Sunday, October 03, 2010
PERSONAL MOLLY'S TRIP TALES:FUN AT THE AIRPORT WITH GOD BOY AND GOD GIRL:
We're off and running, or at least hanging around in a lineup waiting for boarding at the airport. Putter, putter, putter, eavesdrop, eavesdrop, eavesdrop.The plane will be flying from the wilds of Winnipeg to a gentle civilized land of milder weather...with an unfortunate stop over in that northern extension of Alabama known as Alberta. Or at least that is what is believed by those that think Noah's Flood deposited it there. The pair in front of us are, appropriately enough, two evangelicals just returning from praying up a storm down east somewhere, and they are in full Jesus mode.
My nose starts twitching when God Boy opens his mouth to launch into his Muslim conspiracy spiel connected with the Cordoba Islamic Centre in New York which he, of course, calls a mosque. Now understand that Molly grew up out in the country on the Canadian prairies. I have also spent over 40 years listening to leftist hogwash of various sorts from 'dialectics' to 'abolishing civilization' with all the nonsense in between. What I can say is that my nose is so good that I can smell the excrement from the hind end of a male animal of the bovine persuasion from 5 miles away...upwind.
The old nostril hairs stand erect as God Boy jumps from the North America continent to (I think) Europe with his concern that "10 years ago there were only 800 mosques and now there are 80,000". He is, of course, off by a factor of about 10. Yet he goes on about how this is true for everywhere in Europe "except Russia".Uh Yeah ! This is prefaced with what really set the old nose hairs tingling. He was "there on a security job for the American government". All that I can say is if the US Empire has been reduced to hiring idiots who brag about such things in public lineups then it is in even more trouble than I could imagine or even want. Sorta reminds me of some of my braggart would-be revolutionist anarchist "comrades".
The conversation goes on, and God Boy has the floor. To my horror he says what may be the only true part of his monologue...he's apparently a "teacher". That I can believe. It doesn't take much smarts to bullshit in front of a bunch of kids at the 'Holy TV Hour Bible School' in Constipation, Alberta. Then we're off into the ozone again about the dastardly Islamic plot concerning the naming of the 'Cordoba House' in New York.
A little aside and a small history lesson here. The Moors invaded Spain in 711 AD, overthrowing the ruling Visigoth kingdom who were not a great source of fun for the average downtrodden peasant. The new rulers were a slight improvement over the Visigoths, particularly the Emirate of Cordoba who set some sort of standard for the day of enlightened rule and tolerance to other religions (Christian and Jewish). The Emirate, however, ceased to be in 1031.Muslim rulers who followed this emirate were at least half as nasty as the Christians. I have a sneaking suspicion that the example of this emirate was high in the minds of those who decided to set up the centre in NYC, in more than childish ignorance of what country they lived in and the equally childish innocence of their belief that Americans would "get the message" of tolerance and living peaceably together. This in a country in which the majority of its citizens can't identify their own states, let alone tell that 'Bahrain" is not a weather condition.
But back to God Boy. He's on a roll. What according to him is the "reason" for naming the centre (mosque-sic) after Cordoba. Well, it's because "in the Second Crusade the Moslems took Cordoba". The Second Crusade (another boring history lesson) by the way was from 1145 to 1149, and its object was the recovery of Edessa which had been recaptured subsequent to its capture in the First Crusade. Let Molly remind you that the Emirate of Cordoba was overthrown by another Muslim power in 1031. Lest you think that God Boy simply is not only about 3,000 kilometers and 100 years out to lunch (or is it 400 years out to lunch) consider the following.
I've already spoken about the naivete of the Muslims who set in motion the idea of the Cordoba Centre. Their ignorance might be compared to that of say a Canadian immigrant to Greece or Turkey ignorant of history who was to praise the wrong country in public company. One could adduce other examples as well. There is what may be described as "honest ignorance", but then there is something that might best be described as "deliberate ignorance with malevolent intent". In such cases one believes a rather treacherous "authority" because the statements of said authority accord with what one wants to believe. If the reader has some slight knowledge of either medicine or anthropology he or she can find great and grievous examples of such malevolent evil and deliberate ignorance amongst the American perversion of anarchism called "primitivism", and their bizarre idea that their fantasy of "traditional healing" can more than replace modern medicine (a great evil in their pretty well religious point of view). But that is certainly another subject.
Where the Holy Rollers of Alberta get their perversion of history is from a peripheral event in the Second Crusade. The crusaders had already acquired a well deserved reputation for treachery, brutality and thievery in the First Crusade. The main efforts of the Byzantine Emperor Manuel during the Second Crusade were to get the armies through Byzantine territory with the minimum of pillage on other Christians. The greatest effort of "fighting for God" of the crusaders, of course, occurred in the Fourth Crusade when the armies of God sacked Constantinople. But during the Second Crusade a number of those bound for the so-called 'Holy Land' saw an opportunity for profit in hiring themselves out to the King of Portugal in his campaign to conquer what is now Lisbon. They were, of course, promised the opportunity of looting. They succeeded, and the inevitable happened.
