On Sects and Celebrity Sex.

I just read that declining church attendances in Britain seem to be bottoming out. The Church of England says they’re stabilising, which isn’t necessarily so but let’s not split hairs. The poor clergy could do with a bit of good news after becoming increasingly redundant over the past few decades.

What bothered me a little was the fact that baptisms are actually going up. It seems to me that formally placing a child into a religious sect before he or she is old enough to make a considered choice is disrespectful to the child. And if the Church must have a baptism procedure, they might at least also have a formal opt out clause. The Church doesn’t allow for that, of course. Their view is ‘once we’ve got you, we’ve got you for life.’

‘I’ve heard about them cults, Ted,’ said Father Dougal. ‘Going around telling people our Lord is going to come back and judge us all.’ Yeah, right.

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And the Church’s reputation hasn’t been helped, of course, by the revelation of just how prevalent child sex abuse has been among its black-frocked ministers down the years. It probably still would be if we hadn’t moved to a more secular society, which makes you wonder what goes on in tighter-knit communities like the Bible Belt.

The latest revelations to ooze out of the woodwork are all about the older generation of celebrities. They’re falling like flies over here – famous names being questioned and/or charged over a variety of sexual crimes. It seems to have been part of showbiz culture over the past few decades. Maybe it still is.

I’m waiting for the politicians to have their turn. We’ve already heard how enamoured of young boys the late Cyril Smith was, and now a leading Tory has his head on the block over a charge of serious sexual assault. I doubt that one will go very far, though. Senior politicians are in the best position of all to keep their corner of the carpet well tacked down.

Still, the three women in Ohio escaped. That made me feel better.