The Catholic child sex abuse scandal has hit Kirkland and the Seattle Archdiocese is being sued.

And there’s rumor that Pope Benedict XVI could be arrested when he visits England on Sept. 16. The arrest-the-Pope movement was started by two British atheists, Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hutchins.

You know, if the Catholic church were a national day care chain having this same scandal, it would be closed down in a week. Parents would be yanking their kids out at light speed. But not with the Catholic church. It’s “The Church,” so we must tread respectfully and softly.

Not anymore. Not with child rapists running rampant and with church leaders covering it up.

Many atheists and some “recovering Catholics” are salivating at the thought of the infallible Pope getting arrested for accomplice-after-the-fact to child rape. He may, however, have diplomatic immunity, meaning he can’t be criminally charged for aiding and abetting. But if the institutionalized concealment of child rape is a “crime against humanity,” then even a head of state can be criminally charged in the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands. And there’s always a civil suit.

The Catholic church must stop putting the institution and its leaders before its flock. Yes, of course, not all Catholics are bad. Most priests, cardinals, bishops and popes are not child rapists, or accomplices thereto, but far too many are – way too many to be “just a few bad apples.”

Catholics should consider quitting this organization that is rife with sexual deviancy and the coddling of child molesters. If it were any other kind of organization, it would be shut down. Why the exception for religion?

Jeff E. Jared is an attorney and political writer in Kirkland who writes from a libertarian and law-and-economics perspective.