Gina, so sorry to hear about your childhood and so proud of you for fighting back. The only way to deal with these bullies is to expose them; silence is consent. The closest I come to feeling "spiritual" is gazing at the Milky Way on a moonless night and experiencing the awe and amazement of the universe, but nothing supernatural.

I'm glad you chose to fight back and call them out. I'm glad that you continue to call out the lies, hypocrisy, and corruption.

Until the last point, I agreed with everything you said. Spiritualism is like getting rid of the god myths but keeping some form of life after death fairytale.

I'm very sorry that happened to you. You're remarkable and brave to share your story with us thank you.

So totally am with you Gina!
You were so brave!

Hi everyone
I do advocate for others because they still keep saying that the church effectively untouchable if your perpetrators are dead- not true but there is a tormenting torturous process to get justice- you have to fight them because they try and say you’re the only one so “too bad so sad” that attitude has to be met with legal action and then you need a solicitor that cares - I found one - originally the bishop wouldn’t accept his summons- so the solicitor summoned 21 people that surrounded him - another Clanger ? He actually sought out my compulsive carbolic aunt and sneakily talked to her about me for 2 hours - when I found that out I truely went ballistic and slapped an injunction on him- but I swear - there are days I look back- and wonder how I actually survived it the abuse the legal action- the process was in all honesty- a nightmare- but I’m still standing much to their annoyance

There is a quote, not verified or sourced, from a WWII death camp which goes something like this: if there is a god, he will have to ask my forgiveness.
I never suffered sexual abuse but i did endure physical abuse (i can recall the first and last times i was struck, but not many of the thousands of times in between). any abuse leaves scars, some often visible, but most not. the scars build up and form walls of defense and keep one from giving or receiving affection, even from those closest to us.
I sure hope you heal. it would be the best revenge...

Your bravery, tenacity and hunger for justice will have helped others.

But I don't think it is right that atheists should try to stamp out religion. It could antagonise theists and create a war which only entrenches the theist stance.

Take something away from someone and they will want it more.

It would be akin to dropping bombs on a foreign country, with the unwanted side effect of creating terrorists bent on getting revenge.

Logic and reason will win in the end.

Sorry this happened to you, no one should have to go through that, but you are my friggen hero for not only suing their asses, but for screaming at the top of your lungs to whoever would listen what pieces of absolute shit they all are.

It's a Crime!! That should be punished with Death!!

Your Accusations are Real, Correct and coherently correct without the audience of observers in viewing.

I didn't grow up in a Catholic area and didn't know much about what was going on. I guess most of what I know about this situation comes from watching the movie "Spotlight" (great, btw, if you haven't watched it yet--GO WATCH IT! WATCH IT NOW!) ok, enough all-caps... Also, when I lived outside Philly and got the Philly Inquirer they did a GREAT series on some of the stuff around pedophile priests and the power structure within the church that protected them. I also made some Roman Catholic friends once I moved to PA and at least one of them left the church over this and also over the bishops becoming involved in politics by stating that no RC should vote for any candidate that supports legal abortion even if they are (like Bob Casey Jr. and John Kerry) privately religiously opposed. I can only imagine how horrible being sexually abused by a person who should have been the MOST trustworthy, kind, and moral force in your community must have been, and the courage needed to come forward about it.

Organized religion is group-think which is the opposite of spirituality

I’m sorry that happened to you no child should ever have to go through that. I agree about religion Spirituality is another thing. I have no use for it. But if it works for who am I to care. I’m glad you came forward and stood up to the church.

No. Religions have no place in society.
My early life was in a nonreligious but brutally abusive situation. As I started school and seeing it wasn't normal, I started telling adults about it. Almost all responded with some religious toned bullshit as if to mitigate events.
I had no religion before, and certainly wasn't buying into to it then, or since.

That is so very sad. It angers me when someone who is supposed to be one with their God decides it is acceptable to violate the most vulnerable. ?

Well done!

Thank you for your bravery and strength to come forward and fight for justice

I commend you for standing up for justice, Gina. And I hope you've found reconciliation and control over your sense of self and identity after what was done to you so early in life.

I would hesitate to impute that sort of awfulness to anyone who participates in religious activities. You were in a terrible situation created and enabled by people who wore the outwardly-respectable mantle of what was then thought an unimpeachably good institution. Sadly, institutions are only as good as the people who occupy them and all people are fallible.

The question about does religion have a place in society -- we have to tolerate it when other people use their rights in ways we would not, as long as they aren't hurting the rest of us in the process. For the most part, my religious neighbors are good people and they don't hurt me by going to church on Sundays. That's not my way, it's not yours, but it's theirs, and if I want a right to be an unbothered atheist, then reciprocity demands that I respect their rights to be unbothered Christians.

I say the best policy is to evaluate people by what they actually do when faced with moral decisions, and to look at those sorts of things with clear eyes, fair attitudes, and open minds.

Thank you for having the bravery to go public with your story and thank you for sharing it with us here.

I believe that conservative religion and such orthodox religious beliefs should be banned because they encourage stupid thinking and behavior.

All religion does more harm then any good they think they do. in the old days they "converted" people with the option to choose or die. then they would hunt witches and test their thoughts about if they had one by killing that person. now today they are wedged into everything in our culture laws, goverment etc... religion has done way more harm then ever good

I like your remark about spirituality. You threw out the bath water and kept the baby.

I think what you did was courageous. I have no problem with spirituality. Sometimes l wish l had some. I know people who are spiritual, but it has more to do with the natural world around them.

So sorry that happened to you. But very happy you stood up to them.
I think religion has done more evil than good on this earth.

Religion is a business, spirituality comes from the soul