Jumat, 28 Agustus 2020
�First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me.� � Martin Niemoller
Like many of you I have been watching the news coverage of police shooting black men and the riots and looting that follows. Meanwhile, politicians, media personalities, and political activists vie with one another and play Monday morning quarterback as they broadly condemn law enforcement before any thorough investigation is conducted and completed. Instead of relying on facts and trusting that a full and complete investigation will be carried out and that those involved will be held accountable for their actions, the flames of racism are stoked and intensified.
As a priest I know that the media can have a positive effect. In 2002 the Boston Globe broke the story about Clergy Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church. While the news was grave, grim, and terribly tragic, I rejoiced that the media was doing their job and that journalists after a thorough investigation were holding the hierarchy of the Catholic Church accountable for their abuse of office and their crimes against young children. As a result of the news coverage by secular media the Catholic Church turned to the John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York to conduct a study to analyze the nature and scope of the problem of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic Priests. To date it is the most thorough and comprehensive study done on this matter by any church, business, organization, or institution. The study was extraordinary because it revealed that the problem was not pedophilia as the media reported but rather predatory homosexuality as it revealed over 80% of the victims were post pubescent young men. In addition, the study found that 1.5%-2.0% of priests were involved in these egregious acts against children and this is not what one would expect given the media�s disproportionate coverage of the subject.
While the media�s coverage of the clergy sex abuse scandal has had a positive impact both on the church and society, it�s treatment and attention of the matter soon turned into an obsession and the disproportionate coverage in the decades following the Boston Globe�s initial story has left many with a negative impression about priests in general.
In the aftermath of the clergy sex abuse scandal there were many rushes to judgment resulting in many innocent men being unjustly smeared and tarnished like Fr. Edward Perrone of Detroit who was recently awarded $125,000 in a defamation lawsuit against a detective who fabricated rape charges that got him suspended. Others, like Fr. Charles Engelhardt of Philadelphia, were not as fortunate. He died in prison only to be exonerated after his death. As a consequence many priests believe prudence requires them to avoid being around children. The tragedy in this is that many children do not have strong bonds of connection to their church and pastor. These children have lost a vital resource whom they can turn to for help.
The media can be an honest broker of the news reporting facts when known and by providing accurate context. By doing their job the media can have a positive impact. However, by straying from its proper role the media can be an instrument of destruction. We see this in regards to the media�s obsessive and unbalanced news coverage of officer involved shootings and specifically and exclusively the shooting of black people which has led to an all-out affront and attack against law enforcement. According to data from the FBI there has been a 28% surge in officer deaths since last year. Some officers like the two shot and killed in McAllen, Texas were ambushed, others were attacked and killed by rioters and looters, still others have been beat over the head with bricks and bats. In addition to the violence against police, patrol vehicles and precinct stationhouses have been attacked and destroyed, leaving police across the country feeling under siege.
To date we don�t really know what role race plays in these shootings because neither the government, nor any other group has done a thorough and comprehensive study on race bias in officer involved fatal shootings. So the same media who played doctor and misdiagnosed the clergy sex abuse scandal as pedophilia instead of predatory homosexuality could be misdiagnosing the current problem as racism when in fact even the inadequate but most comprehensive studies done thus far suggest that there is no race bias in officer involved fatal shootings. Studies done by PNAS state that they �did not find evidence of anti-black or anti-Hispanic disparity in police use of force across all shootings, and, if anything, found anti-white disparities when controlling for race-specific crime.� Admittedly these small studies are inadequate and every informed and educated person knows that to be true. The existing data is simply insufficient at this time, so it is bewildering and perplexing to watch the media as it continues to play doctor and attempt to diagnose the problem in such a rash and irresponsible way. We should be very careful and cautionary when it comes to the media. Journalism has changed and perhaps has even disappeared as talking heads on television don�t seem to care about actual facts. The media seems to care about one thing and one thing only and that is the advancement of their own personal agenda even if it means tearing down our cites, destroying the progress made in race relations, and bringing death to America. This is troublesome and concerning to say the least.
At the time of the disproportionate media coverage of the clergy sex abuse scandal there was a fear and hesitancy to speak out against the media�s disproportionate coverage of the matter. As a result the media�s disproportionate coverage as well as its false diagnosis of the problem went unabated. Consequently the media�s disproportionate coverage led to a general condemnation of priests. Today as we witness the unbalanced media coverage of officer involved fatal shootings we see something similar occurring. Law Enforcement as well as people�s views and confidence in law enforcement are being tested. Therefore, as someone who works alongside police officers and who cares for many of the same people served by our law enforcement, I encourage you to be more discerning of the things we view on television and not to allow those things to overshadow or erase the memory, the history, and the legacy of our law enforcement. The police contribute to the common good at a price few are willing to pay; they do a tremendous amount of good, and are to be commended for their service to our families, our community, our state, and our country. While some may label us in a partisan way we must resist any and all attempts to silence our support for the men and woman who stand on the thin blue line and continue to pray for and actively support our police officers, proclaiming by word and deed: Blue Lives Matter.
Rev. James C. Campbell
Pastor of St. Eulalia Church, Coudersport and St. Gabriel the Archangel, Port Alleghany.
