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THIS IS CHRISTIANTY:

MAY 20, 2009: DUBLIN — A fiercely debated, long-delayed investigation into Ireland's Roman Catholic-run institutions says priests and nuns terrorized thousands of boys and girls in workhouse-style schools for decades _ and government inspectors failed to stop the chronic beatings, rapes and humiliation.

Nine years in the making, Wednesday's 2,600-page report sides almost completely with the horrific reports of abuse from former students sent to more than 250 church-run, mostly residential institutions.

It concluded that church officials always shielded their orders' pedophiles from arrest to protect their own reputations and, according to documents uncovered in the Vatican, knew that many pedophiles were serial attackers.

The commission said overwhelming, consistent testimony from still-traumatized men and women, now in their 50s to 80s, had demonstrated beyond a doubt that the entire system treated children more like prison inmates and slaves than people with legal rights and human potential.

"A climate of fear, created by pervasive, excessive and arbitrary punishment, permeated most of the institutions and all those run for boys. Children lived with the daily terror of not knowing where the next beating was coming from," the final report of Ireland's Commission to Inquire Into Child Abuse concluded.

More than 30,000 children deemed to be petty thieves, truants or from dysfunctional families _ a category that often included unmarried mothers _ were sent to Ireland's austere network of industrial schools, reformatories, orphanages and hostels from the 1930s until the last church-run facilities shut in the 1990s.

The report, unveiled by High Court Justice Sean Ryan, found that molestation and rape were "endemic" in boys' facilities, chiefly run by the Christian Brothers order, and supervisors pursued policies that increased the danger. Girls supervised by orders of nuns, chiefly the Sisters of Mercy, suffered much less sexual abuse but frequent assaults and humiliation designed to make them feel worthless.

"In some schools a high level of ritualized beating was routine. ... Girls were struck with implements designed to maximize pain and were struck on all parts of the body," the report said. "Personal and family denigration was widespread."

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Victims of the system have long demanded that the truth of their experiences be documented and made public, so that children in Ireland never endure such suffering again.

But most leaders of religious orders have rejected the allegations as exaggerations and lies, and testified to the commission that any abuses were the responsibility of often long-dead individuals.

The report proposed 21 ways the government could recognize past wrongs, including building a permanent memorial, providing counseling and education to victims and improving Ireland's current child protection services.

But its findings will not be used for criminal prosecutions _ in part because the Christian Brothers successfully sued the commission in 2004 to keep the identities of all of its members, dead or alive, unnamed in the report. No real names, whether of victims or perpetrators, appear in the final document.

Irish church leaders and religious orders all declined to comment Wednesday, citing the need to read the massive document first. The Vatican also declined to comment.

The Irish government already has funded a parallel compensation system that has paid 12,000 abuse victims an average of euro65,000 ($90,000). About 2,000 claims remain outstanding.

Victims receive the payouts only if they waive their rights to sue the state and the church. Hundreds have rejected that condition and taken their abusers and those church employers to court.

Wednesday's report said children had no safe way to tell authorities about the assaults they were suffering, particularly the sexual aggression from church officials and older inmates in boys' institutions.

"The management did not listen to or believe children when they complained of the activities of some of the men who had responsibility for their care," the commission found. "At best, the abusers were moved, but nothing was done about the harm done to the child. At worst, the child was blamed and seen as corrupted by the sexual activity, and was punished severely."

The commission dismissed as implausible a central defense of the religious orders _ that, in bygone days, people did not recognize the sexual abuse of a child as a criminal offense, but rather as a sin that required repentance.

In their testimony, religious orders typically cited this as the principal reason why sex-predator priests and brothers were sheltered within the system and moved to new posts where they could still maintain daily contact with children.

But the commission said its fact-finding _ which included unearthing decades-old church files, chiefly stored in the Vatican, on scores of unreported abuse cases from Ireland's industrial schools _ demonstrated that officials understood exactly what was at stake: their own reputations.

