These last few days have been dreadfully sad as day after day more news of the horrors that were perpetrated on the babies and young children who died in the Christian Mother & Baby Homes is published.
Putting into words exactly how I feel is exceedingly difficult, words like Barbaric, Vile and Despicable come into my mind. In some ways perhaps, I now have a greater understanding of how the non-combatant Germans felt on hearing of the horrors of the concentration camps. For both organisations deployed their tyranny over the innocent.
This is the third set of diabolical secrets that have come to light in recent years and all of them against young women and children. I ask myself why should I be surprised, considering that there are ancient places in every locality in Ireland that have been used for the burial of unbaptised babies and suicides who were banned from burial in Roman Catholic cemeteries.
ref: http://aheronsview.blogspot.ie/2011/02/sacred-land.html
One may ask how all these atrocities were ignored by the authorities and it is because of the dominance of a christian sect, namely the Roman Catholic Church who were given total control over the welfare of the nation's Colleges, Schools, Hospitals and various Institutional Homes.
The majority of people,the politicians, civil servants, Garda(Police) and Armed Forces personnel have been educated by the R.C.C. and brainwashed into believing that this particular sect is the sole authority of their one great God. Fear was and is the key. Keep the people in fear that they won't go to heaven unless they obey all of the R.C.C. rules. This Tyranny of Fear has been practiced by them for centuries.
A question that I have often asked of christian priests is this:
"If Mr Jesus returned today would he recognise The Church as being an organisation that represents his views and values?"
This generally met with silence and/or a slight shaking of the head.
Although I am not a christian I did spend a considerable amount of time as a younger man researching christianity and other religions, none of which I was drawn to. Christianity is supposed to be based on Love and Forgiveness yet the way in which it is practised love and forgiveness are subject to conditions not mentioned by Mr Jesus.
Since the three sets of atrocities have come to the fore, there has been a steady decline of church attendance in towns and cities, as peoples awareness of the rights of individuals and the wrongs of church officials becomes apparent. That is no bad thing.
Putting into words exactly how I feel is exceedingly difficult, words like Barbaric, Vile and Despicable come into my mind. In some ways perhaps, I now have a greater understanding of how the non-combatant Germans felt on hearing of the horrors of the concentration camps. For both organisations deployed their tyranny over the innocent.
This is the third set of diabolical secrets that have come to light in recent years and all of them against young women and children. I ask myself why should I be surprised, considering that there are ancient places in every locality in Ireland that have been used for the burial of unbaptised babies and suicides who were banned from burial in Roman Catholic cemeteries.
ref: http://aheronsview.blogspot.ie/2011/02/sacred-land.html
One may ask how all these atrocities were ignored by the authorities and it is because of the dominance of a christian sect, namely the Roman Catholic Church who were given total control over the welfare of the nation's Colleges, Schools, Hospitals and various Institutional Homes.
The majority of people,the politicians, civil servants, Garda(Police) and Armed Forces personnel have been educated by the R.C.C. and brainwashed into believing that this particular sect is the sole authority of their one great God. Fear was and is the key. Keep the people in fear that they won't go to heaven unless they obey all of the R.C.C. rules. This Tyranny of Fear has been practiced by them for centuries.
A question that I have often asked of christian priests is this:
"If Mr Jesus returned today would he recognise The Church as being an organisation that represents his views and values?"
This generally met with silence and/or a slight shaking of the head.
Although I am not a christian I did spend a considerable amount of time as a younger man researching christianity and other religions, none of which I was drawn to. Christianity is supposed to be based on Love and Forgiveness yet the way in which it is practised love and forgiveness are subject to conditions not mentioned by Mr Jesus.
Since the three sets of atrocities have come to the fore, there has been a steady decline of church attendance in towns and cities, as peoples awareness of the rights of individuals and the wrongs of church officials becomes apparent. That is no bad thing.
What has come to light in recent days is appalling and incredibly sad
ReplyDeleteand I completely agree with the sentiments expressed in your post.
No doubt this was a difficult topic to write about but I am glad that you did so.
Horrors such as these should not be hidden but talked about so that they never happen again.
Thank you Jane and you are correct. It was difficult to express my thoughts and even after starting I very nearly stopped and put it aside.
DeleteThe victims need us to converse, to understand the why's of the whole damn business, it would be too easy to sweep it under the carpet and take the cowards way out!
Yes Mel
ReplyDeleteThis is truely a time of awakening...of the cruelty meeted out by people who were supposed to love and care, It is time that the Roman catholic church was taken to task for crimes against humanity. We have all been blinded for so long, thinking that heads of churches and also politicians were above these sort of acts....now we see, and we should never ever let these sort of things happen again.
Blessings
Margaret xx
Thank you for your comments Margaret.
DeleteI think of myself as a spiritual person, but belong to no church, they are scary places placing doctrine ahead of people.
