I dare say that probably a majority of church-goers would not want sex offenders to be in their presence. Also, I would say that failure to adequately protect children on the church premises could result in horrific liability issues should something go wrong.

At issue is the presumption that a sex offender is a danger to the public. While certainly, some sex offenders are a public menace, others are clearly not. The matter at hand is not to analyze the scope of sex crimes or those crimes that should or should not require registration. I think the issue is whether a sex offender has any human rights at all once the offender’s sentence is carried out.

In theory, any person who was convicted of a crime should face no institutionalized discrimination once their sentence is served. This concept is becoming more of a fantasy, however, in a society that prefers to stigmatize and ostracize offenders in general and especially sex offenders. Why?