Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Catholic
Victim-Blaming is Not Apologetics

Victim-Blaming is Not Apologetics

Last updated on: October 19, 2017 at 10:20 am by Mary Pezzulo

Victim-Blaming is Not Apologetics 2017-10-19T10:20:00-04:00 Mary Pezzulo

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

blogger-336371_640

I believe I’ve mentioned before that I’ve never been entirely sure what an apologist is supposed to do.

When I was a child, I thought the word “apologist” meant somebody who said they were sorry for things, but of course in practice it’s the opposite: an apologist is usually someone who defends things and explains why no apology is necessary. A Catholic apologist will tell you why Catholicism is the True Faith even though it can seem weird and eccentric– he’ll explain the logic behind odd-sounding notions like kissing icons or getting your throat blessed with crisscrossed candles. That is, of course, a valuable work, though logical arguments are rarely enough on their own.

I am not familiar with the body of work of an apologist named Trent Horn. I know that he works full-time as an apologist for Catholic Answers. His suit and tie in his Twitter photo look new, so I assume he gets paid a good wage to do apologetics all day long. I can’t vouch for how well he earns that pay; for all I know he’s brilliant at it. Everyone can have a bad day– I’ve had scores of them.

(Speaking of bad days, before I move on to Horn’s blunder, I want to mention that I have no idea what verb one should use before “apologetics.” I wrote “practice apologetics,” but that sounded affected, and “perform apologetics” sounded far too clinical. I settled on “do apologetics” as the least bad choice I could imagine. Maybe Trent or another apologist can get online and tell me what it is they do all day, but this is getting us very far afield.)

In any case, Mr. Horn has a Twitter feed where he occasionally does apologetics in 140 characters or less. A couple of days ago, he tweeted “I wonder if those who gave up mass [sic] after the clergy abuse scandal will stop going to the movies in the wake of Hollywood’s scandals?”

Trent

The tweet doesn’t seem to be on his Twitter anymore, but it’s being shared approvingly on Facebook, and I am appalled. I am appalled by the fact that a professional apologist didn’t capitalize the M in “Mass” of course, but that came as a distant afterthought. Why would anyone think this was a funny thing to say about the Hollywood sex abuse scandal, or any other sexual abuse? Why would anyone, least of all a Catholic apologist, try to make a sarcastic joke about sexual abuse at all? On his professional apologetics Twitter feed next to his photograph for Catholic Answer, no less?

I’ve seen people asking why this tweet is all wrong, so I’ll try to enumerate the reasons. Bear with me here, as I’m not a professional apologist.

First of all, it’s a bad analogy. The sexual abusers from Hollywood are usually not lurking in a theater. They don’t stand in the projection room making hand puppets on the screen; they’re on a Hollywood lot somewhere, or in an office in California. They shouldn’t be. They should be in prison. But the chances that you’ll go to the Saturday Matinee and end up getting groped by Harvey Weinstein while you’re there are almost nil. On the other hand, through the hideous negligence of some bishops who should have been trustworthy, and through a culture of clericalism which Christ never intended, sexual abusers really were recycled from one parish to another to protect them from prosecution. This created an actual dangerous environment in churches, where people were sexually abused– not all churches by a long shot, but even one is far too many. If the Hollywood sex abuse scandal involved theater ushers raping moviegoers, the analogy would work; as it stands, it’s rubbish.

Secondly, the expectations in the two situations are not comparable. Everyone already knew that Hollywood producers are often sleazy perverts. No,honestly, this was common knowledge and it’s always been this way– even back in the wholesome forties and fifties where all the family-friendly Hollywood films were being made. Read about what happened to Judy Garland on the set of The Wizard of Oz, and for the rest of her life. The fact that there are sexual predators in Hollywood is an outrage that never should have been tolerated, but it’s something everyone knew and expected to some degree. When you go to a priest, your expectations are different. You expect that that person is going to be an exemplar of morality; it’s part of the whole in persona Christi thing. No one expects a Hollywood producer to be in persona Christi. No one, no matter what their vocation, should be allowed to abuse anyone else, ever. But obviously finding out that a priest is a pervert is a deeper and more traumatic shock.

