It's not just that they're evil people who need to be shamed and condemned. There's a reason behind all of this, and it needs to be understood. When we demonize certain groups, what we're saying is that those groups are different from us - we could never do something horrible like that.

Joe, to me it seems we aren't saying they are different from us. The unfortunate core of the matter is the behaviour church (hierarchy) , which not only seems to think but behaves like they are different from us and different rules apply to them. And for that reason refused so long (and now only reluctantly and under huge public pressure) to take responsibility for the cover up of abuse or have offenders prosecuted under the law of the land.