Creepy Evil People

Two items struck us lately, both grim. Neither, we regret to say, is especially unusual. But each is dreadful in its own way.

First, we see that the Rev. David Radtke has been arrested for repeatedly fondling a teen-aged student from Spain who was stating with his family. Radtke, an LCMS pastor who for the moment remains under call at St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Gibbon, MN, has apparently confessed and said that he will take responsibility for his crimes. This is a nice sentiment, and but there is no meaningful chance that Radtke will be able to undo the damage he has done, either to this poor (but quite brave) girl, or to his own parish, or the the reputation of the Christian churches throughout the world. So thanks for nothing, you creepy pervert.

And in the same news feed, which clearly originates in Hell, we read that Libyan soldiers loyal to Gaddafi have been using rape to punish and terrify their victims. Apparently, they have been doing this on a pretty large scale -- a psychologist investigating something else entirely stumbled upon 200+ reported cases, meaning (as it always does with sexual violence) that there are likely to be many, many times that number which will never be reported.

We will spare you the details of both stories; trust us when we say that one cannot read them without rage. Follow the links if you must.

And while it may seem unfair to throw a creepy middle-aged man giving unwanted midnight "massages" to his houseguest up alongside bloodthirsty killers, we aren't so sure.

We just wrote, and deleted, a long and pretentious post on power, privilege and the narcissistic misuse of sex. But you know what? Egg readers are smart people, and we're going to bet that you already have that stuff down cold.

So instead, after a couple of weeks when the former Governor of California and the former director of the International Monetary Fund have given breathtaking witness to the capacity of powerful men to use abuse powerless women, let's just take a moment to remember the obvious fact that not all these men are movie stars and Socialist bankers, living lives of obvious privilege. As we all know, evil is everywhere.