Magdalene Sisters
we watched the Magdalene Sisters on friday/saturday…i got so pissed off, i had to stop it on friday…. here's the premise: for 150 years, ending in 1996, teenage girls in ireland who got pregnant or raped or were so attractive it was assumed they would eventually become promiscuous were sent by their parents/caregivers to prison like asylums run by the catholic church. nuns oversaw day-to-day operations. these girls were forced to work in laundries for hours in silence, they couldn't talk to anyone, including the other girls in the laundry. there are reports of verbal, physical and sexual abuse involving abuse from both nuns and priests. many times girls were brought there under false premises only to find their new 'home' surrounded by high walls topped with broken glass and barb wire, locked gates and bars on the windows. girls were imprisoned for life unless a family member returned for them or the nuns decided she was allowed to leave. thirty thousand women were locked up in these asylums over the years.
i think what hit me hardest is that this stuff went on until 1996 and i never heard about it. and from people who are suppose to love and forgive…this just baffles me. i'm not trying to judge here, but the catholic church just continues to amaze me. the lies and hurt they cause. And i know, all forms of religion have hurt people, but it just seems like the catholic church is riddled with this. just the reports of abuse from nuns i've heard from friends who went threw the catholic school system astound me, let alone all this crap now. i need to let this one soak in a bit. i'm angry. i'm angry that there were so many lies out there that parents thought they had to place their children in these jails. i'm angry that those sent to love and forgive people seem to continually cause harm and lead them away from God.
I recommend this movie. there's a documentary of a few of the girls, now in their 70's on the dvd. it will piss you off, but like all crap in this world, we need to know where the piles lay. only then can we start helping to clean it up..
http://www.answers.com/topic/magdalen-asylum
'My Story' from a survivor
http://www.internet-encyclopedia.org/wiki.php?title=Magdalene_laundry
i think what hit me hardest is that this stuff went on until 1996 and i never heard about it. and from people who are suppose to love and forgive…this just baffles me. i'm not trying to judge here, but the catholic church just continues to amaze me. the lies and hurt they cause. And i know, all forms of religion have hurt people, but it just seems like the catholic church is riddled with this. just the reports of abuse from nuns i've heard from friends who went threw the catholic school system astound me, let alone all this crap now. i need to let this one soak in a bit. i'm angry. i'm angry that there were so many lies out there that parents thought they had to place their children in these jails. i'm angry that those sent to love and forgive people seem to continually cause harm and lead them away from God.
I recommend this movie. there's a documentary of a few of the girls, now in their 70's on the dvd. it will piss you off, but like all crap in this world, we need to know where the piles lay. only then can we start helping to clean it up..
http://www.answers.com/topic/magdalen-asylum
'My Story' from a survivor
http://www.internet-encyclopedia.org/wiki.php?title=Magdalene_laundry
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