# Santorum - Boston liberalism cause of priest scandal. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 13, 2005, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/santorum-boston-liberalism-cause-of-priest-scandal/312333 "2005-07-13T13:58:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/santorum-boston-liberalism-cause-of-priest-scandal/312333/41 "2005-07-13T17:03:12Z")
That and I’ve heard that Teresa Heinz is majorly supporting Casey this time around. She may not be popular among conservatives, but people in Pittsburgh love her. Hehehe, go Mama Teresa! ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/santorum-boston-liberalism-cause-of-priest-scandal/312333/42 "2005-07-13T17:06:10Z")
Couldn’t he have figured out a way to drag 911 into this as well? ---
**Author:** ![Balle\_M](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/13edae/32.png) [@Balle\_M](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balle_M)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/santorum-boston-liberalism-cause-of-priest-scandal/312333/43 "2005-07-13T17:10:05Z")
> [@](#): > > US Representative Barney Frank, a Newton Democrat, called Santorum ''a jerk" Nice call, Barney. Maybe Santorum should run a prostitution ring out of _his_ apartment, too. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/santorum-boston-liberalism-cause-of-priest-scandal/312333/44 "2005-07-13T17:13:08Z")
**Mr. Moto** , could you please explain what the hell YOU mean by “sexual license” and “moral relativism?” Could you also explain why either of those things needs to be criticized or how they led to priests fucking altar boys? ---
**Author:** ![Orbifold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orbifold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orbifold)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/santorum-boston-liberalism-cause-of-priest-scandal/312333/45 "2005-07-13T17:16:42Z")
I would _love_ to see someone ask Santorum how he explains [this](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/03/AR2005060301827.html). Tip for Santorum: the sex-abuse scandal happened in lots of places. Kudos to Boston for leading the nation in putting a stop to it. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/santorum-boston-liberalism-cause-of-priest-scandal/312333/46 "2005-07-13T17:27:32Z")
> [@Balle\_M](#): > > Nice call, Barney. > > Maybe Santorum should run a prostitution ring out of _his_ apartment, too. Which he owned up to, straight out. Told it like it was, to paraphrase “Well, that’s what I get for thinking with my dick. Man, did I screw the pooch that time!” And of course you knew, before you posted this libel, that he didn’t “run” anything. But why let facts get in the way of a good bit of liberal bashing? The man has stones, God bless 'em! Wouldn’t be the first time I considered moving to Mass. just to have the honor of voting for him! Any man who can stand there and say “Yep, queer as a blue horse, now, about the issues…” and win elections! gotta be doing something right. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/santorum-boston-liberalism-cause-of-priest-scandal/312333/47 "2005-07-13T17:28:24Z")
> [@Balle\_M](#): > > Nice call, Barney. > > Maybe Santorum should run a prostitution ring out of _his_ apartment, too. Ooh, way to twist ancient history there… ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/santorum-boston-liberalism-cause-of-priest-scandal/312333/48 "2005-07-13T17:30:28Z")
I think **Mr. Moto** is indicating that the priests are to blame for the abuse that occured. The “sexual license” and “moral relativism” would be their rationalization as to why what they did was okay. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/santorum-boston-liberalism-cause-of-priest-scandal/312333/49 "2005-07-13T17:33:01Z")
> [@Balle\_M](#): > > Nice call, Barney. Yes it was, as a matter of fact. > [@](#): > > Maybe Santorum should run a prostitution ring out of _his_ apartment, too. Barney did no such thing. The guy he was banging did that without Barney’s knowledge. Not that there’s anything wrong with gay prostitution rings. Do you have a problem with that or something? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/santorum-boston-liberalism-cause-of-priest-scandal/312333/50 "2005-07-13T17:38:01Z")
> [@Maus Magill](#): > > I think **Mr. Moto** is indicating that the priests are to blame for the abuse that occured. The “sexual license” and “moral relativism” would be their rationalization as to why what they did was okay. Well that makes sense, I guess, as long as it’s acknowledged that blaming liberals is ridiculous and that liberals specifically CONDEMN the sexual exploitation of children. There is nothing in liberal ideology which would offer any comfort or sympathy to child abusers of any stripe, be they clergy or be they otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/santorum-boston-liberalism-cause-of-priest-scandal/312333/51 "2005-07-13T17:38:53Z")
> [@Happy Scrappy Hero Pup](#): > > Simple definitions just to end the hijack: > _Celibacy_ is/implies sleeping only with your wife/husband. > > _Chastity_ is/implies sleeping with nobody. Um, no, other way round. "chaste- Morally pure in thought or conduct; decent and modest. Not having experienced sexual intercourse; virginal. **Abstaining from unlawful sexual intercourse.** Abstaining from all sexual intercourse; celibate Meaning a woman who remains a vigin till she’s married and then has sex with her husband can be called chaste. If she doesn’t get married she can also be called celibate. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/santorum-boston-liberalism-cause-of-priest-scandal/312333/52 "2005-07-13T17:42:15Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > … Not that there’s anything wrong with gay prostitution rings. Do you have a problem with that or something? Well, so long as it doesn’t lead to depravity and corruption, like entry into the White House press corps… ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/santorum-boston-liberalism-cause-of-priest-scandal/312333/53 "2005-07-13T17:42:30Z")
