Joseph Langen, author of The Pastor's Inferno, followed up on my advice to write about the pros and cons of buying your book. He posted his reasons on his Common Sense Wisdom blog: http://commonsense-wisdom.blogspot.com/2008/04/ conversations-with-calliope_29.html.
Here are ten reasons to buy his book, The Pastor's Inferno:
1. Start to understand about how abusive priests think.
2. Take some of the mystery out of the abuse epidemic.
3. Discover some of the influences on the development of abusive behavior.
4. Learn how temptation seduces people to abandon their morals.
5. Understand why moral values sometimes fail to control our behavior.
6. See the relationship between pride and humility.
7. Appreciate how people come to ask for help with their shortcomings.
8. Explore the possibility of redemption.
9. See how you can benefit from those willing to help, no matter what happened.
10. Learn more about the human condition.
And here are his ten reasons not to buy his book:
1. I don't want to even think about evil.
2. Abusive priests should be punished, not understood.
3. It's not my problem.
4. Who cares? The crisis is over anyway.
5. There's nothing I personally can do about it.
6. It's up to the pope and bishops to handle.
7. These priests are hopeless. Lock them up and throw away the key.
8. They don't deserve a chance for redemption.
9. Counseling doesn't work for these people.
10. It has nothing to do with how I live my life.
