The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #172485   Message #4175539
Posted By: Steve Shaw
26-Jun-23 - 10:42 AM
Thread Name: Clerical Abuse of Children
Subject: RE: Clerical Abuse of Children
It's a good question, Joe. Sometimes the media, galleries, etc., make the choice for us by withdrawing their efforts from the public gaze. You won't see much of Jim'll Fix It repeats or Rolf Harris's animal programmes any more. Otherwise, I think it's a matter of personal choice and conscience. Richard Wagner, though not a convicted criminal, was a rabid and detestable antisemite. His music is admired by millions, but, for others, it's fatally poisoned by the knowledge of his predilections. I fall into the latter camp and I won't listen to anything by him. I'd even argue that his nastiness and ego bleeds through into his art, contradicting claims that the two aspects, personality and art, are independent of each other. The way we individually react to art is highly subjective and valid and I wouldn't shout at anyone who disagrees. Can paedophiles ever be regarded was having spent their sentence? Not in my book, not least because not only did they abuse children but they also deceived everyone around them via their covering up. The three abusive men I referred to up the thread all deceived their friends and families for decades. They made dozens of people feel foolish for not seeing what they'd done. I suppose that the Christian ethic leaves room for forgiveness. Maybe, but my inclination is simply to cut them dead.