Psychology

"Having encountered thousands of cases, it is my experience that the pedophiles who do go on to become actual child molesters do so when they feel the most desperate. Yet, much of what society does has been to increase rather than decrease their desperation."

"They are often unable to consult mental health professionals (because of mandatory reporting rules); their families will often disown rather than support them; and despite the openness of the Internet, there are few options for coming out and joining communities of other pedophiles for mutual support."

"The science suggests that [pedophiles] are people who, through no fault of their own, were born with a sex drive that they must continuously resist, without exception, throughout their entire lives. Little if any assistance is ever available for them."

"One cannot choose to not be a pedophile, but one can choose to not be a child molester."

"Fifty three per cent children in India face sexual abuse – both boys and girls – but we still feel uncomfortable talking about it. We are still hypocrites when it comes to issues like child abuse, sex or for that matter homosexuality. It is high time that we brought the issue from under the carpet."

"[Pedophiles must be] excluded from any possibility of access to young people, because we know this is an illness where free will does not work. We must protect these people against themselves."

"Here I would like to pause to acknowledge the shame which we have all felt as a result of the sexual abuse of minors by some clergy and religious in this country. I am deeply sorry for the pain and suffering the victims have endured and I assure them that, as their pastor, I too share in their suffering. ... Victims should receive compassion and care, and those responsible for these evils must be brought to justice. These misdeeds, which constitute so grave a betrayal of trust, deserve unequivocal condemnation. I ask all of you to support and assist your bishops, and to work together with them in combating this evil. It is an urgent priority to promote a safer and more wholesome environment, especially for young people."

"This investigation has identified some extremely dangerous child sexual offenders who believed paying for children to be abused to order was something they could get away with. Being thousands of miles away makes no difference to their guilt. In my mind they are just as responsible for the abuse of these children as the contact abusers overseas. Protecting the victims of abuse is our priority and that means attacking every link in the chain, from dismantling the organised groups who are motivated by profit through to targeting their customers."

"A criminal and immoral act which never can be considered normal or socially acceptable behavior."

"Children cannot consent to sexual activity with adults."

"No one [in the Vatican] thinks the sexual abuse of kids is unique to the States, but they do think that the reporting on it is uniquely American, fueled by anti-Catholicism and shyster lawyers hustling to tap the deep pockets of the church. And that thinking is tied to the larger perception about American culture, which is that there is a hysteria when it comes to anything sexual, and an incomprehension of the Catholic Church. What that means is that Vatican officials are slower to make the kinds of public statements that most American Catholics want, and when they do make them they are tentative and halfhearted. It's not that they don't feel bad for the victims, but they think the clamor for them to apologize is fed by other factors that they don't want to capitulate to."

"The term Reiki Master was a rough translation of Sensei, meaning respected teacher. In reality, no one can 'master' Reiki, because it is a divine energy, so in essence being a 'Reiki Master' means following a spiritual path towards self-mastery; this can be a physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually demanding healing journey, although of course it can also be very rewarding."

"Spiritual intelligence is concerned with the inner life of mind and spirit and its relationship to being in the world. Spiritual intelligence implies a capacity for a deep understanding of existential questions and insight into multiple levels of consciousness. Spiritual intelligence also implies awareness of spirit as the ground of being or as the creative life force of evolution. If the evolution of life from stardust to mineral, vegetable, animal, and human existence implies some form of intelligence rather than being a purely random process, it might be called spiritual. Spiritual intelligence emerges as consciousness evolves into an ever-deepening awareness of matter, life, body, mind, soul, and spirit. Spiritual intelligence, then, is more than individual mental ability. It appears to connect the personal to the transpersonal and the self to spirit. Spiritual intelligence goes beyond conventional psychological development. In addition to self-awareness, it implies awareness of our relationship to the transcendent, to each other, to the earth and all beings."

