Can People Change?

[MysticCat]

There's a huge difference between asking whether people can change in general and whether a specific person had changed. In general, yes it is possible for people to change, but that doesn't mean that everyone who claims to have changed really has. "Can people change" seems to me to be a rather useless question. "Has this person changed?" (or "Can this person change?") seems to me to be the question worth asking.

As for the clergy angle, the clergy are no different from any other occupation in that people go into it for a variety of reasons. I've had reason to know lots of clergy over the years (many of whom are kin), and for the most part the clergy I've known went into with the best of motives. But sure, there have been some that didn't, or that should've done something else.

For many years, I worked closely with lots of psychologists, and I came to the conclusion that there are basically two reasons that people go into that profession: a sincere desire to help others or an unconscious desire to figure out their own problems. I wouldn't be surprised if something similar holds for members of the clergy.