From today's Los Angeles Times:

http://www.commondreams.org/views07/0316-31.htm

by Sam Harris

Well spotted Rick. Reminds me of:

The Catholic church's mishandling of pedophile scandals among its clergy has been going on for hundreds of years, a new book reveals.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/04/16/1082055655959.html

"Some bishops have been heavily criticized for moving offending priests from parish to parish rather than seeking to have them stripped of their faculties."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholic_sex_abuse_cases[/url]

By the way, what is being "stripped of one's faculties?" Sounds painful. And so it should be!

I watched this Google video yesterday which brings the allegations right up to the present, implicating the current pope in the on-going cover-up, no less.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5...06158&q=vatican

BTW, maybe that "Beyond Belief" conference helped Sam. At the conference he seemed to be quite heavy handed against Muslims and comparitively noncritical of the Christian.

he is very critical of both Christians and Muslims