You could expand beyond just Catholics

Just one example

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/faqs-sexual-abuse-southern-baptist/

Indeed. Never leave your kid alone with a priest. I was that kid.

Kids have a blast at drag shows.

I'm sure there are some preists who are good people, but enough of them are predators that it ain't worth the risk

The position just attracts too many pedos to give any one of them the benefit of the doubt

How do you even apply for a job like that? If it’s like any other interview, surely there’s some sort of psychological assessment or a background check. Maybe you just need to wear a fanatic facade, and you’re hired… I just have no idea how Catholics roll.

Kids are safest when they never existed in the first place.

Recently had to file a report at a state-run insurance and they have a dedicated button on their webpage for "sexualized violence in churches".

I do wonder, is it the churches themselves that are insured that way? Because surely the victims get paid from the lawsuit, not from insurance.

But either way, that is fucking harrowing that they have a dedicated button for it.

I get that it's probably just a matter of "we offer insurance for this, so we'll have a button for it". But even that someone in a government-near position decided "kids get raped in churches so often, and we expect more cases to happen or be uncovered, so we should add an insurance for that to our portfolio", that concept just does not fit into my brain.

This. Ultimately, it's about people having a heavily trusted position (priest, teacher, babysitter, police whathaveyou) taking advantage of the utmost vulnerable: children.

I'm so sorry, and I hope that you're okay now.

Most priests aren't paedophiles.

The problem is that the hierarchy actively protects and covers up those who are, to the extent of moving them to different parishes if people get suspicious. And to be clear, this isn't because popes are necessarily in favour of paedophilia (though I'm not saying none are...), it's because the clergy are more concerned with the prestige and survival of the institution than they are with the well-being of lay believers.

Basically, you need to go to Catholic university to get a degree in theology. There is a while process of attending courses and getting additional qualifications to get higher ranks. Freemasonry was partly modelled on this.

Let's do another religion too

https://www.nst.com.my/amp/news/crime-courts/2025/02/1180698/ustaz-trial-sexually-assaulting-5-students-slapped-another-charge

I do not trust pious people for this reason. The closer to god they claim they are, the further you should stay away from them.

Because there's no pretender in drag show.

Also the seal of confession. Paedo priests would confess their abuse to all of their colleagues using it. Thus they can't do anything or they'd be accused of breaking said seal

In other news, water is wet.

Any place where individuals hold a position of trust and authority is going to attract all kinds of abusers.

Not from hellfire

Which is why people in such positions should be held to a higher standard

Former insurance agent here (personal lines, so I never dealt with churches, but still)

They almost certainly are. Liability insurance usually excludes intentional harm (including sexual assault of any kind), however there are usually ways to acquire coverage for those intentional actions. On a personal level, umbrella coverage will provide it.

They likely don't sell specific "Pastor sexually abusing a child coverage", that button is more there for the victims/their parents to have an easier time filing a claim. Helpful, but depressing.

Oh, really?

•music too loud

•choke on rhinestone that flew off during dancing

•crushed between two sweaty drag queens

•drugs sometimes

Oh, wait, you said safer. Yeah.

Agreed

Not a priest, but a southern baptist youth minister, I was also that kid.

Mormons too

Looking at the number of times I've seen a respectable news source report abuse from church members versus the number of times I've seen a respectable news source report a confirmed hellfire burn being treated at the local hospital, I'll take my chances with the hellfire.

No problem with trans or drag shows but why do they do them for children? Would a burlesque show be available for children?

They're equally safe from said fictional punishment

I don't know anybody, myself included certainly, who doesn't have a story about a youth pastor.

Uninformed straight white guy here: Drag does not intrinsically share the sexualization commonly associated with modern use of the term burlesque. But, yes, a burlesque show that doesn't mistakenly assume that burlesque is entirely about stripping/nudity might in fact be available for children.

Sprinkler thought, this is a no-brainer

Damn, when did r/antinatalism migrate here

You should see what child beauty pageants are like before you even grab that stone

I'm not wrong though.

How bro felt after saying that

I certainly don't think they are acceptable either. 😂

The drag shows I've seen advertised certainly look sexual. Corsets, push up bras etc etc. Just be trans person and talk to kids if it's to help then. No need to dress up like a 70s transvestite.

Yes, I know.

However, I would prefer them to be at drag story time.

It's been over four decades. I think healing started this year when I was able to finally put it into words.

The secondary abuse from everyone else protecting the predators and blaming the victim also leaves deep scars. The Epstein stuff made me realize how extensive that network really is.

It's been a trope since at least the 1500s that clergy are pedos, "Julius Excluded from Heaven" by Erasmus contains this exchange between Saint Peter and the recently deceased pope Julius:

PETER: [... ] I hope it won't be too tiresome for you to answer a few clumsy questions about the details. Who, for example, are these little curly-headed striplings?
JULIUS: I brought them up for my diversion.

https://web.archive.org/web/20090326073147/www.history.ucsb.edu/faculty/lansing/classes/hist4b/materials/Week7.pdf

Drag IS NOT the same thing as being trans.

Drag artists are performers who can adjust their shows for different audiences.

I personally don't like enjoy drag, but it's more than RuPaul.

This is quite the take

The Epstein class is really into that type of thing

Not to mention that no one brings their kids to drag shows. But everyone takes their kid to church, and a lot of churches even have daycares attached where you can leave them all day.

Definitely sexual abuse is not limited to Catholicism, they just had an extraordinarily structured operation of it that was understood and tolerated at the highest levels. It was a system, not a pattern of instances. That’s why they’re irrevocably associated with this.

Drag performers sometimes do child friendly events such as story time, but there's nothing sexual about those events. In fact, it's no question why kids would be drawn to being read stories by someone in a whimsical costume.

Fwiw, even burlesque performers sometimes do family friendly events (for obvious reason they do an outfit change rather than a strip tease). Anyone who does adult shows is very aware of the line between family friendly and not, and likely knows the local blue laws better than anyone else

that's a really hot take

So drag performers dress sexually to explain inclusion to children but they aren't trans. Did I get that right?

I thought the whole purpose was so that trans children don't feel outcast or different. Wouldn't it be better to have trans people talking to them instead of drag queens?
"Edited due to horrible typo"

I'm gonna throw you a bone for that

Would a burlesque show be available for children?

Yes, burlesque performers sometimes do family friendly events. They typically do outfit changes or character work, not strip teases for obvious reason.

Regardless, drag isn't inherently sexual. It can be made sexual for an adult context but on its own, it's costuming and character work.