Irish Priests, Abuse and Society

Another report from the slow snail of Justice and Governance in Ireland regarding the vast swathe of crimes against children perpetrated by the people within the Institutions set up by State and Church for the 'care' of children has just been published. The BBC reported this here

I left a comment which formed the basis for this piece. I do not know if it will be published.

I spent my childhood in Irish Catholic Boarding Schools, from age five and a half to seventeen, and as a ward of court, was in custody of my relatives. Who were less than empathetic. Let it be know that abuse occurred in peoples homes too, and that much of that activity has been covered up. Thus as a child there was no-one for me to turn to talk to about my experiences.

I grew up believing those experiences, and my shame, were normal. I believed my low self-esteem was my own fault, that I was evil, a sinner and at heart a disgusting, filthy and ugly person, even though I could pass myself off as reasonably affable.

My life has been pretty much ruled  and dominated by those experiences and how I 'adapted' to them, how I internalised the values of those who abused me, and took on the image they protected on to me as my own identity.

Years and years of unhappiness, dysfunction, insecurity and a nameless rage (for which, for a long I time no target - and that meant I turned the rage upon myself and those close to me) have dogged my life.

I have struggled as best I can to heal, this for myself, and to understand, to fully comprehend  the dynamics of abuse operating at such a huge scale, such that it might be classed a societal problem, because the problem is tractable, because the cycles can be broken, and because this should never happen to any child,  and because the resolution of which is essential to the future of all human beings.

There is no higher calling on Earth today.

It is the FACT of  the intentional and systematic  climate pollution of our children’s psyches through conditioning processes that is a taboo subject for mainstream society and the ‘greens’ and other movements for change must now address this issue, openly. Vigorously.

Failure to do so will be catastrophic for all of us.

Because abuse is always about POWER. Abuse is always about control. Abusers 'condition' those they abuse to accept the abuse as 'normal'. To maintain that control.

There is a long historical record in writing, of the processes of conditioning, under the guise of education, or child-rearing, or training, that go back millennia, writings that informed the philosophies of dominance that are the basis of this society. The cycles of abuse go deep.

I am encouraged that the issue is being looked at, today, and in my own lifetime, and not least by the victims and their families, and empathetic researchers. Much research in these areas has been undertaken, and much is known, far more than is in practice through state sponsored projects, such as education, health , culture and ‘spreading democracy’.

I am less encouraged by Government action on these issues. Slow, unwilling to respond to victims with the speed with which they responded to the abusers, in this case, The Christian Churches. That they defend the likes of leaders who start wars should come as no surprise.  That our Government opposes fiercely any attempts by ordinary folk to arraign war criminals is typical.

There are more incidents beyond the abuse of children, that litter our society, that are tied up in how a society treats children.

The philosophy a society has in this regard must be examined for any false or corrosive assumptions. Conditioning must be acknowledged as a corrosive force.  And ceased.

And that is the only path which I as a survivor deem plausible if we as a society are to honour all children, for all time. It is time, well past time actually, to clean up our collective and centralised acts.

Kindest regards

Corneilius

Do what you love, it's your gift to universe

Expectations of every child

The Myth of Democracy.

The facts are that power is exercised over living beings, human and non-human, in ways that diminish both, in ways that are degrading the abundance of the environment, in ways that are not subject to the will of the people of the land (voting changes the overall abuse not a whit, as much as switching lightbulbs will do anything other than salve a flaccid conscience).

Whether it’s the US Government or the Iranian Government, the Catholic Church or Islam, the IMF or the WTO, decisions that are properly those of the people of the land are made by distal powers whose experience is inadequate to the task of knowing what people need and truely want, and therefore relies upon theory and belief for it’s action. Such a basis for action is bound by it’s inadequacies to cause harm.

That harm, vast and yet somehow invisible to many, is rationalised as a ’sacrifice’, or ‘collateral damage’ or ‘the price of freedom’ or ‘enduring freedom’ or worse, it is rationalised as evolution, the survival of the fittest, as progress.

Until we recognise that a) we are fully of nature b) that the function of ALL living beings on Earth is to improve the habitat for ALL living beings c) that the processes of power and dominance start with the domination of our children, who become adapted to that dynamic of dominance, and so become troopers, cops, weapons scientists, corporate managers, bankers and mercenaries as much as those who become rapists, murderers, and abusers of all hue, we will be unable to shift our behaviour as a 'civilisation'.......


For example, lets take a quick analysis of democracy as practiced.

Voting without complete and transparent oversight of those selected is no choice at all, as it leaves room for corruption. Voting without active and ongoing participation (which is power true sharing) is also a fraud.

The remedy is as follows :

Undermine the power of parties, ban private funding of parties, ban ‘party line’/'party whip’ and make lobbying transparent, both of which are currently enforced because no-one at the grass roots level would abide by such behaviour amongst their own neighbours, and why would they chose otherwise?



Institute a recall process for all positions of public office, at all levels, from grass-roots to the executive.



Make it easier for independent local representatives to enter. Give more decision making powers and the resources to effectively make decisions at the grass roots local level.

In a word, give people real power and they will use it wisely. This is proven by the very fact that the system is rigged AGAINST people power.


The The Power Inquiry of 2006 is a document that proves this analysis to be correct.

And for all these reasons, Democracy as practiced is a fraud.

Kindest regards

Corneilius

Do what you love, it's your gift to universe