red750 Posted January 4 Posted January 4 Religion, particularly the Catholic Church, has a lot to answer for. Last night/this morning, I watched a horrifying story which would have been shocking in the 17th or 18th century, but took place in my lifetime. In the 1940's and 1950's, giving birth outside of marriage was considered the number one sin. Young girls who got pregnant in their teens, and the babies they had, were treated worse than murderers. The program was a report on the Tuam Home for Mothers and Babies in Galway, Ireland. There is little or no record of what happened to the children born in this horror house. Run by nuns of a religious order called The Congregation of the Sisters of Bon Secours, who run medical facilities around the world. The nuns are all qualified nurses. An Irish woman carried out an investigation of the Tuam home, and found that an unknown number of children were taken from their mothers and sold as adoptees in America, for the current equivalent today of $3000. This was written off as a 'donation' to the institute on receipts located. The mothers were not given the choice of having their babies adopted, they were told "You WILL sign the adoption papers" and if they refused, the papers were signed by the parish priest, and fake papers created. This was a conspiracy between the Church, Irish government and Pan American Airlines, who flew a large number of flights containing adoptees to America. Many of the records have been locked away in secure vaults, and a recent law passed in Ireland provides that these records be kept locked up for 30 years, meaning that anyone guilty of this horror will be dead and free from any prosecution. The mothers were forced to work for the nuns and only allowed to see their babies to feed them. Mothers would come to the 'nurseries' (rooms with up to 30 cots with screaming hungry babies) only to find their cot empty and no explanation of what happened to the baby. But that is not the worst of it. Death records for 796 babies were found with causes of death such as measles, whooping cough or mal-nutrition, all things trained nurses could have prevented. Death records, but no graves. What happened to the children? A map of the institute showed that there was a large sewage pit in one corner of the yard. In 2018, an exploratory excavation located the top of the pit, and 21 compartments with concrete covers. When the covers were removed, an investigation revealed numerous human bones in the bottom of the compartments. It will take a full excavation of the pits to retrieve the bones, and a law was passed authorising this, but it has been four years and no work has commenced. When it is completed, the bones will be collected, then they will need to be reassembled into skeletons as much as possible. DNA testing will be carried out to try and identify them, so they can be rturned to their families and given a proper burial. Some of the children adopted in America have been able to trace their families and meet their relatives for the first time, but as they are in their 60's and 70's their mothers have died. The home had magnificent grounds, with gardens of every kind of vegetable, but the children starved. According to one former adopted child, they were never allowed outsde. They could run in the halls, but not outside. Rooms full of donated toys were found locked up, but the children never saw them. I have watched many episodes of Long Lost Family where children adopted out have been re-united with birth families later in life, but this was the most harrowing program I have seen. More information on the home can be found here. 1 3
spacesailor Posted January 5 Posted January 5 The same happened in W A . With ' Orphaned children ' . My brother-in-law. Used to give them large donations. But after that broke . He stopped all his periodical donations . Then after his demise, the " Australian National Kennel Council " . Got a huge donation . spacesailor 1
red750 Posted January 5 Author Posted January 5 Innocent babies? In the septic tank? You wouldn't do that to a dead rat. And 796 of them? As I said, I've watched many episodes of Long Lost Family. By far the vast majority were babies put up for adoption because their mother was too young, had no means of support, or were forced by parents because of "the shame on the family name". Most mothers spend the rest of their life wondering what happened, remembering the child on their birthday. Most adoptees spend a lot of their life wondering, why was I given up, didn't she want me? Have I got any siblings? They spend ages trying to find each other, often coming to dead ends due to lack of records, changed names, etc., It takes the resources of the Long Lost Family organisation, and often DNA matching, to make the connection. The joy and relief when they make the reconnection is very emotional. And it's hard when someboby spends years looking for their birth mother, only to find she passed away only a year or two before the reconnection. 2 2 1
Bruce Tuncks Posted March 2 Posted March 2 My sister-in-law was a Darwin cop who attended a house where the lady of the house was catatonic with grog and there was a baby lying in 3 days of its excrement. So she called an ambulance who took the baby to hospital... Q: Was this baby one of the "stolen generation" or not? 1
facthunter Posted March 2 Posted March 2 Depends on which line you want to run. They'd be a lot better off without Grog and Porn.. nev 1 2
nomadpete Posted March 2 Posted March 2 3 hours ago, facthunter said: Depends on which line you want to run. They'd be a lot better off without Grog and Porn.. nev We all would be. As long as I can still get myself a nice bottle of red whenever I want. 1 2
facthunter Posted March 2 Posted March 2 Good with steak isn't it? Our good Shiraz's are world class and a lot better than any Cabinet. The Ladies might like a blend, say Cabinet Merlot. Nev 1
red750 Posted March 2 Author Posted March 2 6 minutes ago, facthunter said: Our good Shiraz's are world class and a lot better than any Cabinet. Did you mean cabernet? 1
Jerry_Atrick Posted March 2 Posted March 2 This clip is from one of my favourite movies.. anyway didn't the old fella turn water into wine? Must be good but over here anyway you can't serve wine (or any alcohol) on consecrated sites apparently for religious reasons. Work that one out. BTW, I think I have posted the clip to another thread.. but it is appropro
Bruce Tuncks Posted March 3 Posted March 3 It is easy to muck up good grapes, but good grapes, handled properly, make good wine. Personally, I have never even tried a bad wine. They sure are out there, but it would take more skill than I have to find one. Most Australian winemakers would be banned from their local associations if they put a bad wine into bottles and tried to sell it. 1
facthunter Posted March 4 Posted March 4 It's sold in bulk for other "blenders" to do with it what they wish. There is no control other than the winemakers reputation and a discerning purchaser. Wine that is picked early will be acid and low in grape sugar.. Mildew will leave a taint an experienced taster will pick a mile away. I knew Companies that would buy anything with a bit of colour even weird table grape varieties. Nev 1 1
spenaroo Posted March 4 Posted March 4 Religion is interesting... full disclosure I was raised Mormon and stayed till my late 20's even know I don't have any issues with the teachings - its the culture that I cant get behind. it has the ability to help good men become great. but it also attracts those who seek to use it. and im not just talking about power - more the support network and charity of others. its a very wide... quality of people. It always amused me how people would think that someone is better to associate with just because they were a member of the church. .... but we all know never to hire a church member as it never ends well. (so many cases of people getting ripped off etc...) 1 2
Popular Post red750 Posted March 4 Author Popular Post Posted March 4 If I only believe 12.5% of religion, does that make me an eighthiest? 1 4
facthunter Posted March 4 Posted March 4 Thay would mean you believe in 8 gods. . Atheism is NOT a religion. Nev 2
Marty_d Posted March 4 Posted March 4 If you joined a new religion which only had 79 other adherents, you might be an eightieth. 1
spacesailor Posted March 4 Posted March 4 Luckily Christians can become Moslem. But Moslem's cannot become Christians. The stones are to hard . spacesailor 1
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