Sometime, somehow some ill intentioned "authority" amongst the Evangelists got hold of this peripheral factoid, and through great distortion, both deliberate and inadvertent it got worked up into the nonsense that God Boy believes. Somehow Cordoba got thrown into the mix, particularly as it was ideologically useful in present day America. God Boy is, of course, just as unlikely to check his facts as a true believer in the great wisdom of so-called "primitive" people is.
Well let's just say that I was "hot to trot" to get at this guy. The wife told me that I had "the look" on my face that signals that I am about to attack either verbally or physically. It's the same look that I use to deal with street demons in Winnipeg. God knows that I hate to leave gross bullshit uncorrected. On the other hand the self preservation instinct was operating as well. It actually DID go through my mind to call out to security when the argument got too heated and they gathered around that I suspected God Boy of being some sort of "fundamentalist terrorist" who planned to blow the plane up. All that would have accomplished, however, would be for BOTH of us to be in the back rooms. So I shut my face.
Hooray for self control because I would have missed the best part. God Boy was doing his best to be impressive to God Girl, all the way from his "secret agent man" pose to his "intellectual" lectures. God Girl, however, was not to be outdone, and she pulled one of what I assume is a great trump card in such circles...healing. While she was down in Ontario she went traipsing down to a revival meeting at about the same time the rest of us would be heading to the bar. Her problem according to her own view of her condition was that she had had years of "bleeding in the knee" whatever that means. YET...when she prayed and went before "Brother X" (I forget the name) she was "healed". Better than that EVERYBODY, her doctors, her relatives, her friends, strangers, EVERYBODY had always told her that it was her right leg that was the problem. Brother X, however, "discovered" that it was her LEFT leg that was lame. He prayed for its healing, and YES it was healed. Praise God !
At this point the line started to move. God Girl moved forward with the rest of us limping severely ON THE RIGHT LEG. We boarded the plane. God Girl sat forward from us. As we tried to get past God Boy was saying his goodbyes to God Girl. I couldn't escape the impression that I had witnessed some sort of primitive and crude sexual display behavior gone seriously wrong.
Ah well, that was my adventure in anthropology during this trip.
Just as a note to the wise...I have as little sympathy for Isalamic loonies as I do for evil "Christian" loonies. It's just that THEY would NEVER spew their bullshit in a public lineup AND MOST IMPORTANTLY nobody with knowledge would ever suffer consequences for correcting them. Unless, of course, they lived in one of the theocracies that mirror the USA in the Middle East. Consider what you have to fear the next time you travel.
Labels: free speech, free trade deal, Molly's trip, personal, religion
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
HUMOUR:
YOU JUST CAN'T WIN:
Click the graphic for better viewing.
Labels: cartoons, humour, jokes, religion, science
Sunday, September 19, 2010
HUMOUR:
THE CREATIONIST GOES TO THE DOCTOR:
Click the graphic for better viewing.
Labels: cartoons, creationism, evolution., humour, jokes, religion
HUMOUR:
MORE NEWS FROM AFAR:
Click on the graphic for better viewing.
Labels: American politics, cartoons, humour, jokes, religion
Friday, September 03, 2010
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
LOCAL EVENTS - CANADIAN POLITICS:
TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION HEARINGS BEGIN:
Appropriately enough the public events for Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission have begun here in Winnipeg, the aboriginal capital of Canada and perhaps of all of North America polar to the Rio Grand. Winnipeg's native population numbers about 68,380 according to Stats Can as of 2007. This is probably an slight underestimate, but it still places the aboriginal population as about 10% of the city. Having lived here for over a quarter of a century I think this is about the right percentage. This is greater in absolute numbers than many other larger cities such as Vancouver and Edmonton which also have substantial numbers of aboriginal people. There are smaller centres such as North Battleford (18%) and Prince Albert (about 33%), both in Saskatchewan where the percentage of aboriginals is greater than that of Winnipeg, but Winnipeg amongst so-called 'major cities' holds pride of place as the city where the "native fact" is the greatest even though the native presence in western Canada is much more obvious generally.
The events of the first hearing of the T&RC at the Forks here in Winnipeg have drawn large crowds despite weather that has been less than clement to say the least. They have garnered extensive press coverage locally and even nationally. For those interested in general news coverage I suggest that they go to the websites of the Winnipeg Free Press and the Winnipeg Sun. For myself I would like to explore, at least briefly, some of the issues behind these events and compare and contrast them to the situation in other countries. I do this with full understanding that I may make grievous mistakes in describing the situation outside of Canada, and I hope that readers from any country mentioned will see fit to correct me if I make too egregious an error.
