OK, so back to the topic of discussion.
My disagreement with many posters on both sides of many discussions at Mudcat is this: My belief is that on most issues, few if any people or groups are all right or all wrong. By the way, I think that this is brilliantly demonstrated in the Harry Potter series of books, which I think is an excellent treatise on morality and moral decisions. Heck, even Hogwarts has Slytherin. There is a wide spectrum of belief and conduct within every institution and every group of people - so if you issue a blanket condemnation of an individual or group or institution, you're most likely wrong.

In this discussion, there have been far too many blanket statements and condemnations, and far too much inaccurate information. I gather that in Europe, the general tendency is to consider physical and sexual abuse together as "abuse." In the U.S., the word "abuse" usually refers to physical and emotional abuse; and sexual abuse or molestation is considered separately. We use the same words, but there are different shades of meaning that can cause confusion.

In our parents' generation and before, there was far more tolerance of both physical and emotional abuse in the raising of children, both in families and in institutions. That tolerance of abuse also existed in the treatment of employees in the workplace, and in the treatment of offenders by law enforcement. There was less tolerance for sexual abuse, but even that was condoned in many situations. But harsh and abusive treatment was often almost viewed as a virtue, so that parents and teachers would not "spoil" children.

Since physical and emotional abuse were the rule of society for our ancestors, I think we need to consider that abuse in context, recognizing that was allowable and even praised in the past is not acceptable now and must be prevented in the future. Therefore, I think it is better in this case to concentrate on the present and future, and place less emphasis on the past - without ignoring or excusing it.

Sexual abuse is a different matter - it has always been unacceptable, and it should be punished with more severity. Still, I think it is very important that in our investigation of the misdeeds of the past, we do not forget the present or the future.

And on top of that, I think that it is important that we do not condemn or punish all members of a group for the misdeeds of the few. Many of the condemnations in this thread are so broad that they seek to condemn and restrict and punish many admirable and innocent people.

So, make the brush a little narrower, willya?

-Joe-