ReplyDeleteThank you Janet, I see we are of like minds.
DeleteI am sue Jesus would have nothing to o with any of them.
ReplyDeleteLike you I have no affiliations to any church - I live by my own moral code, I don't need anyone telling me what to do.
Thanks for your comment Weaver. I do not think he would recognise them as being his representatives, more likely give them a severe lecture and a spoonful of forgiveness.
DeleteIsn't it awful that religions take over from the original message? Jesus himself was rebelling against the harsh, nonsensical values and practices of Judaism in the century before him, so he preached a doctrine of love and charity. That is what Christianity is. Mohammed did much the same, but look at modern fundamentalist Islam? It is busy meting out the same barbaric practices against women as the Catholic church did in Ireland. And why is it women and innocent children who always suffer? There is nothing wrong with the principles of Christianity or Islam; they were introduced in response to the appalling wrongs of their own societies. But once again, it is the people who twist those principles into a mockery of what they were supposed to mean who have performed these despicable , heartless cruelties. It is actually humanity, or rather the lack of it, that is the problem, and yes, it is sickening.
ReplyDeleteThank you Val. Patriarchal religions have a lot to answer for don't they ?
ReplyDeletePerhaps it would be good to consider whether Matriarchal ones would be any better ?
I wonder…have you ever read Holy Blood, Holy Grail? It is fascinating as a study of the history of the church in the context of the various ages. It also suggests pretty strongly that one of the things the church has done its best to squash and hide over the centuries is the possibility that Jesus was a married man, that his wife was Mary Magdalen and that he had a child, which would destroy many of the premises on which the church built itself. It also suggests that originally women had a much more prominent place in Christianity, but this was also ruthlessly quelled by the church.
DeleteYes Val I did read that book, the theories were very plausible and acceptable. One incident in regards to Mary Magdalene and Jesus which is greatly over looked. Is that she washed and anointed his feet, which indicates that in mystical terms the MM was on par with him or even higher because he went on eventually wash the feet of the disciples.
DeleteMy own father left the Catholic church at age twelve, completely understanding the Church had abandoned his Irish Catholic mother to her fate with five children and her Irish Catholic husband deserting them. Her many siblings were (are), staunch Catholic. My childhood was punctuated with priests of the local parish waylaying my brothers and me to tell us our parents were living in sin (Baptist mother, fallen father) and we would go to hell. I suppose they influence my subscription to no formal religion.
ReplyDeleteWe as a people have been kept in the Dark for too long, as the light is being shone on our recent past and the horrors of fear induced blind obedience and pregnant silence have begun to be illuminated, will we act or will we just stay in the cage we have survived in for centuries. I believe the testimonies being given over the last days by the children and mothers directly effected will open the hearts of the listeners and in every community there will be visits to the know childrens graveyards and gifts and tokens and songs and poems and heart felt prayers, without a priest or nun having any hand or act in such a ceremony.Thanks Mel for your Post
ReplyDeleteMy thanks to you to Ms, Mrs, Miss or Mr for your deep understanding.
DeleteThank you for sharing Joanne - there is nothing worse than institutional bigotry coming from an adult and spoken to a young person.
ReplyDeleteMany religions which started out as a force for good were quickly seized on as a way of control and are still being used as such today. Otherwise there is no explanation why so many religions appear to be so remote from basic humanity. I would like all religious teachings taken out of schools and for everyone to learn to live together with compassion and understanding x
ReplyDeleteCompletely agree with you Fran.
DeleteBrian wrote:
ReplyDeleteThe 1937 Constitution contained sectarian elements. Successive Governments failed to live up to the 1916 proclamation. Government agencies failed to exercise their statutory responsibilities and the "free press" Ignored the problem or was asleep.
Lessons must be learned!
Brian Furlong
Agreed & thank you.
DeleteWhat has reached the media is revolting but we all knew it was happening, and participated. The domestics of the boarding school I attended were from the adjoining laundry. Who we thought were mentally challenged were in fact just institutionalised. When the boarding school closed they stayed. We all know if you dig around any of the homes/reformatories around the country you will find tens of thousands of children's bodies.
ReplyDeleteAl-Jazera (a Muslim news station) broke the international story but it was ONLY when the WASHINGTON POST reported it did Enda Kenny/Ireland respond, this story was previously reported & ignored in Ireland some years ago. It is to the benefit of the controlling powers to keep all under the carpet. Being forced to look at it by the world gives us a chance to clear it & change it. A positive result me thinks, even if we have been disgraced internationally.
Your comment is a contribution which is greatly appreciated Ita, many thanks.
DeleteCouldn't agree more, secularists everywhere should be giving these institutions a political and legal "hard-time" at every turn, once bitten etc.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Thank you for your suggestion.
Delete