"The theory of spiritual intelligence is in the early stages of development and understandably controversial. Two psychologists, John Mayer (2000) and Howard Gardner (2000), disagree with the concept albeit for different reasons. Mayer proposes that spirituality is heightened consciousness rather than an intelligence, and that the paradigm of intelligence is too limiting because spirituality is more than abstract reasoning, a core feature of intelligence. Further, he does not distinguish spiritual intelligence from spirituality itself. Gardner, on the other hand, disputes the concept of spiritual intelligence in part because it cannot be supported by experimental psychological investigations or psychometric findings, two of his criteria for distinguishing an independent intelligence."

"To me, the term intelligence refers to a capacity or ability that primarily concerns performing valid abstract reasoning with coherent symbol systems. This abstract reasoning criterion overlaps only partly with the eight criteria of an intelligence, originally developed by Gardner, and used by Emmons to assess spiritual intelligence. The “abstract reasoning” criterion represents a more classical approach to intelligence... Emmons’s spiritual intelligence and its five aspects seem to cover a variety of parts of mental life: from structured aspects of consciousness to nonintellective personality traits. To me, Emmons’s proposed spiritual intelligence does not yet meet the criterion of primarily involving abstract reasoning. This does not preclude some future version of the concept from meeting such a conceptual criterion. Then, one could determine whether the intelligence also satisfies necessary empirical criteria."

"Gardner (1999) notes three distinct senses of spiritual intelligence: (1) Spiritual as concerns with cosmic or existential issues; (2) Spiritual as achievement of a state of being; (3) Spiritual as effect on others. Gardner goes on to make an argument that spiritual intelligence would be best served by being called existential intelligence."

"Zohar and Marshall (2001) describe three aspects of intelligence. The first intelligence is the intellectual or rational intelligence (IQ), which would be the intelligence used "to solve logical or strategic problems". The second intelligence is emotional intelligence (EQ), a "basic requirement for the effective use of IQ". The third intelligence is spiritual intelligence (SQ), which is the "necessary foundation for the effective functioning of both IQ and EQ". Spiritual intelligence can be described as conscience."

"Spiritual Intelligence is becoming more mainstream in scientific inquiry and philosophical/psychological discussion. It is the central and most fundamental of all the intelligences because it becomes the source of guidance of the other three. Spiritual intelligence represents our drive for meaning and connection with the infinite. Spiritual intelligence also helps us discern true principles that are part of our conscience, and are symbolized by the compass. The compass is an excellent physical metaphor for principles, because it always points north."

"Just as vision is inseparable from our spiritual intelligence, our capacity to handle ambiguity, uncertainty, and complexity is bound up with our emotional intelligence."

"I use "spiritual intelligence" in this sense, to refer to the capacity of the mind that is the basis of intelligence, the essence of consciousness, the knowing faculty. The consciousness of unconditioned being makes possible the perceptual or conceptual consciousness of phenomena. Spiritual intelligence can be seen as a uniting mode of thought which underlies and energizes the various forms that specific intelligences take in the world. The capacity to solve problems and create new knowledge. Imagination can be seen as a bridge between spiritual intelligence and the rational mind because it both allows the rational mind to connect to the spirit through image and translate spiritual knowing into specific intelligences or frames."

"Why is moral or spiritual intelligence not considered? Moral or spiritual intelligence serves as a reasonable candidate, although there is good reason to consider it as an amalgam of interpersonal intelligence and intrapersonal intelligence with a value component added. What is moral or spiritual depends greatly on cultural values; in describing intelligence's we are dealing with abilities that can be mobilized by the values of a culture rather than the behaviours that are themselves valued in one way or another."

"It is inconceivable that a piece of sculpture or a piece of music which gives us an emotion that we feel to be more exalted, more pure, more true, does not correspond to some definite spiritual reality, or life would be meaningless."

"An a priori decision to eliminate spiritual intelligence from consideration is no more justifiable than a decision to admit it by fiat or on faith. After all, once one includes the understanding of the personal realm within a study of intelligence, such human proclivities as the spiritual must legitimately be considered. There certainly are no easy grounds for a decision, but several other intelligences deal with phenomena other than sheer physical matter. If the abstract realm of mathematics constitutes a reasonable area of intelligence (and few would challenge that judgment), why not the abstract realm of the spiritual?"