To begin with the very title of the event seems to be borrowed from the South African context and their own 'Truth and Reconciliation Commission'. The way in which these two settler societies dealt with their indigenous populations were dramatically different, but the 'Canadian way' was similar if not identical to that which took place in the USA and Australia. In South Africa the Boer ruling class essentially "gave up" on the idea of assimilation of what was, after all, the vast majority of the country's population, and even if they constructed their apartheid state by imitation of the Canadian, American and Australian reservation system they never made serious attempts at cultural genocide. In CAA (Canada, America, Australia) various 'do-gooders' took upon themselves the task of "civilizing" the native population ie abolishing them as an identifiable group. To my understanding in Australia this effort was mainly directed towards what they called "half-castes" there ('half breeds' in Canada) while hoping that the aboriginals out in their reserves would gradually become extinct.
The South African commissions are also markedly different from those now being held in Canada in that they are being held in the context of the victory on the part of the majority of the population relatively recently after a successful armed (partially) struggle. They are almost exclusively concerned with events of the last few decades while the Canadian hearings will be concerned with events that extend back to the 1800s and which concern a minority of the population whose armed struggles were defeated in the 19th century. The interesting, and perhaps controversial thing to those outside of Canada (and even to many Canadians), is that the 'death toll' of Canada's residential schools is probably far greater than that of the armed struggle in South Africa, and most of the dead were innocent children on the 'losing side'. YES, the death toll from the Canadian system exceeds by a large number what might actually be termed as "war", and all the victims were innocents.
So how to view the present hearings ? There are similarities between the native experience and that of all of us who endured Catholic schools even if we weren't native. The methods of "discipline" that many people endured (I include myself here) have shown up documented as military torture methods in later years. One might be tempted to view the 'native case' as special pleading, a view that is held by many in Canada. On the other hand those of us who endured the religious school system had certain advantages over the native children. First of all we were not kidnapped and flown to a prison where the jailers spoke a foreign language and insisted that we speak in within days of arrival. Whatever the brutality that we were subjected to which was little different from that that native children endured we at least went home at the end of the day and there was no opportunity for murder. Murder !! That is the only way that many of the things that happened in residential schools could be described.
According to a reference on the Wikipedia site on the Indian Residential Schools it was noted as early as 1909 that the death rate in these schools varied from 35% to 60%. As time went on this rate declined, but it was still horrendous in the 20th century until the schools were finally closed. A lot of this was because the conditions in the schools were very much optimum for the transmission of infectious disease. Group housing in dormitories where the space between beds was two feet for instance. In his 1909 report and in his subsequent book Dr. Peter Bryce claimed that such a situation was actually deliberate. Personally I doubt this given my knowledge of the Roman Catholic Church where brutality is an accepted method but extermination is to be avoided. One dead child equals one less proselytizer in the future. Ignorance and sadism (things that I noted were almost universal amongst Catholic clerics that I had the misfortune of coming in contact with in my childhood ) are totally adequate explanations, and 'conspiracy' does not have to be invoked.
So how to view the present hearings. There are some such as Kevin D. Arnett whose writings are reproduced at the Porkupine Blog who view these hearings entirely negatively. What Kevin sees in these hearings is an "opportunity" to absolve the guilty, and what he says has a certain validity. YES, one of the purposes of such hearings is definitely to "put the issue to rest". On the other hand the hearings will give victims the only opportunity that they will ever have to present what actually happened to the general Canadian public. All that I can say here is that the actual guilty individual parties are mostly dead by now, and that the presentation is much more important than a futile attempt to bring the guilty to justice. YES, this includes the guilty Church organizations. Their liability has been pretty much settled by now.
What I consider important in these hearings is that the full evil of what was done to native children be thoroughly exposed to the general public, and I think that these hearings are a good forum to do that. This exposure can have great positive benefits in the long term as Canada tries to come to terms with its native peoples, and it can promote proper public understanding of the best ways to deal with this legacy. YES, nothing will immediately result from the hearings, but they present an opportunity to change views that will have long term consequences.
As a conclusion to this sad tale everybody should note that the designers and the operators of the residential school system were firmly convinced beyond tha shadow of a doubt that they were "doing good". This sort of result should serve as a cautionary reminder to reformers and revolutionaries of all sorts of the inevitable 'law of unintended consequences' that plagues all human action.
Here are a few references for those who are interested in this issue:
1)Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada http://www.trc.ca/ The official site centred here in Winnipeg.
2)Indian Residential School Survivors http://irss,ca/
3)National Residential School Survivors Society http://www.nrss.ca/
4)Assembly of First nations History of Residential Schools http://www.afn.ca/residentialschools/hiostory.html
5)CBC History of the Residential Schools http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/05/16
6)Wikipedia History of the Residential Schools http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian-Indian-residential-school-system
Labels: aboriginal, Canada, Canadian politics, local events, native issues, religion, Residential schools, Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Winnipeg
WEIRD STUFF:
INSTANT SONS- JUST ADD MILK:
The following from the Care2 site is way off the beaten path. I mean it, way off the beaten path. I present it here as a cautionary example of why clerics of all persuasions should never be allowed even the slightest tiny morsel of political power. There are those amongst the religious right in North America who harbour schemes that are just as strange when viewed from the outside. Anyways, for all you connoisseurs of human irrationality here's the article.