Thirdly, way to blame the victim. People who left the Church because they were sexually abused, did so because they were betrayed. They were betrayed in a way so deep and horrifying even a loudmouth like me could never find the words to convey it. I’ve tried. They are suffering from trauma that tortures them daily, and that trauma is associated with the Church. The fact that they left is the fault of their abusers, not their own. They don’t need any additional shame. Trust me, they have plenty. As for those people who weren’t themselves abused by clergy but left the Church when the witnessed the scandal: they left because they example the Church gave them was not the example of Christ. What they saw was Satanic, so they decided the Church wasn’t what she says she was. This is not their fault either. It’s the fault of the people who, when they were charged with representing the Church of Jesus Christ, acted like His enemy instead.

Do you know what the only appropriate thing is for a professional apologist to do about a situation like the priestly sex abuse scandal?

It’s to apologize.

This is a situation where a professional Catholic apologist should apologize. They ought not to joke, make comparisons or victim-blame. They ought to say, “Everyone involved in the scandal committed hideous and inexcusable grave sin. If they don’t repent they will rot in hell. Their victims were not to blame and we understand completely why they want nothing to do with the Church now. This is not due to a lack of faith on the victims’ part, it’s due to the monstrous way their abusers broke faith. We recognize that no apology can ever be enough, but on behalf of the Church we’re paid to defend every day, we are sorry.”

It’s too long for a tweet, but it needs to be said.

And while he’s at it, I think Trent ought to apologize for that joke.

(image via Pixabay)

Public face of Catholicism

Previous Post

October 16, 2017

A Plummeting Ghost

Next Post

October 21, 2017 What They Should Have Done

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abortion Abuse Advent America American Christianity angel angels Annunciation Appalachia apparition apparition chaser apparition chasers apparition culture art art review babies baby baby Jesus Bad Lip Reading bad statue contest bath beauty Bible story blog blogkeeping blood book review Brandon Sanderson breastfeeding bus Catholic catholic conspiracy alarmism Catholic Oppositional Disorder Charismatic Renewal Charlie the Cat chastity Christ Christian idenitity Christianity and Judaism Chronic Illness clean clothing COD piece comedy compassion conscience conspiracy theory conversion cop-on-black violence Crucifixion cry of the poor culture Daesh Daily Saints death death penalty devotional diaconate diaper diapers dirty disability Donald Trump Dorothy Day dream drugs Eastern Catholicism Eastern Christianity education election election update Elsewhere on Patheos empathy environment Fear feminism film review fish flashback fluffy buns food Franciscan University of Steubenville Friendship Room fun Gabriel gardening gospel hair-splitting Heaven hell heresy Hillary Clinton history Holly the Witch Holy Spirit holy war Homeschooling homosexuality horror human dignity humor Icon idol immigrants infection inter-religious dialogue Interpretation of Scripture Islam Jesus Jihad Joseph joy laity and lay vocations lamb dinner laundry lent lgbtq literature love manners Mary Medicine and Science Meditation mercy mess milk misogyny Missouri monasticism monster motherhood mourn with those mourn movies movis music mystery nature neurodiversity New Pro-Life Movement news nonsense nostalgia O antiphons obituary objectification Ohio Valley Ordinary Time ordination Ordo Amoris parable paradox Passover peanut butter personal beliefs pets philosophy Planet Charismatic poetry politics polls poop Pope Francis Pope Leo power in the Church prayer prayer request prayers preferential option for non-violence president presidential election priest primary private revelation pro-life prophecy Public face of Catholicism Pure Flix Q and A race racism random rape rape. sexuality reader's request Reckoners refugee religious trauma ressurrection Right to life Saints saints and celebrations same-sex same-sex marriage satire scandal secular feasts seder Seven Joys Seven Last Words sex sexual ethics sexuality silencing six months skid row slavery social justice Speculative fiction spiritual abuse spoon stain story suffering suffrage suffragette Sunday Gospel temple Tenebrae Responsories Terror the exorcist The Friendship Room The New Pro-Life Movement Things I Learned on the Internet tin cup traffic true story tv review Uncategorized USCCB vice and temptation violence Virtue virtue and vice war Way of the Cross whimsy whole life women's ordination work of mercy Year A

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who was known as the doubter among Jesus' disciples?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Thomas James John Peter