"# The capacity to engage in virtuous behavior or to be virtuous (to show forgiveness, to express gratitude, to be humble, to display compassion)."

"# The ability to utilize spiritual resources to solve problems in living, and"

"# The ability to invest everyday activities, events, and relationships with a sense of the sacred."

"# The ability to enter into heightened spiritual states of consciousness."

"# The capacity for transcendence."

"At the minimum, spiritually intelligent individuals are characterized by:"

"How subtle and how wonderful does spirit act on things! There is nothing without electricity, and there is nothing without spirit. Spirit is the power of consciousness, the consciousness of the soul, spiritual intelligence, clear intelligence, and clear character. These are different in name but the same in actuality. As there is consciousness, there is attraction. This is true of the lodestone. How much more is it with man! Not being able to bear to see the suffering of others is an instance of this power of attraction. Therefore both humanity and wisdom are exercised (in action) but humanity is nobler..."

"With regard to intelligence: a really intelligent person is a person who is not deceived, that is, who does not deceive himself. We use the words "spiritual intelligence". The great Cosmic Forces which constitute the link, let us say, between the Logos and the Cosmos as it exists at present, are never described as Cosmic Intellects or Spiritual Intellects, they are always described as Spiritual Intelligences... Physical intelligence is the masked expression of the spiritual intelligence. We may imagine the spiritual intelligence as shining with a certain fight, but when the fight is fading so that it hides the Truth, some kind of a film, which is not altogether translucent, intervenes, and in that light you see only certain things."

"Whole sections of our Protestantism have lost the virtue of humanity or understanding of it. It means for them no more modesty or diffidence. It is humility of weakness, not of power. To many useful, and even strong, people no experience seems to bring this subtle, spiritual intelligence, this finer discipline of the moral man. No rebukes, no rebuffs, no humiliations, no sorrows, seem to bring it to them. They have no spiritual history."

"He sent such signs from the spiritual Sun realm to the Earth as were able to inspire the actions of Alexander on the one hand and the philosophy of Aristotle on the other and were able to bring about, so to speak, the last phase of inspired, spiritual intelligence on the Earth."

"I may cheer you up by saying that, although the path of preparatory discipleship is long and there are many obstacles and trials on this path, the mastering of these difficulties bring its own joy, achievement and revelation. Also, you must know that these tests are not artificially created but deal with the inner attitude and presence of mind of the disciple, giving him a chance to show how he will act in cases of sudden difficulty and amid general trying circumstances. In Theosophical literature seven years is usually mentioned as the first period of trial, followed by the next period of seven years. But these periods can be shortened or prolonged indefinitely. All depends upon the karma of the disciple and on his inner development and aspiration. For one must achieve the gradual opening of the higher centers; otherwise it is impossible to become an accepted disciple. But remember that until the age of thirty years is reached, not all the centers can be awakened without terrible harm to the organism. To force their opening is equal to suicide."

"To such a one, or to any spiritual intelligence, those of all grades of head and heart can turn in worship, in love, in trust. From all such beings, we humans can ask for aid, counsel or guidance. The untrained brain cannot grasp the vast idea of an intracosmic God, all-pervasive, all-sustaining; the concept bewilders the intellect and chills the heart. Yet without love and trust and worship the spiritual nature cannot awake, cannot develop; it is not the object of worship but the attitude of the worshipper that rouses the emotions which stimulate spiritual growth."

"He regards man as a spiritual intelligence, and he regards matter and force as of one nature, into which that spiritual intelligence comes, in order to study and know it. He does not confuse matter and spirit. Man is the living spirit, and his three great attributes are will, activity, and the power to know. And these three attributes of the spiritual intelligence are used in relation to matter and force, which are essentially one. Then our Eastern Scientist says that this spiritual intelligence takes on matter, and makes out of it what we call bodies, in order that he may come into touch with the various worlds of the material universe."

