Posted by richard on April 10, 2002 at 05:25:14:

In Reply to: Re: Do you think Cardinal Law of Boston should step down? posted by Sheila on April 10, 2002 at 04:55:37:

Hello Sheila,

Some interesting points in your posts, here are some thoughts.

Although I disagree with Bill O' Reily probably 99% of the time I do agree with your post attributed to him stating that the fact that DA's (and judges and police chiefs) are elected probably did affect the pursuit of Catholic priests/bishops/cardinals and the part they have played in the abuse of children within there parishes/dioceses.

I do have to state that having lived in the US for a number of years now there are two major concerns that I have about the US as a country.
(1) The US is often held up as the best example of democracy but it is not democratic to elect your DA's, police chiefs and judges if they have accepted funding from big business or interest groups. Although I disagree with Senator John McCain 99% of the time, I certainly do agree with him when he talks about campaign finance reform. A recent study has shown that 3 out of 5 present US senators accepted funding from Enron. A new book about to be released entitled "The Best Democracy Money Can \Buy" talks about this.

(2) The second major issue I have with the US is that the media is hugely biased. The mainstream networks have failed to engage in a debate about why Sep 11th happened and they won't engage in a real debate about pedophile priest either? There have been no major initiatives to educate the US public on a range of issues that they now are beginning to realise affect there everyday lives. Scare tactics and emotional outpourings dominate both topics. ABC, NBS, CBS, FOX, CNN, MSNBC have all failed, I would say that PBS is a notable exception. The US public has been let down by the coverage of events.

Don't get my vitriol wrong, it is aimed at US institutions such as the electoral system or the media. I have a lot of respect for many regular Americans (even if I disagree with them on some matters), as a nationality they are more open and accepting than most I have come across. I would say that because Americans are not often well informed by their government/media that they are often misled and do not have as much freedom as they are led to believe.

Sorry, I know this has gone a little off topic but the way the crises in the Catholic Church has been handled is IMHO symptomatic of a broader malaise that exists in governemental and media life in the US.

Richard

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• Re: Do you think Cardinal Law of Boston should step down? Sheila 17:54:25 10/04/02 (0)

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