July 07, 2003

ELIMINATE THE NEGATIVE

Here are some opening paragraphs from recent stories about Bad Religious People:

A Roman Catholic priest and a Clay County Sheriff's deputy were among 18 people charged in a Kansas City area prostitution sting.

Bail was reduced today for a former Catholic priest accused of molesting a boy in Oceanside, but charges of child molestation and failing to register as a sex offender remain in place, for now.

A former Catholic priest who pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual abuse has started his 18-month prison sentence at the Maryland State Detention Facility in Jessup.

Prosecutors said they will file charges Monday against a retired Roman Catholic priest accused of molesting five boys,

A Contra Costa judge released a former Catholic priest accused of child molestation on his own recognizance Friday morning, one day after a U.S. Supreme Court decision overturned the law under which he was charged.

And then there’s this:

A 75-year-old religious leader has been charged with sexually assaulting a nine-year-old girl at a playground, police said Thursday.

What the ... ? Religious leader? In this case you have to go all the way to the final paragraph to discover the full details:

Mohammad Saydur Rahman, 75, an Imam at two area mosques who also teaches children, was to appear at a bail hearing Monday.

Just goes to show how we in the West will do anything we can to demonise Muslims.

(Tip from Zsa Zsa, as were several of the above. Keep 'em coming.)

Posted by Tim Blair at July 7, 2003 04:43 AM
Comments

Actually, to be fair, the headline does say "Imam, 75, charged with sex assault"

Posted by: Bill Herbert at July 7, 2003 at 05:03 AM

Headlines aren't usually written by the journalist. In the story, as distinct from the headline, the journalist has buried primary information in the final paragraph.

Posted by: tim at July 7, 2003 at 05:29 AM

SBS had a documentary from the UK about sexual abuse in Islamic communities in Britain- it is endemic.
The leadership responded in the same way as Hollingsworth did- they just moved the buggers on, so they had plenty of fresh meat.
Unlike Hollinsworth and the Anglicans, nothing has happened to the Moslem molesters.

Posted by: paul bickford at July 7, 2003 at 11:29 AM

It's like the fluffy wuffy media habitually identifying their enemies as "conservatives", while calling pinko fantasists and nutbars "experts" or merely generic "academics".

Also, re this subject: About eighteen months ago there was some huge class action brought (or at least planned) against the Hare Krishnas because of abuse of acolytes, at least some of it sexual. Didn't get much of a run in the press as far as I can recall.

Posted by: Matt at July 7, 2003 at 12:33 PM