Celebrating sex offenders is obviously not what America is about; you would be hard pressed to find a person who thinks sex offenders are fine, upstanding members of their community. These are people that have clearly been convicted of a crime they deserve to be punished for. Whether or not said sex offenders belong in a registry was raised as a point of interest by Sean Kittridge. Well, we’re a little confused here. We think he meant to make that point — but see, we can’t really be sure because he got sidetracked so quickly. His point quickly changed from this argument to bashing the newest, en vogue topic, the Catholic Church. We feel that his strangely hypocritical piece painting all priests as frightening pedophiles that lure kids into steepled buildings with lollipops and pleas of lost puppies was more of an emotionally charged tangent than an argumentative, intellectual opinion piece.

One of Kittridge’s main points against the sexual offender registry is the fact that not all sexual offenders are the same. This is completely true. Not every single person on the sex offender registry spends his free time hitting on his prepubescent neighbors or Google searching for kiddie porn. Why, then, does this same logic not apply to Catholic priests? The fact is, Kittridge’s so called “arguments” against the Catholic Church serve no purpose other than to offend. Stating that anyone in a black priest robe becomes a child molester bears a pretty hefty weight. It is a grandiose, idiotic statement akin to stating that all men in turbans are carrying bombs in their underpants. It’s just not true. What I think you fail to realize is that every society, no matter where, has bad apples. We both agree that such apples should be swiftly sauced, but I fail to see how a few sickos in a group of mostly good men in the Church should be compared to a few good men in a group of mostly sickos on the registry. Furthermore, the Church spends much valuable time and money in active works of missionary and charity. In no way does the good of the Church protect or make such acts more acceptable, but by the same pedestal, the bad of the Church cannot completely unravel the good.

Sorry to say, but an editorial attacking a religion that 27% of America practices is nothing new or provocative (see also: “The DaVinci Code”). The fact that some twisted men became priests does not make the whole religion evil. If you’re saying that, you might as well also insinuate that those few plane hijackers represent the entire Muslim population. Ask anyone who grew up in the plaid skirt and saddle shoes with Sister Cyndi or Sister Marie, and they’ll tell you that they were taught to love their neighbors, respect their parents and take responsibility for the less fortunate. If that makes Catholics “the most terrible, untrustworthy human beings…”, then we’ll see the writer of this editorial in mass on Sunday.

Claire Courchane ([email protected]) a freshman hoping to study Journalism. Elle Lynch is a freshman studying Dairy Science.