not surprising) that the man the anti-gay side has chosen as a spokesperson is more concerned about hurting gay people than protecting the innocence of the children in his congregation.

Michelle Bliss was in the hearing when the pedophile-protecting Steve Gaines spoke, and, as a mother and as a citizen, she was outraged:

Dr. Gaines represented himself before the City Council as a moral authority, speaking for “people of faith.” That is outrageous. He has shown an egregious lack of respect for the members of his church, the members of this community, and the duty as a citizen under the law to report a crime. It is unfathomable that a person who has so blatantly circumvented the law in order to protect the reputation of his organization, with callous disregard for the health and safety of his church members and the community at large, should be representing the faith community in any capacity. Perhaps Dr. Gaines thinks the people of this community have forgotten about his so-called “moral failure”; I can assure him we have not. Dr. Steve Gaines did tell the truth about one thing at the Council meeting; he does NOT speak for all Christians. He does not speak with any moral authority at all. He speaks, as he has in the past, for his own twisted sense of morality, nothing more.

As in every other city, this is the quality of our opposition.  They are far too consumed with their own irrational fear and hatred of LGBT people to see that, if anything, they are the ones who are truly a threat to our children and our families.  They’re so concerned with the continuity of their bigoted, patriarchal, Iron Age narrative that they’re willing to shove anything under the rug to protect their image — even child rape!

But remember, kids:  In their world, a child is better off being raised by a biological parent who happens to be a rapist than it is to be raised by a loving, healthy, happy, invested-in-every-way gay couple.

Because that’s what they think the Bible says.

If those are “Judeo-Christian” values, we’re better off without them.

Related: In case you forgot, this is the same church that pitched a wussy little hissy fit when they found out that a softball coach on their league, which they had opened to the public, was a big scary lesbian.  It would have been fine if Steve Gaines or Paul Williams had been the coach though, because they’re good old fashioned White Heterosexual Christians, and are therefore Saved, and if Jesus forgets about their sins, then you should too.  How dare you question the patriarchy?

But we’re the real threat, right? That’s what all the bigots keep saying.

From Susie Madrak and Dave Niewert, the pre-eminent expert on right-wing, anti-government extremism:

We first noticed Marine Sgt. Charles Dyer, aka “July4Patriot,” back in March, when we ran one of the first reports on the “Oath Keepers” bloc of the Tea Party movement — an organization devoted to recruiting military and police-force veterans into a Patriot-movement belief system predicated on a series of paranoid conspiracy theories, especially the notion that the federal government intends to begin rounding up citizens and putting them in concentration camps.

Dyer played a prominent role in connecting the Oath Keepers to the Tea Party movement, speaking at a July 4 Tea Party rally in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. And he’s been involved inorganizing militia “maneuvers” in Oklahoma.

Dyer cropped up again in the news — this time in the police blotter for allegedly raping a 7-year-old girl:

An ex-military man has been arrested on charges of rape of a child and forcible sodomy.

Charles Alan Dyer, 29, of Marlow, was arrested Tuesday afternoon by Stephens County Sheriff’ deputies, said Sheriff Wayne McKinney. Dyer served in the United States Marines in Iraq.

Dave also reports that when Dyer’s home was searched, they found a grenade launcher. Also.

We really need to start better educating people on the dangers of the right-wing heterosexual agenda. To protect the children, obviously.

(h/t Balloon Juice)