The sexual victimization of children is a highly emotional issue. Publicity and controversy over complex topics such as repressed memory, satanic ritual abuse (SRA), and suggestibility of children have divided and polarized many child advocates, the media, and the American public. Especially in controversial cases, those at one extreme often claim that children are easily manipulated and that the allegations are frequently part of a big "witch hunt" led by overzealous fanatics or incompetent and money hungry "experts." Those at the other extreme often claim that victims do not lie about sexual abuse, that everything alleged happened exactly as alleged, and that protestations to the contrary are part of a powerful "backlash" led by child molesters or those denying the extent and reality of child sexual abuse. The continuing media coverage, movies, articles, and opinions about cases such as the Mc Martin case in Manhattan Beach, California, exemplify this highly polarized controversy
People are generally reasonable until they sense the deck is stacked against them. Then they revolt.
ReplyDeleteThe size of an underground economy, for example, generally correlates with the public's perception of government efficiency. A government with higher taxes that is perceived to provide good service for those taxes has less of an underground economy to deal with. People will pay taxes if they see they are getting value for their money. The opposite - a corrupt, decadent government, even one with lower taxes - will spawn a large underground economy. People don't want to give the bums their money.
The same thing is happening in Chareidi society. If the leadership was perceived to be competent and vigilant, people would give them the benefit of the doubt. Yes, rely on beis din. Trust what they say and follow their instructions. But that's not what's happening. Especially because of the internet, people have now learned that the system is irredeemably corrupt. The leadership see the people as stupid sheep to be micro-managed and who have no right to question them. So people push back. You say beis din will handle this? Bovine faeces. We know what how you helped the last 10 paedophiles that came your way. You say it's loshon horo? No way. Our children's safety is too important to fall for that.
The Walder case is just exposing those fault lines even more. Lines like "If you have a problem, go to your rabbi" don't work anymore except for the stupid and exceptionally naive because most others now know the rabbi will just use the information to protect and hide away the abuser. "Don't go to the police" doesn't work anymore because they know nothing else will stop the guy. It hasn't stopped the UO leadership from desperately continuing the same tactics - Walder is the real victim here and the women and men he molested are actually the aggressors - but the hamon am have figured it out.
What's next? What do you do when large numbers of UO's figure out that the leaders don't care about their abused children and actually got large numbers of them killed when they told them to avoid CoVID precautions? Where do they go?