WWWWWWWWWW
Saudi Clerics Advocate Breastfeeding Adult Men
posted by: Robin Marty 1 day ago
I haven't pulled any punches in the past discussing how bothered I am by the laws against women in Saudi Arabia. From ridiculous "guardianship" laws to burdensome rules on being in public with men, to arresting women who even have too much of a tan, it's no wonder the public is beginning to physically fight against the authority in the land.
Obviously, the religious authority knows it has a problem that must be dealt with. But is this really the answer?
Women in Saudi Arabia should give their breast milk to male colleagues and acquaintances in order to avoid breaking strict Islamic law forbidding mixing between the sexes, two powerful Saudi clerics have said. They are at odds, however, over precisely how the milk should be conveyed.
A fatwa issued recently about adult breast-feeding to establish "maternal relations" and preclude the possibility of sexual contact has resulted in a week's worth of newspaper headlines in Saudi Arabia. Some have found the debate so bizarre that they're calling for stricter regulations about how and when fatwas should be issued.
Sheikh Al Obeikan, an adviser to the royal court and consultant to the Ministry of Justice, set off a firestorm of controversy recently when he said on TV that women who come into regular contact with men who aren't related to them ought to give them their breast milk so they will be considered relatives.
One cleric claims simply pumping and having the men drink the milk is enough to create this familial bond. Another, however, does say that "men should suckle the breast milk directly from a woman's breast."
The logic behind the edict is an apparently common practice known as "breast milk siblings" where according to the article, if you provide 5 "fulfilling" breastmilk meals to a male child before the age of two, you and your female family members will not have to cover your faces in front of him later in life, something that is apparently common among nieces and nephews.
But, when translated into somehow trying to provide this connection to an adult, and use it as a loophole in order to allow women to be in the presence of men who are not blood relations, a lot of obvious problems jump to mind. The first, of course, is the assumption that every woman is lactating, when in fact the only candidates for this process would be married mothers with children under the age of two, the traditional cutoff point for breastfeeding in that country. Women aren't just wandering around with milk in their breasts all of the time, married or not, mothers or not. This would provide no outlet for any unmarried woman, who tend to suffer the most under these strict guardianship laws, nor for widows or the elderly.
The second problem is what is meant by "fulfilling" meals. A grown adult obviously would take much more to be "fulfilled" than an infant, or even a toddler, whose stomachs are smaller than an apple.
Third, even with this loophole available, clerics have decreed that it cannot be used with a driver. As women in Saudi Arabia are not allowed to have driver's licenses, no woman would be able to go anywhere outside walking distance without having a man drive her. If this breastfeeding loophole can't be used with someone who can drive them from place to place, they are still essentially trapped without a family member to accompany them, regardless.
Breastfeeding adult males in order to be allowed to be with someone of the opposite sex who is not a family member is no real solution to the issues of Sharia law. In fact, it actually exacerbates them, as it simply reinforces the idea that a woman sole purpose in existence is to extend and tend to the family unit. Women in the country deserve real freedom, not that which is only granted to them if they act as the "sustenance" of the family.
Labels: feminism, Islamism, religion, religious right, Saudi Arabia, weird stuff, women
Sunday, June 13, 2010
HUMOUR:
I HEAR NUTING, NUTING:
Sex scandals in the Catholic Church.
Labels: cartoons, humour, Pope, religion, sex scandals
Monday, June 07, 2010
RELIGION- IRELAND:
JUSTICE FOR THE MAGDALENE SURVIVORS:
Canadians might be forgiven for thinking that our residential schools atrocities are unique, and in some ways they are. The plan to eliminate native cultures by the government turning over "care" of the children to various religious boarding schools was unique in that it was premeditated plan of cultural genocide. From that point forward, however, the methods employed by the various churches were hardly confined to aboriginal Canadians. Canada has had a hint of this by such scandals as the Mount Cashel boys in Newfoundland and the 'Dupleissis Orphans' in Québec. It is , however, in Ireland where the Church was nigh to omnipotent that the largest number of new atrocities are coming to light. The Catholic Church sex scandals are now receiving more and more press across Europe, but the Irish case is special. It gives proof to the presumption that religious sects are benign only insofar as they are powerless, and the more powerful they become the more they grow into evil.
One of the scandals rocking the Irish Church is that of the 'Magdalene Laundries'. These were originally touted as "houses of refuge" for so-called "fallen women" ie anyone who got pregnant without the clergy taking its financial cut. What they were in fact were brutal workhouses, and the financial profit that the nuns who ran them made from their inmates - slave labour in all but name- was so delicious that they began expanding their catchment (a modern slave trade) more and more widely. Conditions were atrocious. Pay for the labour was non-existent. Promised education never happened. And just like some residential schools in Canada the nuns had a habit (pun intended) of burying those who died in their "care" as quietly as possible (see article below).
