In regard to the removal of Rev. Sylvester Hoppe’s name from a chapel at Camp Geiger (9/28, Metro), I was sad to see that the Boy Scouts of America have decided to ignore the major tenet of American justice: that a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Hoppe contributed to the Boy Scout movement for more than 75 years, and at no time during his service in scouting were any allegations of abuse made against him.
Disproving an allegation of abuse is inherently impossible. But David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, and the other rabid zealots who comprise that organization’s body are able to condemn and convict a priest solely on the word of the accused, and they revel in this.
The courts require that guilt be established beyond reasonable doubt. A priest should be tried by the same standard. And the Boy Scouts of America, if they are to live up to their creed, should insist upon it.
Michael E. Benson
Lone Jack
And what exactly is confusing about the BSA being hypocritical about American ideals and law? They have crime merit badge, american history merit badge, and other supposedly patriotic topics, but they insist that members be theists and straight. They're anti-atheist, anti-homosexual, sexist bigots, overall, and have always treated those 3 groups as guilty until proven innocent (even if it was not officially written in their policies until the 1972 takeover by a Mormon think tank), not to mention the obvious disregard for separation of church and state inherent in their demand for theism in their ranks.
Posted by: Aerik | March 10, 2007 at 01:39 PM
Let's raise a glass and toast the Scouts...
It is about time someone stood up to the Catholic Church...
This Chapel is not a court of law...
If it looks like someone is a molester take their name off the front door.
If is amazing with the track record of Catholic priests that anyone would leave a child alone with one of them.
How much money does the Cath. Organization spend defending these baby rapers...?
Ho much do they spend helping the victims...?
How much do they spend on propoganda to spin the story so that they don't lose their huge base of contributors...?
Posted by: xacto | May 24, 2006 at 09:55 AM