Conspiracy — or turning a blind eye?

The Friday Thing: Life and Other Bits

DO you ever get the feeling that the Roman Catholic Church could set aside many of its problems if it would only allow its priests to marry — opposite sex, same sex or no sex at all — but just get swathed (entombed, the philandering misogynists among you might say) in the warm glow of a married relationship?

Not that married people don’t abuse children, sadly some of them do, but the percentage of abusers among the married is, I would suggest, far smaller than it is among the priesthood. Talk about “suffer little children”.

The boss of the RC church, speaking from beneath his pointy hat (or was that the blinkers of convenience he was wearing?) says that the claims of sex abuse among the priesthood are, would you believe it, “part of a conspiracy against the Church.”

So what about child abuse victims in America, Germany, Ireland, Austria, Great Britain and an atlas full of other places, too? Is this a global conspiracy, a world-wide problem, or do we have an epidemic of myopia afflicting Pope, Cardinals, Archbishops and priests?

Priests who abuse children are clearly in the minority but the access they have to children, the power they have over the young and the way that the church so often turns a blind eye to what is wickedness of the worst sort, certainly makes them a special case.

Instead of sending them off to retreats to repent their sins and get fat on good food, the church should be sending them to jail. I know all about turning the other cheek, but this someone else’s cheek they are turning and that is cruel.


DO you have a digital radio? Those who do won’t need some fancy serial for their morning snap, crackle and pop, all they have to do is to turn on the radio, find a channel that it will actually receive and settle down to listen to a symphony of Morse code punctuated, if you are lucky, by the odd word, phrase or burst of crackly music.

Isn’t this just one of the biggest cons ever? Run a big publicity campaign for DAB radios, pointing out that those who don’t have one might as well be listening to a cat’s whisker set (ask your grandad if you don’t know what that is) and DAB is the coming thing.

Like lemmings we all dash out and buy one, throw out the FM set or, if you’re like me the battery operated tranny, turn on the new Roberts digital and, well, realise you have been conned.

Beware 3D TV is what I say and hold on to your FM radio set for dear life.


FINAL WORD: Everybody thought Chris Hamilton was certifiably mad for investing time and money in Oldham Rugby League Club.

He probably is, but isn’t the news he’s got a ground for his team an absolute treat?