Like many of you I have been watching the news coverage of police shooting black men and the riots and looting that follows. Meanwhile, politicians, media personalities, and political activists vie with one another and play Monday morning quarterback as they broadly condemn law enforcement before any thorough investigation is conducted and completed. Instead of relying on facts and trusting that a full and complete investigation will be carried out and that those involved will be held accountable for their actions, the flames of racism are stoked and intensified.
As a priest I know that the media can have a positive effect. In 2002 the Boston Globe broke the story about Clergy Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church. While the news was grave, grim, and terribly tragic, I rejoiced that the media was doing their job and that journalists after a thorough investigation were holding the hierarchy of the Catholic Church accountable for their abuse of office and their crimes against young children. As a result of the news coverage by secular media the Catholic Church turned to the John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York to conduct a study to analyze the nature and scope of the problem of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic Priests. To date it is the most thorough and comprehensive study done on this matter by any church, business, organization, or institution. The study was extraordinary because it revealed that the problem was not pedophilia as the media reported but rather predatory homosexuality as it revealed over 80% of the victims were post pubescent young men. In addition, the study found that 1.5%-2.0% of priests were involved in these egregious acts against children and this is not what one would expect given the media�s disproportionate coverage of the subject.
While the media�s coverage of the clergy sex abuse scandal has had a positive impact both on the church and society, it�s treatment and attention of the matter soon turned into an obsession and the disproportionate coverage in the decades following the Boston Globe�s initial story has left many with a negative impression about priests in general.
In the aftermath of the clergy sex abuse scandal there were many rushes to judgment resulting in many innocent men being unjustly smeared and tarnished like Fr. Edward Perrone of Detroit who was recently awarded $125,000 in a defamation lawsuit against a detective who fabricated rape charges that got him suspended. Others, like Fr. Charles Engelhardt of Philadelphia, were not as fortunate. He died in prison only to be exonerated after his death. As a consequence many priests believe prudence requires them to avoid being around children. The tragedy in this is that many children do not have strong bonds of connection to their church and pastor. These children have lost a vital resource whom they can turn to for help.
The media can be an honest broker of the news reporting facts when known and by providing accurate context. By doing their job the media can have a positive impact. However, by straying from its proper role the media can be an instrument of destruction. We see this in regards to the media�s obsessive and unbalanced news coverage of officer involved shootings and specifically and exclusively the shooting of black people which has led to an all-out affront and attack against law enforcement. According to data from the FBI there has been a 28% surge in officer deaths since last year. Some officers like the two shot and killed in McAllen, Texas were ambushed, others were attacked and killed by rioters and looters, still others have been beat over the head with bricks and bats. In addition to the violence against police, patrol vehicles and precinct stationhouses have been attacked and destroyed, leaving police across the country feeling under siege.
To date we don�t really know what role race plays in these shootings because neither the government, nor any other group has done a thorough and comprehensive study on race bias in officer involved fatal shootings. So the same media who played doctor and misdiagnosed the clergy sex abuse scandal as pedophilia instead of predatory homosexuality could be misdiagnosing the current problem as racism when in fact even the inadequate but most comprehensive studies done thus far suggest that there is no race bias in officer involved fatal shootings. Studies done by PNAS state that they �did not find evidence of anti-black or anti-Hispanic disparity in police use of force across all shootings, and, if anything, found anti-white disparities when controlling for race-specific crime.� Admittedly these small studies are inadequate and every informed and educated person knows that to be true. The existing data is simply insufficient at this time, so it is bewildering and perplexing to watch the media as it continues to play doctor and attempt to diagnose the problem in such a rash and irresponsible way. We should be very careful and cautionary when it comes to the media. Journalism has changed and perhaps has even disappeared as talking heads on television don�t seem to care about actual facts. The media seems to care about one thing and one thing only and that is the advancement of their own personal agenda even if it means tearing down our cites, destroying the progress made in race relations, and bringing death to America. This is troublesome and concerning to say the least.
At the time of the disproportionate media coverage of the clergy sex abuse scandal there was a fear and hesitancy to speak out against the media�s disproportionate coverage of the matter. As a result the media�s disproportionate coverage as well as its false diagnosis of the problem went unabated. Consequently the media�s disproportionate coverage led to a general condemnation of priests. Today as we witness the unbalanced media coverage of officer involved fatal shootings we see something similar occurring. Law Enforcement as well as people�s views and confidence in law enforcement are being tested. Therefore, as someone who works alongside police officers and who cares for many of the same people served by our law enforcement, I encourage you to be more discerning of the things we view on television and not to allow those things to overshadow or erase the memory, the history, and the legacy of our law enforcement. The police contribute to the common good at a price few are willing to pay; they do a tremendous amount of good, and are to be commended for their service to our families, our community, our state, and our country. While some may label us in a partisan way we must resist any and all attempts to silence our support for the men and woman who stand on the thin blue line and continue to pray for and actively support our police officers, proclaiming by word and deed: Blue Lives Matter.
Rev. James C. Campbell
Pastor of St. Eulalia Church, Coudersport and St. Gabriel the Archangel, Port Alleghany.