Catholicism is morally sound and biblically correct

Rebuttal #1:I am sorry, but I do have to correct you on this one as it is clearly misrepresentative of the data. My data was derived from the USA ONLY, therefore appealing to the number of priests in the world compared to the number of alleged abuse cases is a fallacious argument. There are actually 41, 406 priests in America today, and therefore 4,392 makes up 10.6%. If around 10% of your priests have had alleged abuses lodged against them. . this is surely a rampant behavior. This is data collected by the Catholic Church in the John Jay Report. [1]Rebuttal #2:Celibacy is absolutely necessary in the Western Tradition, which is the one by which the Pope and the majority of the Church operate under. While the Eastern Catholic Church is in full communion with the Western Tradition, it has it's own self-governance and Code of Canons separate from Catholic Canon Law. To say that ministers who wish to marry should just become Eastern Catholics would be ridiculous as they would likely have to move to a foreign country (not very many parishes in the USA), and this also ignores the differences in theoloigcal emphases. Celibacy is the Law for someone in America (the country we live in) who wishes to become a priest, and they are bound by Canon Law to adhere to this. I recognize that becoming a Priest is not compulsory, and this inference is on your part alone. However, I know many friends who had a deep desire to serve God in a complete dedication of their lives thus becoming a Priest. .. yet also knew from a personal standpoint that they clearly had attractions to women. They would contrary to the clear commanding of Paul have to go without marrying and having children in order to serve God in this fashion. Rebuttal #3:My opponent now argues that other religions of the eastern variety do not have problems with sexual abuse, and this somehow refutes my argument that Celibacy can lead to sexual abuse. He did not however offer any sources to validate this claim in any way shape or form. This is surely not the case, as from a simple search I was able to obtain ample evidence of Monks sexually abusing children. [2][3][4]Instead of supporting my opponent's argument, the facts end up supporting the idea that religious leaders who are forced to be celibate can and often do engage in sexually abusing children (usually boys). Final Argument the Science of Sexual Desire:Sexual arousal is not a fully conscious act, it involves the often involuntary production of the "sex hormones" (testosterone, estrogen, progesterone, oxytocin and vasopressin). These hormones, such as testosterone in men, help regulate and control sexual motivation. Catholic Priests are no different, and not only that but men's sexual drives are stronger than women. This article details findings from some recent studies on the matter:"Data on spontaneous sexual arousal and desire reveal one way in which men seem to have a higher sesx drive. Beck, Bozman and Qualtrough (1991) found that men report more frequent sexual desire than women. Nearly all the men (91%) but only half the women (52%) experienced sexual desire several times a week or more. Their study also helped rule out the alternative explanation that women find it more difficult than men to recognize sexual desire, because men and women endorsed essentially the same indicators of desire. "[5]This would support the observation that male priest are more likely to engage in sexually abusigng children than nuns. Which also indicates that among men, it would be more difficult for them to remain celibate especially when testosterone the primary sex hormone can also lead to increased aggression, which can lead to the male forcing other such as small boys into performing sexual acts. [6]This of course is continued to be built on my argument that still has not been addressed from my last post, where I demonstrated that a leader/elder/overseer in the Church MUST be married and MUST have children in order to meet the qualifications. Kind Regards,TrueScotsman[1] . http://en.wikipedia.org...[2] . http://www.huffingtonpost.com...[3] . http://www.globalpost.com...[4] . http://www.bbc.co.uk...[5] . http://www.carlsonschool.umn.edu...[6] . http://www.scientificamerican.com...