Jami McFeeley

To the editor:Tom McLaughlins column of Dec. 15 was inexcusable. His constant need to harangue homosexuals is really disturbing, but his latest attack on gay clergymen has gone too far, even for him. It is egregiously irresponsible for anyone in a public forum to equate acts of pedophilia with being gay. Countless studies have shown that gay men are no more likely than heterosexual men to perpetrate child sexual abuse. You can go to the American Psychological Association website to refer to numerous scientific reports that back this up (such as Groth & Birnbaum, 1978; Jenny et al., 1994; Sarafino, 1979).But Mr. McLaughlin goes even further by stating a flat-out lie: Under Pope Benedict XVI, the Vatican is acknowledging that the Catholic sex abuse scandal is mostly the result of homosexual priests and the bishops who protect them. According to the Vaticans Web site, the position they endorse is that of from the Synod of Bishops that they stem from situations whose roots are in economic, social and cultural causes that precipitate free union, divorce, and new unions (a stance with which I do not agree, but the real point is that Mr. McLaughlin is not researching his columns). This veiling of the truth is irresponsible journalism at its height.Blaming the sex abuse scandals of the Catholic Church on gay priests shows Mr. McLaughlin is taking a complex and sensitive subject and intentionally misusing it to promote his agenda against homosexuals using only statistics and "estimates," two thoroughly disreputable forms of argument. His "source", Michael Rose, it is someone who has already been widely discredited. Mr. Roses entire scenario of the Lavender Mafia comes from the word of one former seminary who was expelled for fabrication and other disciplinary matters.He also attempts to prove the proliferation of gay priests by noting that 85 percent of the sexual abuse victims have been adolescent boys, and over 200 Catholic priests have died of AIDS in the same period. Firstlyto simply equate a person who contracts AIDS with someone who is gay is such outmoded thinking, its embarrassing to see it in print. Secondly, the vast majority of pedophiles are categorized as fixated child molesters, meaning they are not attracted to adults of either sex, only children. Such labels as gay or straight do not apply to them, by their own admission. Thirdly, this information of priests dying of AIDS stems from a story that first appeared in the Kansas City Star that says that 300 (not 200) priests died of AIDS. This story was later debunked because only a few dozen cases were actually found. Mr. McLaughlin then tells us that the Episcopal Church is losing parishioners because of its approach towards gays and that the Catholic Church is gaining parishioners, because of its no-tolerance stance toward homosexuality. Actually, Calvin College professor Ruth A. Tucker, is a veteran missiologist and author of a dozen books on church history notes that all Christian churches are losing parishioners. As for the argument about people leaving because of homosexuality, even the Billy Graham School of Missions disagrees with that. Their dean, S. Rainer, notes that this is not caused by homosexuality, but rather because the church does not inspire. The saddest part of all is how poorly reasoned and badly written Mr. McLaughlins columns continue to be. Invariably, somewhere halfway through a column, his focus begins to shift dramatically to something only remotely connected to his thesis and we readers must trudge through, waiting to see if he will ever pull it all together into a cohesive essay. He rarely does.This time, he focuses on the inner-financial workings of churches, and ends with the possibility of an all-gay Episcopal church, and an all-straight Catholic church. While, Im suregiven his obvious fear and hatred of homosexualshed embrace this idea, allow me to offer a simpler solution: Why dont you just pin a yellow star on anyone you dont approve of? It might save you a lot of time.