Survivors of these workhouses have banded together to demand an apology and redress from both the Irish state and the Church. The basic story of the Justice for Magdalenes is told below in the article from the Care2 site. The story of these unfortunate victims of organized religion was told in the 2002 film 'The Magdalene Sisters'. Also, lest anyone think that such atrocities are solely the purview of the Roman Catholic Church (they certainly weren't in Canada's residential schools), top article for today at the Justice for Magdalenes website is a memorial for 40 babies buried in unmarked graves in a Dublin cemetery, victims of a protestant residential school.
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Justice For Magdalene Survivors
posted by: Megan Susoeff 3 days ago
For decades, women and children endured abuse and poor labor conditions in Ireland's Magdalene Laundries. The laundries were originally institutions for "fallen women," but they soon grew to include developmentally challenged women and abused girls.
Although there is nothing we can do to take back what happened, survivors and their loved ones are pushing for Irish government officials to formally apologize and recognize survivors of the Magdalene Laundries. This Care2 petition asks that people worldwide add their signature, demanding justice for survivors.
Member of Justice for Magdalenes (JFM), Mari Steed, was kind enough to answer a few questions for us:
What is the main goal of Justice for Magdalenes?
Justice for Magdalenes primary goals are (i) to bring about an official apology from the Irish State and the Catholic Church and (ii) the establishment of a distinct redress scheme for survivors of Ireland's infamous Magdalene Laundries.
How long have you been fighting for this cause?
Justice for Magdalenes sprang from a group founded in 1993 (Madalen Memorial Committee) after the discovery of 155 buried bodies at High Park Convent, Dublin. We actively formed around 2000, with individuals from the Irish adoption community, taking over the reins from the original MMC founders, Patricia McDonald, Bláthnaid Ní Chinnéide and Margo Kelly. In one shape or another, our core committee has been working on this issue in an advocacy capacity for some 12 years.
Does it affect you or anyone you know personally?
Yes, several of us on the committee have mothers who spent time in the Laundries. My mother worked for 10 years doing intricate sewing (embroidery, etc.-- the hand-smocked dresses, tablecloths sold for commanding prices in Dublin and even at places like Harrod's in London, and to the American tourism market) at the Waterford laundry, St. Dominick's.
Our mothers also experienced the mother-baby homes of Ireland, which although not as bad as the Laundries and at least regulated by the State, were no walk in the park.
What are your hopes for this petition?
We hope to bring a loud global voice and pressure to bear on Prime Minister Cowen (and members of his government) to stop waffling and provide clear leadership on this issue. We want him to legislate/pass our draft redress proposal and provide justice for these women, as the government did for survivors of residential institution abuse under the terms of the 2002 Redress Act.
Although JFM has had very successful and productive meetings with the departments of Education, Justice and Health, along with the formation of an ad hoc committee, we still continue to hear back-sliding from these departments who were complicit in remanding girls and women to Laundries.
Is there anything else you want readers to know about this cause?
This is very much an international human rights issue. The Irish diaspora is, as we know, quite large. And there is every likelihood that somewhere in the world there is a first- or second-generation Irish citizen whose mother, granny, auntie, sister or other female relations may have spent time in the Laundries (including members of the Irish government!)
There is also a common misconception that the Laundries are a relic of the distant past. Not so -- the last laundry closed its doors in 1996 and there are many living Magdalene survivors, a good number of whom are now in elder care, still with the nuns for whom they worked.
Those not still in the care of the nuns tried to make their own way in the world. But they still bear the scars of their incarceration: failed relationships (as they are unable to trust or build bonds with others), lack of education (they were performing slave labour when they should've been getting an education), lack of financial support (most have no family to turn to or were spurned by their families) and a general institutional scarring that's left many unable to cope in 'outside' society. And of course, in many cases, there was physical, sexual and mental abuse which has never been properly dealt with or healed.
TAKE ACTION
Very few survivors have computer skills or access to the Internet, but you can sign this Care2 petition to honor those who cannot add a signature themselves.
Justice For Magdalene Survivors
posted by: Megan Susoeff 3 days ago
For decades, women and children endured abuse and poor labor conditions in Ireland's Magdalene Laundries. The laundries were originally institutions for "fallen women," but they soon grew to include developmentally challenged women and abused girls.
Although there is nothing we can do to take back what happened, survivors and their loved ones are pushing for Irish government officials to formally apologize and recognize survivors of the Magdalene Laundries. This Care2 petition asks that people worldwide add their signature, demanding justice for survivors.
Member of Justice for Magdalenes (JFM), Mari Steed, was kind enough to answer a few questions for us:
What is the main goal of Justice for Magdalenes?
Justice for Magdalenes primary goals are (i) to bring about an official apology from the Irish State and the Catholic Church and (ii) the establishment of a distinct redress scheme for survivors of Ireland's infamous Magdalene Laundries.
