re: #114 A hollow voice says NOW drain that swamp!

Hyperbole much? The best data I could find are several years out of date, but at that time there were about 300,000 clergy in the US.

Depends on how you define hyperbole.

I know for sure that 600,000 dead from covid is only a tiny fraction of the American population, but I know for damn sure I am not going to hang around conservatives who deny the seriousness of the problem.

To some extent, clerical sexual abuse exists in every religious group, experts say. But quantifying the problem is almost impossible.

A handful of studies compiled by the Center for the Prevention of Sexual and Domestic Violence, some more than a decade old, suggest that up to 15 percent of clergy members in all religious groups have engaged in some inappropriate conduct [my emphasis], whether a stolen kiss or full-fledged sexual abuse. But few authoritative statistics are available on the number and type of complaints, and what information churches collect is usually kept secret.

(more)

Abuse by Clergy Is Not Just a Catholic Problem (more, New York Times, April 13, 2002)

And that “hard to come by” statistic from then is by design of churches. The numbers aren’t better today on the extent because they want it that way.

15% is a hell of a big number of clergy who have engaged in “inappropriate behaviour.”

So the number is roughly one-in-seven. That’s a hell of a lot better odds than dying of covid to date.

In my mind, no, that is not hyperbole.

Moreover, churches themselves are never held responsible for the people who commit the crimes.