> [@Happy Scrappy Hero Pup](#): > > Simple definitions just to end the hijack: > _Celibacy_ is/implies sleeping only with your wife/husband. > > _Chastity_ is/implies sleeping with nobody. Not to continue the hijack, but that is not what celibacy means at all. > **[Definition of celibacy | Dictionary.com](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/celibacy)** > > Definition of celibacy from Dictionary.com, the world’s leading online source for English definitions, pronunciations, word origins, idioms, Word of the Day, and more. 1. Abstinence from sexual intercourse, especially by reason of religious vows. 2. The condition of being unmarried. Maybe you were thinking of “faithfulness” or one of its synonyms. ---
**Author:** ![yBeayf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e274bd/32.png) [@yBeayf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yBeayf)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/santorum-boston-liberalism-cause-of-priest-scandal/312333/54 "2005-07-13T17:43:06Z")
> [@](#): > > Chastity is being completely abstinent, no sex, period. Celibacy means no marriage. > > I think. In the context of Catholic priests, chastity refers to keeping oneself sexually pure, which implies abstinence for an unmarried person, and if one is married, only having relations with one’s spouse. All priests, and indeed every Catholic, are required to be chaste, but priests of the Roman rite are required to be celibate (i.e. unmarried) as well, which therefore means if the priest is both chaste and celibate, he will abstain from sex. ---
**Author:** ![Metacom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecae2f/32.png) [@Metacom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Metacom)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/santorum-boston-liberalism-cause-of-priest-scandal/312333/55 "2005-07-13T17:45:36Z")
> [@yBeayf](#): > > but priests of the Roman rite are required to be celibate (i.e. unmarried) as well, which therefore means if the priest is both chaste and celibate, he will abstain from sex. Not true. There are married Roman Catholic priests. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/santorum-boston-liberalism-cause-of-priest-scandal/312333/56 "2005-07-13T17:47:26Z")
> [@Maus Magill](#): > > I think **Mr. Moto** is indicating that the priests are to blame for the abuse that occured. The “sexual license” and “moral relativism” would be their rationalization as to why what they did was okay. I’d buy that, as long as it’s understood that those were indeed rationalizations for what they probably would have done anyway. Amusing anecdote time? Much as I love Barney Frank, there is one reason I don’t love him all that much. Years ago my girlfriend and her colleague wrote a book on, essentially, how child abuse leads to destructive conservatism. I don’t want to start a debate on whether that’s true, and the way I just explained it does no justice at all to the theory presented within. I’m just setting up the story for you. Let’s just say it was a pretty left-leaning book. Anyhoo, Mr. Frank got his hands on a copy of this book and really liked it (though I suspect he didn’t actually read it). He was impressed with the research and the writing and wanted to meet with the authors. My girlfriend was pretty excited about this. So off she went to meet him. She and her colleague were made to sit and wait in a room for something like two hours. When he finally arrived, he stormed into the room, and without any pleasantries whatsoever, asked “OK, so how do we deal with the Republican menace? Give me some answers here.” My girlfriend and her colleague, realizing that there was no pat answer, and that the problem was far more complex, and really wasn’t about a “Republican menace”, hemmed and hawed for about 10 seconds. Mr. Frank sighed, looked at his watch, and stormed out. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/santorum-boston-liberalism-cause-of-priest-scandal/312333/57 "2005-07-13T17:55:55Z")
So when bad stuff happens in red states, we can blame conservatism for it, right? ---
**Author:** ![yBeayf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e274bd/32.png) [@yBeayf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yBeayf)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/santorum-boston-liberalism-cause-of-priest-scandal/312333/58 "2005-07-13T17:58:13Z")
> [@](#): > > Not true. There are married Roman Catholic priests. Fine. Men who are ordained as priests into the Roman rite and usage are required to be unmarried. ---
**Author:** ![Metacom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecae2f/32.png) [@Metacom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Metacom)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/santorum-boston-liberalism-cause-of-priest-scandal/312333/59 "2005-07-13T18:04:06Z")
> [@yBeayf](#): > > Fine. Men who are ordained as priests into the Roman rite and usage are required to be unmarried. So we can then say that “Not all Roman Catholic priests are required to be celibate, but all are required to be chaste.”, right? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/santorum-boston-liberalism-cause-of-priest-scandal/312333/60 "2005-07-13T18:09:52Z")
> [@Metacom](#): > > Not true. There are married Roman Catholic priests. You’re splitting hairs. For the most part, the priests who committed the atrocities were supposed to be celibate. Or chaste. Or whatever. They certainly did not get permission from either the Pope or God to diddle children. If there are a few priests who married, that doesn’t really change the fact that the Church is not supposed to be a culture of statutory rape. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/santorum-boston-liberalism-cause-of-priest-scandal/312333.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/santorum-boston-liberalism-cause-of-priest-scandal/312333.md?page=4)