How long have you been fighting for this cause?
Justice for Magdalenes sprang from a group founded in 1993 (Madalen Memorial Committee) after the discovery of 155 buried bodies at High Park Convent, Dublin. We actively formed around 2000, with individuals from the Irish adoption community, taking over the reins from the original MMC founders, Patricia McDonald, Bláthnaid Ní Chinnéide and Margo Kelly. In one shape or another, our core committee has been working on this issue in an advocacy capacity for some 12 years.
Does it affect you or anyone you know personally?
Yes, several of us on the committee have mothers who spent time in the Laundries. My mother worked for 10 years doing intricate sewing (embroidery, etc.-- the hand-smocked dresses, tablecloths sold for commanding prices in Dublin and even at places like Harrod's in London, and to the American tourism market) at the Waterford laundry, St. Dominick's.
Our mothers also experienced the mother-baby homes of Ireland, which although not as bad as the Laundries and at least regulated by the State, were no walk in the park.
What are your hopes for this petition?
We hope to bring a loud global voice and pressure to bear on Prime Minister Cowen (and members of his government) to stop waffling and provide clear leadership on this issue. We want him to legislate/pass our draft redress proposal and provide justice for these women, as the government did for survivors of residential institution abuse under the terms of the 2002 Redress Act.
Although JFM has had very successful and productive meetings with the departments of Education, Justice and Health, along with the formation of an ad hoc committee, we still continue to hear back-sliding from these departments who were complicit in remanding girls and women to Laundries.
Is there anything else you want readers to know about this cause?
This is very much an international human rights issue. The Irish diaspora is, as we know, quite large. And there is every likelihood that somewhere in the world there is a first- or second-generation Irish citizen whose mother, granny, auntie, sister or other female relations may have spent time in the Laundries (including members of the Irish government!)
There is also a common misconception that the Laundries are a relic of the distant past. Not so -- the last laundry closed its doors in 1996 and there are many living Magdalene survivors, a good number of whom are now in elder care, still with the nuns for whom they worked.
Those not still in the care of the nuns tried to make their own way in the world. But they still bear the scars of their incarceration: failed relationships (as they are unable to trust or build bonds with others), lack of education (they were performing slave labour when they should've been getting an education), lack of financial support (most have no family to turn to or were spurned by their families) and a general institutional scarring that's left many unable to cope in 'outside' society. And of course, in many cases, there was physical, sexual and mental abuse which has never been properly dealt with or healed.
TAKE ACTION
Very few survivors have computer skills or access to the Internet, but you can sign this Care2 petition to honor those who cannot add a signature themselves.
RRRRRRRRRRRR
THE LETTER:
Please go to this link to add your voice to the following petition to Brian Cowen, the Irish Taolseach (equivalent of Prime Minister- loosely translated from Irish Gaelic as "great green cheese") demanding justice for the Magdalene survivors.
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Leadership needed on Magdalene Laundries
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Leadership needed on Magdalene Laundries
Target:An Taoiseach of Ireland, Mr. Brian Cowen.
Sponsored by: Justice for Magdalenes.
Urge Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen to call for State acknowledgment of its complicity in remanding women and children to Magdalene Laundries, and to (i) offer an official apology to and (ii) establish a distinct redress scheme for victims and survivors of these abusive institutions. We also have a direct e-mail form which can be sent to An Taoiseach at http://www.magdalenelaundries.com/an_taoiseach.htm .
Dear Taoiseach,
We, the undersigned, as concerned global and Irish citizens, write to you to appeal for justice and to add our voices to the call for Irish State acknowledgment of its complicity in remanding women and children to Magdalene Laundries. We urge you to (i) offer an official apology to and (ii) establish a distinct redress scheme for victims and survivors of these abusive institutions.
Your recent assertion that there is a distinction between "children in the residential institutions" and "women in [Magdalene] laundries" is appalling in the extreme. Justice for Magdalenes has proven beyond doubt that there were children in the Magdalene laundries. The Department of Education acknowledged its awareness of this fact when Justice for Magdalenes met with senior officials on 2 February 2010. Your response signals the State's primary concern is to limit liability with respect to anticipated claims for compensation. You and your government should be focused on providing justice for women and children denied their constitutional rights. Do you believe that the State, and in particular the Department of Education, did not have a moral and Constitutional obligation to protect every child from the exploitative work conditions in the laundry institutions?
We urge you to pursue the cause for justice for these women and children, to cease trying to pass the burden solely on the religious orders that ran these institutions, and to exert the utmost pressure on those same orders to also find, as Cardinal Sean Brady himself promised, a 'just solution' for these citizens, whose rights were so grievously violated.
To do less brings shame on yourself, Ireland's government and the nation as a whole.
Dear Taoiseach,
We, the undersigned, as concerned global and Irish citizens, write to you to appeal for justice and to add our voices to the call for Irish State acknowledgment of its complicity in remanding women and children to Magdalene Laundries. We urge you to (i) offer an official apology to and (ii) establish a distinct redress scheme for victims and survivors of these abusive institutions.