It cited numerous examples where school managers told police about child abusers who were not church officials _ but never did when one of their own had committed the crime.

"Contrary to the congregations' claims that the recidivist nature of sexual offending was not understood, it is clear from the documented cases that they were aware of the propensity for abusers to re-abuse," it said.

Religious orders were chiefly concerned about preventing scandal, not the danger to children, it said.

The commission also condemned Ireland's Education Department for aiding the abusive culture through infrequent, toothless inspections that deferred to church authority.

Inspectors were supposed to restrict the use of corporal punishment and make sure the children were adequately fed, clothed and educated _ but the report called those inspections "fundamentally flawed."

It said a lone inspector was responsible for monitoring more than 50 industrial schools, schools were told about the visits in advance and inspectors rarely talked to the children.

Wednesday's report also highlighted the rarity of human kindness in the institutions.

"A word of consideration or encouragement, or an act of sympathy or understanding, had a profound effect. Adults in their 60s and 70s recalled seemingly insignificant events that had remained with them all their lives," the report said.

"Often the act of kindness, recalled in such a positive light, arose from the simple fact that the staff member had not given a beating when one was expected."

___

This is Christianity

No, it isn't. Christ's gospel is quite specific about the fate of those who abuse children. ("Better a millstone...") But this report will doubtless be used by anti-Christian bigots to justify their hate.

Wow, that Christianity thing sounds horrific!

Good thing that kindle and gentle alternatives arose from famous non-Christians like Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, etc.

er... "kind", not "kindle".

I guess I enjoy my Kindle too much.

These are not equal for their potential efficacy:
Honesty is the Achille's heel for PC and for liberalism in general.

Statistically, a child is in much more risk of being molested by a public school employee than a member of the clergy. Yet, strangely, the public education system escapes the hate routinely thrown at priests.

- Anonymous @ 10:03 -

This is the result of progressivism (indeed Communism) finding its way into the Catholic Church. It's a documented, well-designed plan. It is not the true Church and is all the more reason to purge progressives and their ideology from the Church. And from the world.

POLITCAL CORRECTNESS just another name for SOCIALISM

I asked last time about where political correctness is legally enforced, and all I got was something about title IX which is a law about sexual discrimination in schools. I'll ask it again, where is political correctness mandated by law?

It seems to be a complete fiction, playing on the rights response to changing attitudes and language of people trying to be polite, not some legal spectre that is going to make you say african american instead of black.

I would tell you to go ahead and waste your time and energy attacking a mirage but I believe we need real debate about real issues.

I fully intend to kill PC by not converting to digital TV. I havn't had cable/sat tv for years and have saved many a beers for myself just getting tv off the air. When they go to digital on June 12 I will lose ABC and NBC forever, I hope. I don't think I'll even send them an email to let them know.

Politcal Correctness is STUPID

And you were answered: Because of Title IX, boys sports programs are being cut to create an artificial, politically correct, outcome. You want more? How about Obama's push for "ownership diversity" in the radio market, also to achieve a politically correct outcome? How about the new automobile regulations for the politically correct cause of fighting ManBearPig? What about the Hate Crimes bill just passed in Congress that gives designated politically correct minorities special status under the law? How about California spending $13 Billion to support illegal immigrants in the name of the politically correct cause of multiculturalism? How about the complete neglect of our immigration laws, because enforcing them would be politically incorrect. What about the housing bailouts for privileged minority groups, requiring responsible taxpayers to pay the bill for the congressionally-mandated practice of giving out mortgages based on political, not economic decisions? How about the near-total ban on domestic energy exploration, in favor of massive subsidies for politically correct 'clean energy' sources?

Also, you ask Carrie Prejean or Larry Summers whether there has to be any kind of law in order to be persecuted by the PC-thug-mafia.

When Brandon doesn't like the answer, he insists that there was no answer to his question. It's a Liberal tactic that we have seen before.

