Jim says (and Steve says more-or-less the same): Institutions are neutral - doesn't that depend on whose in charge?

No, Jim. What it means is that people within the institutions are the ones who make the decisions. Institutions do not make decisions, and institutions do not do right or wrong. It's the people who make the decisions, not the institutions. People within the institution who oppose faulty decisions, should not be considered culpable for those decisions.

I'm not denying any of the wrongdoing that took place within the Catholic Church - but it's not the church that did the wrong, it's individuals. Those individuals who did wrong should be tried and punished for their wrongdoing, and restricted so they cannot commit the same wrong again. But to blame an entire group for the wrongdoing of a few, is a classic example of bigotry.

Blaming an institution for wrongdoing, is faulty logic in two different ways: it tends to absolve or hide the culpability of those who actually committed the offenses, and it tends to spread blame on those who were not involved or who opposed the offenses.

-Joe Offer-