June 13th, 2009
Author: Niamh
June 5th, 2009
Author: Niamh
June 3rd, 2009
Author: Niamh
May 27th, 2009
Author: Niamh
May 25th, 2009
Author: Niamh
The report on child abuse by the Catholic Church in Ireland has made both headlines and harrowing news. The orphanages and industrial schools in question could be equated to concentration camps. The treatment of the children by nuns and priests has left the Irish people with a deep sense of unease and a lot of unanswered questions.
The first, of course, is why the Government did not supervise such places and keep a check on them? The second is why the judiciary sent juvenile offenders to these prisons and why did the police not act on reports of the abuse? The third and most difficult of all to understand is why those in authority in the church did not protect the children by stamping down hard on the offenders?
It’s a lot of why’s and it seems unlikely that they will all be answered. The Government and the Church authorities agreed a compensation deal which critics, in the light of the report, now say is totally inadequate. No one can deny the horrific facts of the abuse but blame must be apportioned fairly. All priests are not paedophiles yet they are being found guilty by association. Yet there would be a public outcry if you said that all fathers are paedophiles. Parents who put their unmarried mothers in homes were surely, as bad as the abusers? Family members and neighbours who looked the other way are as much to blame as the Christian brothers. We, as a society, let it happen just as we are letting children be used as slave labour in many countries today. We cannot use the excuse that we don’t see it happening. In our communication rich world we know only too well that we, the rich, still exploit the poor.
Yet we must get the balance right. There are religious who gave an education to those who otherwise not have one. Nuns ran hospitals and clinics for the poor and underprivileged. How many of our parliamentarians would have gone on to third level education if it had not been for the Christian brothers? On the weighing scales of justice there would surely be many more good religious people than there were bad. Whether offenders are jailed or not they will have to meet the Maker.
Certainly those who were harmed should have all the counselling and help they need. Instead of looking back though we should look forward. There are thousands of children still at risk in homes where there are drug and alcoholic problems. There are fathers still abusing their children. We don’t have safe homes for those fleeing abuse or social workers who are actually available twenty four hours a day. We do not have legislation that puts the rights of children first. We cannot undo the past but we can, and must make sure that the church, the state and citizens together care for the children who are our future.
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May 22nd, 2009
Author: Niamh
May 18th, 2009
Author: Niamh
May 12th, 2009
Author: Niamh
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May 4th, 2009
Author: Niamh
Miss California Carrie Prejean has, predictably, been attacked for her views on same sex marriage. Like so many others who wish to protect the traditional institution of marriage itself she is seen as undermining the rights of those in a same sex relationship. Christian churches have, of course, always promoted marriage as a union of man and woman for the procreation of children. Perhaps her critics would do well, though, to read the non-religious dictionary definition of marriage which is, “The legal union or contract between a man and a woman to live as husband and wife. Obviously a same sex couple cannot meet this criterion.
Every marriage is not perfect but a good traditional marriage is the ideal. It is what the majority of people would wish for as the basis for rearing children. If Governments have failed it is in their responsibility to children in this matter. They have not promoted and protected the institution of traditional marriage. Nor, of course, have they come up with a suitable alternative or complimentary title for the union of same sex couples. Marriage is more than a bit of paper. For many it’s a sacrament. Even for those who don’t have this belief they are following a tradition that goes back centuries, something that is intrinsically right and natural as a basis for any children they may have.
That is not to say that same sex couple should not have property rights and the legal rights of any citizen. It is merely to say that their union, while they would wish it to be the same, is different. It is not marriage. It is time for them and for governments to recognize this and work out a dignified solution. Two men or two woman are not a man and a woman. It’s as simple as that.
Miss California may have lost her crown but she has retained her integrity and her beliefs.
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May 1st, 2009
Author: Niamh