"The Catholic Sex Scandal, Monotheism, and Organizational Pathology"

Gus diZerega over at beliefnet has some interesting thoughts on the sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. You can find this and other subjects over at his site - A Pagans' Blog.

"But there is an interesting theological point here. The penchant for powerful centralized organizations that become corrupt at the top is something Christian monotheisms are particularly prone to because most have a radically hierarchical model of reality.

Smaller decentralized monotheistic groups do not have the numbers to seek political power and domination, but often have a similarly hierarchical view of a ultimate king share this weakness. As soon as they see an opportunity to exercise power their lust for domination is as strong as was the Catholic hierarchy when it was at the peek of its power. The conservative and right-wing branch of the Southern Baptists are proving this big time.

The problem is inherent in belief in a single divine "king" that can be understood as a "personality." It suggests that all good authority is ultimately top-down from a Big Boss. A human organization then takes it upon itself to serve as The Boss's representatives to the rest of us." ...(Cont.)...