Fiat justitia ruat caelum

Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss is under fire for having taken the chair to inquire into allegations of historic establishment cover up of child abuse, when her brother stands accused of being party to such cover up. There is indeed a prima facie conflict of interest here, and I've been thinking this one over all day, (off and on, among other things). Now I think I have reached a personal conclusion.

What needs inquiring into, (among other important things, but this one’s pretty central), is this: we had people in positions of authority and responsibility who are alleged to have been conflicted when they became aware of allegations of wrongdoing, but failed to pursue those allegations because that may have disadvantaged them in some way. Perhaps politically, perhaps in their career aspirations, perhaps because it threatened to bring into disrepute a social group to which they belonged. We've accepted these people into positions of authority and responsibility with the unspoken bargain that they should in return exercise such powers responsibly, for the benefit of wider society and not for personal protection or advancement.  And we've been let down: by cash for questions; by the MPs expenses scandal; by the failure to hold Jimmy Savile to account; by disgraceful cover ups over Hillsborough; by the phone hacking scandal.

It seems to me that there will be no one in the establishment with the authority to inquire into this matter, who is not tainted in some way by association.  And despite the appearance of conflicted interests, that is not what we need. What is needed is someone who has the integrity to rigorously inquire into these allegations despite it being potentially damaging to the good name of a close family member, and not someone whose potential embarrassment remains concealed.

All commentators who seem well enough informed to judge her describe Dame EBS as possessing impeccable integrity and unparalleled qualifications to chair this inquiry.  And continuing to chair the inquiry would give her the opportunity to set an example to those pillars of the establishment and inquire into this matter as rigorously as they all perhaps should have done all those years ago, and damn the consequences.

I think she should proceed, and show them what integrity looks like, because it's a lesson many in the establishment need to learn.

Profile: Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss
Fiat justitia ruat caelum

Dear Pope Benedict XVI

Dear Pope Benedict XVI,

I read about your 2010 end-of-year speech on CBSnews today and feel a burning need to reply both for myself, and on behalf of the very many similarly thinking people.

I am proud to be a secularist and an atheist, and amongst other things I stand against:

 - child pornography;
 - drug abuse;
 - sexual tourism;
 - psychological destruction of children;
 - paedophilia; and
 - moral relativism.

I also stand against the Catholic Church's dealing with criminal child sexual abuse perpetrated by its priests, as you yourself described in your speech, by which you and your church have:

 - 'treated' rather than punished criminal abusers;
 - considered paedophilia to be a social norm;
 - refused to accept child sexual abuse as a crime, despite its widespread legal status as such;
 - illegally refused to report crimes to police;
 - denied that such crimes are an absolute evil;
 - promoted moral relativism;
 - blamed the crimes of priests on society, or the 1970s;

I call on you to change your approach to dealing with this criminal activity by:

 - recognising the sexual abuse of children as a serious criminal offence;
 - recognising that your church has been complicit in concealing and protecting criminals, many of whom have then gone on to commit further such crimes;
 - apologising unambiguously for such crimes committed by your church's priests, and the protection of those criminals by your church;
 - insisting that allegations of crime are reported to police authorities;
 - cooperating fully with the police in criminal investigations;
 - reforming your church's culture of secrecy which provides freedom for criminals to commit crime with impunity;
 - recognising that justice and help for victims of crime is more important than protecting criminals;
 - recognising that bishops and others who knowingly covered up criminal abuse were complicit in those crimes;
 - defrocking all priests guilty of criminal abuse, and all those who were or are complicit in protecting them;

I recognise that this last point may apply to your own time in church office before or during your tenure as Pope, and that defrocking a Pope may not be possible within your church.  If this is the case, then I urge you to bring your tenure as Pope to an end at your earliest opportunity, using whatever methods are available to you.  This will perhaps bring the opportunity for wholesale reform of your church, the prevention of further criminal activity and fuller justice for your church's victims.

I abhor your blaming the criminal activity committed by your church, and its priests, on wider society and in doing so trying to absolve yourself and your church from responsibility.  That is the refuge of the lowest scoundrel and deserving of harsh judgement by all moral and right thinking people, whether they be religious, agnostic or atheist.

In the name of all the little children who have so cruelly been abused while under the care of your church, and its priests, I urge you to pray for the strength to take the difficult but right decisions.

Yours sincerely,

Billysugger