"When the spiritual intelligence, which stands alone and freed from objects, reflects itself in the mind stuff, then comes awareness of the self."

"For the transformation of the Ignorance into the integral Knowledge the growth in us of a spiritual intelligence ready to receive a higher light and canalise it for all the parts of our nature is an intermediate necessity of great importance."

"History must be so revised that while the Ultimate spiritual Intelligence is not yet denied, yet any definite knowledge of it in historical terms must be carefully eliminated. They will admit that all religions have a basal truth — viz., the existence of the spiritual."

"Spencer "was incapable", our critic haughtily re marks, "of discerning the difference between a homogeneity in matter, necessarily and blindly tending toward a heterogeneity, , and such a law of organism [sic], progress, and growth as requires a spiritual intelligence to originate and maintain it." Perheps he was a poor man! or perhaps he thought he had better discern and formulate progress where he could do it to the best advantage, and leave the postulating of spiritual intelligences to those who had a greater talent than he for building in the region of the unverifiable."

"That there is one living and true God, the Father almighty, who is unoriginated, independent, and eternal, the creator and supporter of all worlds ; and that this God is one spiritual intelligence, one infinite mind, ever the same, never varying."

"I agree with Herbert Spencer in believing that thought derives its laws from that universe of things whereof the Mind is a part ; and from this I further infer that our spontaneous conceptions agree with the reality of things, and that our knowledge has a rational basis. This escape from Agnosticism seems perfectly satisfactory ; so that the philosophy of Evolution, though it is despised as being materialistic, affords a basis for belief ; while those idealistic systems whereof Kant's is the type, which are constructed out of the mind itself, notwithstanding their vast pretensions to spirituality, lead by a direct and logical path to absolute theoretical scepticism. And if the intuitions of our Intelligence in relation to the external and visible world are true, we may consistently trust the intuitions of our moral and spiritual intelligence, which testify to the absolute difference between moral good and evil, and to the imperative character of the moral sense."

"Detective Tapp: You know, we arrested a dentist last week who liked to play with kids a bit too much. He lived two blocks from here. The sewer lines run under this neighborhood, Doctor."

"A lot of people when they hear the term pedophile, they automatically assume that it means a sex offender. And that isn’t true. And it leads to a lot of misconceptions about attractions toward minors."

"Ancestral humans behaved like this. Later, when we developed the family system, the use of sex for this sort of purpose became more limited, mainly occurring within families. A lot of the things we see, like pedophilia and homosexuality, may be leftovers that some now consider unacceptable in our particular society."

"The committee is gravely concerned that the Holy See has not acknowledged the extent of the crimes committed, has not taken the necessary measures to address cases of child sexual abuse and to protect children, and has adopted policies and practices which have led to the continuation of the abuse by, and the impunity of, the perpetrators. Due to a code of silence imposed on all members of the clergy under penalty of excommunication, cases of child sexual abuse have hardly ever been reported to the law enforcement authorities in the countries where such crimes occurred."

"It would be more correct to speak of ephebophilia; being a homosexual attraction to adolescent males ... Of all priests involved in the abuses, 80 to 90% belong to this sexual orientation minority which is sexually engaged with adolescent boys between the ages of 11 and 17.""

"Pedophilia means the excessive (sexual) love of children. It does not mean having sex with them, although that is what people generally have in mind when they use the term. Because children cannot legally consent to anything, an adult using a child as a sexual object is engaging in a wrongful act. Such an act is wrongful because it entails the use of physical coercion, the threat of such coercion, or (what comes to the same thing in a relationship between an adult and a child) the abuse of the adult’s status as a trusted authority. The outcome of the act — whether it is beneficial or detrimental for the child — is irrelevant for judging its permissibility."

"There is no way out, no place to run. The healthy, normal emotionally resilient child will learn to accommodate to the reality of continuing sexual abuse."

"In particular, the situation of "mandatory reporting" gives rise to serious reservations of both a moral and canonical nature."