If Brandon believes that there's no such thing as politically correct discrimination, perhaps he should apply for a teaching position at a public university and say during the interview that racism is bunk, gender differences are not a social construct, socialism fails, and gays ought not be allowed to marry. See if that has any impact on his ability to get hired at an institution of "higher learning."

Life is way too short to try and correct liberals.
It's hopeless anyway since for the most part they don't (cannot) debate in good faith on the issues.

Best that can be done is to build bigger jails to anticipate the inevitable.

I thought the term referred to language. For example calling someone who lived in a rural area a hick would be politically incorrect.

If Gregory is right in his description of things that are politically correct, then it seems you can use the term in any way you want, as a label that has a negative connotation attached to it. Don't like our immigration policy? Call it politically correct and then you can get instant support from the right. Disagree about the environmental cost of a particular activity? Use the word politically correct and get the support of all the people who have a knee jerk reaction to the word.

Seems like a semantic cop-out to avoid any real debate on a topic.

No, Brandon, you are the one who is copping out by defining political correctness in a ridiculously narrow way.

Political Correctness is when common sense and reason are thrown out the window in favor of play-pretend worldview dictated by political considerations, and that play-pretend worldview becomes the basis by which not just speech, but also thought, and action, and choices among policy alternatives are restricted to a narrow range of what is "acceptable."

There are many examples of laws in the USA, and especially in Canada and Britain, that manifest a narrow, politically correct worldview and reject sanity and common sense.

And as you steadfastly continue to dodge, political correctness does not need to have the force of specific law in order to be oppressive; all it takes are thugs willing to punish those who express politically incorrect views: Carrie Prejean, Larry Summers, Bjorn Lomborg, Marjorie Christofferson, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Michael Savage, Mark Steyn, Ezra Klein...

I love that GIF! LOL!

See the real thing around me everyday.

Get on the conveyor belt sheepy sheepy!

lvb-rocks says "purge"

?

V the K, that seems a decent definition of political correctness. I want to go double check that and get back to the debate, but then on this forum the posts are in the archive so fast, on to the new thing.

I think you have a point how political correctness can be this euphemism for politics, where what you advocate determines how people support or don't support you.

I can't go research all those names on your list, but I'll try and figure out the gist of the ones I don't recognize.

"racism is bunk" is such an interesting thing to say. Lets start there shall we? Lets define racism, I think I've seen racism, so I wonder how you see this term as deceptive and illusory. What should I call it when this thing I call racism happens in front of me? (I get it mostly from black on me, the white, but its not the only thing that leads people to make assumptions about ME)

UUU is not just a codon.
Its all about YOU.

if the sun bats had under their control an institution of higher learning would you be hired for say "i am for gun control" "i believe 2000+ year old texts should not be taken literally" "condoms are a ok" "i don't always pledge my allegiance" "i think gay people should be able to sit at the same table that i can sit at"

Anonymous, should I speak for you instead?
How about the ASSUMPTIONS part, like how this site apparently exists to call me insane.

And purges: from lvb-rocks or his impersonator
(in reply to)
- Anonymous @ 10:03 -

This is the result of progressivism (indeed Communism) finding its way into the Catholic Church. It's a documented, well-designed plan. It is not the true Church and is all the more reason to purge progressives and their ideology from the Church. And from the world.

Posted by: lvb-rocks at May 20, 2009 11:28 AM

thanks guys, for leading me to believe you actually want to kill me and people like me to cleanse the earth. Now I know its not just that I'm insane, I must be killed, according to some poster here.

And nobody raises a conflict with that.
Anonymous: suck it
I post as cave ahht and people posting here at this site even impersonate me. Its flattering :) Although I wrote ever comment on this page so far.

cave

A poster opines about removing elements from the Church that he believes are not a part of its proper religious order and you assume he is advocating the killing of you and people like you?

Funny how you, a self proclaimed progressive, hears the word "purge" and equates it with "kill the undesirables".