Your recent assertion that there is a distinction between "children in the residential institutions" and "women in [Magdalene] laundries" is appalling in the extreme. Justice for Magdalenes has proven beyond doubt that there were children in the Magdalene laundries. The Department of Education acknowledged its awareness of this fact when Justice for Magdalenes met with senior officials on 2 February 2010. Your response signals the State's primary concern is to limit liability with respect to anticipated claims for compensation. You and your government should be focused on providing justice for women and children denied their constitutional rights. Do you believe that the State, and in particular the Department of Education, did not have a moral and Constitutional obligation to protect every child from the exploitative work conditions in the laundry institutions?
We urge you to pursue the cause for justice for these women and children, to cease trying to pass the burden solely on the religious orders that ran these institutions, and to exert the utmost pressure on those same orders to also find, as Cardinal Sean Brady himself promised, a 'just solution' for these citizens, whose rights were so grievously violated.
To do less brings shame on yourself, Ireland's government and the nation as a whole.
Labels: Ireland, Justice for Magdalenes, Magdalene Laundries, protests, religion, Residential schools, slavery
Sunday, May 23, 2010
HUMOUR:
NEW FANS OF AMERICAN TALK RADIO:
Labels: cartoons, fools, Haiti, humour, jokes, Pat Robertson, religion, talk radio
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
RELIGION:
RICHARD DAWKINS WANTS TO ARREST THE POPE:
The famous atheist and evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins has launched a rather absurdist "public conspiracy" to arrest the Pope during his upcoming visit to Britain. Dawkins believes ( or maybe not) that the Pope can be charged under the same sort of international law that led to the arrest of ex-dictator of Chile Augusto Pinochet when he visited Britain. Personally I think this is a publicity grab. Not that I don't think that Pope Rottweiler is guilty, guilty, guilty,guilty beyond measure. It would strain credibility to imagine that in all his years as head of the Holy Inquisition where all such charges end up that he was not involved in dozens and dozens of cover-ups. Still, from a purely legalistic point of view, the sort of crimes that Ratzinger is guilty of have never figured in any international court proceeding before. Thus I have my doubts. Still this is one more drop of vinegar in Ratzinger's upcoming visit. Here's the story from the Times of London.
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Richard Dawkins:
I will arrest Pope Benedict
RICHARD DAWKINS, the atheist campaigner, is planning a legal ambush to have the Pope arrested during his state visit to Britain “for crimes against humanity”.
Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, the atheist author, have asked human rights lawyers to produce a case for charging Pope Benedict XVI over his alleged cover-up of sexual abuse in the Catholic church.
The pair believe they can exploit the same legal principle used to arrest Augusto Pinochet, the late Chilean dictator, when he visited Britain in 1998.
The Pope was embroiled in new controversy this weekend over a letter he signed arguing that the “good of the universal church” should be considered against the defrocking of an American priest who committed sex offences against two boys. It was dated 1985, when he was in charge of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which deals with sex abuse cases.
Dawkins and Hitchens believe the Pope would be unable to claim diplomatic immunity from arrest because, although his tour is categorised as a state visit, he is not the head of a state recognised by the United Nations.
They have commissioned the barrister Geoffrey Robertson and Mark Stephens, a solicitor, to present a justification for legal action.
The lawyers believe they can ask the Crown Prosecution Service to initiate criminal proceedings against the Pope, launch their own civil action against him or refer his case to the International Criminal Court.
Dawkins, author of The God Delusion, said: “This is a man whose first instinct when his priests are caught with their pants down is to cover up the scandal and damn the young victims to silence.”
Hitchens, author of God Is Not Great, said: “This man is not above or outside the law. The institutionalised concealment of child rape is a crime under any law and demands not private ceremonies of repentance or church-funded payoffs, but justice and punishment."
Last year pro-Palestinian activists persuaded a British judge to issue an arrest warrant for Tzipi Livni, the Israeli politician, for offences allegedly committed during the 2008-09 conflict in Gaza. The warrant was withdrawn after Livni cancelled her planned trip to the UK.
“There is every possibility of legal action against the Pope occurring,” said Stephens. “Geoffrey and I have both come to the view that the Vatican is not actually a state in international law. It is not recognised by the UN, it does not have borders that are policed and its relations are not of a full diplomatic nature.”
Labels: Britain, catholic Church, clerical sex abuse, current events, laws, Pope, religion, Richard Dawkins
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
CURRENT EVENTS:
THE POPE AND THE SEX SCANDALS:
"The big Vatican summit wrapped up, closing ceremonies were Harry Connick Jr. The Vatican is taking a tough stand now, three strikes and you're transferred"
-David Letterman
You know when a story is developing fast when Wikipedia can't keep up with it. Wikipedia entries such as 'Catholic Sex Abuse Cases' and 'Roman Catholic Sex Abuse Cases By Country' become outdated by the day. Allegations of clerical sex abuse which have been simmering for some time in Europe and Latin America have, in the last few days, reached the same level of public scandal that they have long had in North America and Ireland. Hundreds of victims are coming forward. This is not surprising as it would beggar the imagination to think that the problem was restricted to only a few countries.
