"I think the bottom line is that they were sick individuals raised in a poverty-stricken sick environment in a sick religion. I think the abuse oozed out of that, coupled with lack of oversight by others, coupled with a feeling that this (not the abuse but the rigidness and aesticism etc.) were what God wanted."

Thanks for that post MG - I understand more fully what you were previously saying now. And yes, I think (without actually being there) it's a good way of reading the possible reality of the situation.