The Church’s abuse of Irish children 23 May 2009 [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RplWGisGoXY&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&feature=player_embedded&fs=1] That’s one country. How about all the others? I have heard so many stories… Religion
Epistemology I’m about to give a keynote… in Poland 4 Jul 20124 Jul 2012 This is a brave new world. I’m about to give a keynote address to the Naturalizing Religion conference in Kazimierz Dolny in Poland. Or I would be if their internet hadn’t just died completely. Stay tuned for further news of the way things go wrong at the very last moment… Read More
Ecology and Biodiversity Developing dumbness 5 Aug 2008 I get a lot of Google alerts about various things, including species concepts, obviously. I have noticed a pattern: media from the so-called “developed” or “first world” almost never put much in the way of actual facts or knowledge in their reports, concerned, I guess, that it will scare the… Read More
Creationism and Intelligent Design Random thoughts about God and evolution 27 Jun 2010 As some may know, I am writing a couple of book chapters to try to sell a proposal to a publisher for The Nature of Classification, a book I am coauthoring with Malte Ebach. I bring the philosophy and he brings the knowledge. However, this means I am not devoting… Read More
In Canada, the government set up residential schools to “aggressively assimilate” the children of aboriginal populations. These schools were run by churches–mostly the Catholic church, but the Anglican, Presbyterian and United churches were also involved. The mental and physical abuse that happened in those schools, and the destructive affect this has had on aboriginal societies, is still felt to this day. See this FAQ at CBC:http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/05/16/f-faqs-residential-schools.html
Not just the natives either (though that’s arguably the larger national disgrace). The same bunch now being implicated in Ireland also ran a branch plant operation in Newfoundland: http://www.mountcashelorphanage.com/ The fallout from both these sordid episodes has been popping in and out of the news for the past 20 years or so, as one or another inquiry or compensation suit proceeds.
Canada, at least, closed the schools and offered an official apology from Parliament and some monetary compensation. There is still much to be done. The Roman Catholic Church continues to cover up. I’ve updated my link to your site. Please consider adding mine to your blogroll. Thanks.