A few things should be noted. One is that this is hardly "news". It was common knowledge and a standing joke when I was a kid. According to my dearly departed father it was the subject of jokes when he was young. My father, by the way, was born in 1895. The difference was that it was never published in those days. Trying to do so would have meant serious consequences. I have little doubt that the problem extends as far back as there have been celibate priests. Blame the "reforms" of the Middle Ages that got rid of the priestly "housekeepers".
Another thing is that the problem is hardly restricted to the Catholic clergy, as defenders of same have noted-over and over and over and over. It existed and exists in other religious denominations and in any work situation where adults are given excessive power over children. In actual fact I suspect that the greatest incidence of such things, when all the furore has died down and all the prosecutions have been completed, will be found to have been not just in the Church "orphanages" but also in state run "kid jails". There have certainly been such cases in Canada,a nd there will be others. All this doesn't excuse the Catholic Church, but it does put the scandal in its proper perspective ie where adults have excessive control of children. Beware the "helping professions" and what they help themselves to.
The final thing to note is that the obsession with sexual abuse tends to deflect attention from the much more prevalent problem of physical violence. Trust me, I grew up Catholic, leaving the Church at age 15. Sometimes the violence was indeed associated with sex of the sadistic bent, but I suspect that the will to power rather than the will to pecker had a lot more to do with it. There are lots of personal anecdotes that I could relate such as actually outlasting the sadistic vice principal of the Catholic high school that I attended, as he whipped my hands until they were covered with blood from the deep cuts. To my credit I never flinched and looked at him with hatred the whole time. His hard on faded (yes he was a sexual sadist) and it became a simple power struggle. I won, at the cost of the wounds as he gave up first. The priest who sent me to the office because I was an asshole was all over himself with apologies because he knew damn well what his "brother" was. he thought that I was going to meet the intelligent fascist Principal. Ooops. Father Daniel later left the Jesuits and married the nun who used to meet him in the dead of night in the field between the boys and girls school for decent sex. One of the few decent priests I ever met. There were other incidents, but rather than be personal any more I'll merely note that some of the "techniques" that they used on us were things I later read about as military torture methods.
What has to be noted here is that I was a "white boy" with parents with which I lived and leftist parents at that. Here in Canada there is controversy about how many Indian children were actually "murdered" via the physical abuse that they suffered. So...you can perhaps see why the fixation on "sex" makes me a bit uneasy. Speaking of the Natives (and probably kids in Newfoundland) I think that murder is a greater crime than buggery.
Back to the present. As the revelations, late coming as they may be, sweep across Europe the present Pope Benedict is feeling the heat. His own brother has been linked to at least one abuse case. In his own term as Archbishop of Munich (1977-1981) Ratzinger was himself involved in at least one case of transferring rather than either reporting or disciplining a molester priest. His aide at the time, Gerhard Gruber, "took the rap" for him, claiming that Ratzinger was unaware of the case in question.
That's all fair and good. Maybe true. Maybe not true. What is incontestable is that Ratzinger, before he became Pope, was for many years the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (old name the 'Holy Inquisition'). In that capacity pretty well every case of clerical sexual abuse would pass into his notice as the administrator of Canon Law. His response was pretty plain. In 2001 he sent a circular admonishing the Catholic bishops to "observe Papal secrecy" in relation to sexual abuse allegations against Catholic clergy. This was backed up by the treat of "ecclesiastical sanctions" should the bishops report the cases to civil authorities or make them public in any way. Nothing could be plainer. If there was one person who was most responsible for the cover up it was Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict.
"Arens’s criticism echoes an attack on the church leadership by dissident Swiss theologian Hans Küng.
In an interview published in Germany’s Süddeutsche Zeitung on Wednesday, Küng said the pope should apologise personally, as "no other person within the church had seen so many cases of abuse pass through their office”.
Joseph Ratzinger [the pope] was prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for 24 years – an office that has authority over church doctrine and jurisdiction for various matters including sexual misconduct of clergy.
“Protecting their priests seems to have counted more for the bishops than protecting children,” said Küng.
After the scandals in Ireland last month, more reports have emerged over recent months of abuse at church-run schools and institutions in Germany, including one linked to the Regensburg choir run by the pope’s brother, Georg Ratzinger, from 1964 to 1994. Some 300 victims have come forward since January.
Could anything be plainer ? By the way, go over to our sister site Molly's Polls to express your opinion about whether ratzinger will be "caught" in the court of public opinion on this matter and how much it will affact his Papacy.
Labels: Catholicism, children's rights, clerical sex abuse, current events, personal, Pope, religion, violence
