BishopAccountability.org
	On Solidarity By Cody Shepherd Spectator Blog January 14, 2009 http://blog.su-spectator.com/?p=1255 Dare I broach the subject of the recent allegations against Fr. Sundborg? Or will the topic prove too sticky to unravel? No doubt I invite flaming comments simply by mentioning the man's name in passing. There are plenty of things to say, of course, about this country's legal process and about the methods of its media apparatus. Suffice to say, whether or not Fr. Sundborg is guilty of the crime(s) alleged by John Manly, Kenneth Roosa and Pat Wall, his life will consist mainly of turmoil for the next several years. Trials take a long time to play out in this country, and sexual abuse trials in particular tend not to leave even the innocent unscathed. My question has two parts: what is this lawsuit about, and what should it be about? This lawsuit is, after all, not about sexual abuse, no matter how much the over-cosmeticized television reporters at the press conference today were interested in the dirty little details, no matter how much Mr. Roosa would have us focus on the pain of his defendants. This lawsuit is about neglect. And the details of the accusations are murky at best - Fr. Sundborg may or may not have had knowledge about a certain file that may or may not have existed that may or may not have described possible alleged incidents of sexual abuse within Fr. Sundborg's moral and spiritual jurisdiction. Note, by the way, the way that rhetoric is used to distract from the ambiguities: Fr. Sundborg may have known of a "Hell file" (ah, what irony!); Mr. Roosa contends that Alaska was consciously selected as "a dumping ground for pedophile abuse" by the Catholic church; his stated goal is to "shine some light into a dark and dirty corner of Jesuit history." The thrill these kinds of words provoke, however vague their meanings, is surely nothing short of chemical. The lawsuit should be about our own role in this: How does our support of the Jesuit Order, through our enrollment in this school, and further, our continued national acceptance of the religious and moral authority that is the Catholic Order - guilty of over 4,000 sexual abuse incidents since 1950 (see the John Jay report on Catholic abuse cases) - conflict with our desire to dehumanize sex offenders and see all of their "conspirators" ruined? Isn't sex abuse systemic? Isn't it bred by the clash between Puritanical treatments of sexuality and vindictive, eye-for-an-eye systems of discipline? This lawsuit should be about whether Fr. Sundborg is perhaps a better man for resisting the reality television-driven need to Discipline and Punish in possible deference to human compassion and rehabilitation. I don't know the details, but notice that they have not been ventured by anyone. Because nobody wants to believe in the fundamental humanity of criminals. Someone points a finger and says "sex abuse" and everyone else does their best to distance themselves from the situation. Let's hear it for Dr. Christina Roberts, by the way, the only professor at this school to show her face at this morning's press conference. Where was everyone else? Where were all the Jesuits that live and work at this school? Did they show up to talk about their experiences with the issue? Did any of our learned beacons of "Leadership, Justice and Academic Excellence" come to try to clear up some of the intellectual murk being thrown around campus today? No. They were hiding, of course. Who from? You, me, the students at this school, the employees of this publication - hiding from anyone in the convenient position of being able to repeat thrilling words, avoiding actual dialectic while fancying themselves to be without complicity in the situation.
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