The status quo has failed. Change is inevitable.

I have long held an opinion that the churches are a blight on our society. That is my right.

I also respect the opinion of others to differ.

However, I cannot and do not support a notion that, somehow, the god-botherers in our midst are entitled to have their own laws. That's simply unacceptable in many ways.

Say as loudly and as often as you wish that you disagree with me and will vote against breaking the seal; that's OK. But don't tell me what to think or how to vote or not to vote, should the time come. Please also respect the voting statistics from Ireland and the need to protect children, including from that admitted 7% of offending priests. Australians will, this being a democracy, determine Australian laws without having them thrust upon us by those for whom we have neither faith nor respect.

The proposal is an essential, small step towards bringing to account those priests and parishioners who currently rely on faith-based absolution where what is appropriate is trial, followed by confinement and/or rehabilitation for the guilty and care for those affected.

Those of contrary opinion must first demonstrate how their opinion overrides the needs of those who have been sinned against.

Dear Engineer,

«Those of contrary opinion must first demonstrate how their opinion overrides the needs of those who have been sinned against.»

Revenge is not a need, but a primitive and senseless desire. While it might feel good for a short while, it does not forward the victim one iota, but rather sinks them down into guilt themselves.

«I cannot and do not support a notion that, somehow, the god-botherers in our midst are entitled to have their own laws.»

And who are you anyway, mister/madam, to impose your own laws upon them in the first place?

runner,

Yours is a rhetorical question; we know that aboriginal abuse is ignored: further proof that people who want the law sooled onto the the church are just common or garden Christianophobes.

It appears that ‘ethicists’ do not themselves have to be ethical.

None of these harpers and carpers complain about patient confidentiality, nor the fact that a defendant in court cannot have his previous convictions revealed.

And, yes Yuyutsu. Morals and values do not change over time. Only people change - for the worse, more often than not.

Being born and raised as a Catholic - the confessional has
always been something that a priest could never reveal.
It was something that none of us ever questioned.

We never thought about the fact that criminals
who confessed their acts
were often back in the community able to continue with their
misdeeds. The Church has had plenty of time to think of
the safety of adults and children and what has not been revealed
as the results of keeping things secret. Of course there's the
argument that
Priests do try in the confessional to persuade the perpetrators
to turn themselves in and not give them absolution until they do.
But this seems to have had little effect on serial offenders.

What bothers me - is that the Church through the confessional
hides a multitude of crimes and the acts of people who continue
to offend. It is time that the Church eliminated the confessional
altogether. As far as I'm aware, the confessional was created
by the church - as a money-raising initiative. (You paid
in the past for absolution). They could be forced by law to
fix this problem. We cannot have one set of laws for the state
and another for religion. We are a secular state after
all, and the one set of laws should apply to us all. Religious
laws should not have any legal status in this secular country.
of ours.

cont'd ...

We profess to have a separation of Church and State.
Therefore we need to put our money where our mouths
are - and force the Church to come to the party so to speak
or cut off their funding and tax exemptions.

Dear Foxy,

I support your second option wholeheartedly: "cut off their funding and tax exemptions".

However, when you speak of separation of Church and State, this cannot be one sided: you may not isolate and protect the state from the church without also isolating and protecting the church from the state!