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Nurture and Nature CREATE THE INDIVIDUAL

There are no inherently evil religions, nationalities and races. Human beings and their actions in the course of their lives, is predicated by the genes they inherit from their parents, and the norms of the community in which they have been raised.

This hypothesis makes sense but can be difficult to prove. All societies and countries have their similarities and differences. What is necessary is a constant in a different society or country in order to prove this premise. The one institution which prides itself on being a constant entity no matter where it is located in the world is the Catholic Church. I believe that by forbidding priests and nuns to marry, this religion attracts more than the average number of people who have problems with their sexuality, and being a member of the clergy of the Catholic Church is a convenient cover for many sexual deviations.

Canadians are painfully aware of the physical and sexual abuse suffered by aboriginal children who were taken away from their parents and sent to residential schools where the teachers and administrators were Catholic priests and nuns.

In Ireland tens of thousands of Irish children were sexually, physically and emotionally abused by nuns and priests for over 60 years in a network of church-run residential schools meant to care for the poor, the vulnerable and the unwanted. A climate of fear, created by pervasive, excessive and arbitrary punishment permeated most of the institutions. Some 30,000 children were sent to such places over six decades because of pressure from their local priests, often against the families` wishes. They were sent because their families could not afford to take care of them, because the mothers had committed adultery or given birth out of wedlock, or because one or both of their parents were ill, drunken or abusive. The difference between the Canadian and Irish experience is that the government of Canada promoted residential schools in order to eliminate aboriginal culture. The resultant abuse in both countries was the same.

Sexuality is an integral part of the human condition. The church took away the right for priests and nuns to have normal sexual relations which created an environment where people who felt the need, could have abusive relationships with children in hidden and controlled surroundings. There is an ongoing argument on the relative importance of genetics (nature) and environment (nurture) in determining how a person will react to a given situation. Why are some people kind, caring intelligent, helpful or mean-spirited? Certainly genetics is heavily involved but by how much? If society (local community) promotes a unique situation, I believe that different nationalities or ethnic groups will react similarly.

The Catholic Church is an institution that prides itself on being rigid in its rules and regulations throughout the world. Priests are not allowed to marry, neither in Canada nor Ireland. In both countries thousands of miles apart when the same conditions apply, the result is the same, pedophilia and sexual abuse in church schools in Ireland, and native schools in Canada. While I do not have statistics at hand I am sure if the conditions were similar in any country, this abuse would occur. This article is not to be taken as condemnation of the Catholic Church but as an illustration that given the same circumstances all human beings ca, but not necessarily will, react in a similar fashion.

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Name: Murray Rubin

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