There have been hundreds of thousands of reported cases of child sexual assault and child rape committed by leaders in the Catholic Church. In America, most towns and cities have ordinances which forbid “adult” themed stories and businesses from being within a certain distance from schools. Maybe there ought to be an ordinance restricting churches from being within a certain distance from schools.

A few years ago, an adult store marketed toward women opened up in West Chester, PA where I used to live and work. The local Catholic Church went nuts. They circulated petitions, staged protests, and lobbied town officials to shut down this place of business. They claimed that it was too close to their church and too close to their school.

What would it matter if there was a female oriented adult store in close proximity to a church or a school? This store poses no danger to children in any way. The Catholic Church on the other hand does pose a potential danger to children. I don’t think it is safe for children to be in close proximity to Catholic priests (or other Catholic leaders) given the high number of incidents of sexual crimes in relation to the Catholic leadership.

While it is doubtful that such an ordinance would ever get passed in America, I think it is worth pursuing. Perhaps if we could organize a petition and letter writing campaign of our own, we could show that there is a public concern and a concern for our children that we need to address. What do you think?

Filed under: Catholics, culture war, Evils of Christianity, family values, Law, Political Activism, Religion, sex