Re: [asa] New foray by the DISCOVER Institute

On Dec 23, 2007 4:22 AM, Iain Strachan <igd.strachan@gmail.com> wrote:
>

> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: PvM [mailto:pvm.pandas@gmail.com]
> >
> > Sent: Sunday, December 23, 2007 12:04 AM
> > To: John Walley
> > Cc: j burg; asa@calvin.edu
> > Subject: Re: [asa] New foray by the DISCOVER Institute
> >
> >
> >
> > and
> >
> > 'Odious as the physical abuse of children by priests undoubtedly is, I
> > suspect that it may do them less lasting damage than the mental abuse
> > of having been brought up Catholic in the first place. the mental
> > abuse constituted by an unsubstantiated threat of violence and terrible
> > pain, if sincerely believed by the child, could easily be more damaging
> than
> > the physical actuality of sexual abuse. An extreme threat of violence and
> > pain is precisely what the doctrine of hell is.
> >

> I have already shown that this is complete nonsense from my own empirical
> experience, but Pim either never listens to a contrary position or is
> unwilling to learn.

I am fully willing to listen to your empirical experience for whatever
it may be worth.

> I will state it again. In my experience of manning a telephone support line
> for the suicidal, there are many many instances of people in severe
> emotional distress because of actual physical sexual abuse that was
> inflicted on them, either as a child, or a teenager, or as a grown up in the
> case of victims of violent rape. The responses can be as severe as
> flashbacks where the victim will re-experience physically the pain, taste
> and nausea of the experience, for example of being forced to have oral sex.

Your point?

> Dawkins really doesn't know what he's talking about
> here, and in continuing to quote this part of Dawkins's book, Pim is showing
> absolutely no respect for such people and the suffering they continue to
> endure

Humbug my friend, pure humbug

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Received on Sun Dec 23 23:08:56 2007