Rampant Child Abuse in Islamic Schools

Paco

Electoral Member
Jul 6, 2004
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7000 ft. asl and on full auto
Madrassas hit by sex abuse claims
By Paul Anderson
BBC News, Islamabad

Students read the Koran at a Madrassa
Some clerics demanded an apology from Mr Hussain
A Pakistani minister has revealed hundreds of cases of alleged child sex abuse at Islamic schools, or madrassas.

There were 500 complaints this year of abuse allegedly committed by clerics, Aamer Liaquat Hussain, a minister in the religious affairs department, said.

That compares with 2,000 last year, but as yet there have been no successful prosecutions, Mr Hussain told the BBC.

The minister's revelations have sparked death threats and infuriated some religious political leaders.

Mr Hussain said he had received death threats from clerics, but that he had done his job and his conscience was clear.

Leaders angered

The time had come for his country to face the bitter truth - the sickness of child abuse, he said.

The allegations involving Pakistan's Sunni majority and Shia minority referred to a tiny proportion of the country's 10,000 or so madrassas, he said.

He added that the body responsible for them, the Federation of Madrassas, was willing to co-operate with investigations because some clerics were bringing a bad name to Islam.

However, the revelations have angered some Islamic leaders. At a parliamentary meeting this week, some demanded he apologise.

The abuse revelations were made during a week in which the Pakistani government has been meeting religious leaders to build awareness of the spread of HIV/Aids.

Pakistan is stepping up its anti-Aids campaign, and the idea is to utilise the clerics' unique reach into communities to increase HIV/Aids awareness and to preach prevention.
 

Reverend Blair

Council Member
Apr 3, 2004
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RE: Rampant Child Abuse i

What is it with fundamentalists and child abuse? Every religion that starts its own schools based on fundamentalist principles be they Christian or Muslim or Jewish or Sihk or whatever seems to have a very real problem with abuseing the hell out of children.
 

moghrabi

House Member
May 25, 2004
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Well this is nothing compared to child abuse cases in the west especially the US of Abuse. It is like a drop in the ocean. It happens everywhere and in every religion.
 

moghrabi

House Member
May 25, 2004
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Yes it does and it is very disturbing wherever it happens. But what I am trying to say here is that Paco is pointing at the Islamic one forgetting the abuse in the churches that we hear about everyday. For heaven's sake, every other priest is a pedophile.
 

Reverend Blair

Council Member
Apr 3, 2004
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RE: Rampant Child Abuse i

It's disturbing, but treating it as a separate issue...going after strictly the Muslims...won't solve it. There is something about the fundamentalist mindset that not only favours corporal punishment, but takes it to extremes.
 

Rick van Opbergen

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Sep 16, 2004
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moghrabi said:
Yes it does and it is very disturbing wherever it happens. But what I am trying to say here is that Paco is pointing at the Islamic one forgetting the abuse in the churches that we hear about everyday. For heaven's sake, every other priest is a pedophile.
I understand that moghrabi. Although to say "every other priest is a pedophile" ... you aren't on the Catholic-bashing thing here, eh? :wink: (just kidding of course)
 

moghrabi

House Member
May 25, 2004
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No I am not. I am not against any religion at all. If you go back and read my posts, I never insulted any religion. However the truth is in the pudding. What do you think about Catholic priests and their little games with children?
 

Rick van Opbergen

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Sick, of course. And disturbing indeed. Many priest play an important role in the Catholic community, as a point of relief, to talk to about problems for example, and they are the last of whom you would think that some of them harass children. I mean, that's against their religion, and you would expect from priests that they of all respect and follow that stance.

But I have no reason to believe that a majority of the priests harasses children (not that anybody said that here).
 

moghrabi

House Member
May 25, 2004
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Priests have urges like anyone else. Either abolish priesthood (unlikely) or allow them to get married (also unlikely). So we are stuck with these sexual urges relieved on young children. Very sickening.
 

moghrabi

House Member
May 25, 2004
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I was stating the 2 ways to get rid of child abuse. if you notice that I put in brackets (unlikely) meaning that it is not possible. Not the majority of priests are involved in this but a good number of them. There are cases that you and me never hear about because they happen in little towns and the people try to protect the priest.

I have no doubt that some priests have the highest ethics. But some bad apples make the whole case of apples look bad.
 

Reverend Blair

Council Member
Apr 3, 2004
1,238
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Winnipeg
RE: Rampant Child Abuse i

I've spent a fair bit of time around priests...even have one as a relative. Most who can't control their "urges" find a nun in the same conundrum, or another priest, or go rent a prostitute or jerk off to some porn or whatever.

The thing is that an institution that puts single men in a position of power, especially over children, is going to attract some people with abnormal urges. Just like there is an ongoing problem with pedophiles in boy scouts and little league baseball and just about everything else involving children, the Catholic church attracts some freaks.

The difference is that the church has tried to keep it quiet and kept the offenders on where other institutions that put children in vulnerable positions have been reacting (again quietly) to problems for quite some time.

By the way, the sexual abuse of children in residential schools was also rampant in schools run by non-Catholic churches. It was where the churches sent the dregs of the clergy.
 

moghrabi

House Member
May 25, 2004
4,508
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Canada
Re: RE: Rampant Child Abuse in Islamic Schools

Rick van Opbergen said:
I agree that "some bad apples make the whole case of apples look bad". But as you said it, it sounded to me that we may assume it affects all priests - something I don't agree with.

It actually affects all priests. Today when you mention the word priest, almost everyone connects it with child abuse. It is unfortunate but true. Not that I mean all priests are bad but i mean the connection between the word priest and child abuse.