Bodies of 800 Irish children found

#906 for broadcast on 2CH Sydney, 8 Jun 2014.

The world was shocked to learn this week of the discovery of the bodies of some 800 children in a septic tank at a former Irish Catholic home for unwed mothers.  Between 1925 and 1961, thousands of so-called “fallen women” and their children passed through the home.

To become pregnant out of wedlock was seen at the time as the worst crime a woman could commit, and attracted ostracism by the family and community, even though it was often the result of sexual assault.

Many of the women left and found work elsewhere, but hundreds of their infant children did not.

When religion promotes evil and suppresses truth and justice, it’s time to forsake religion.

And Australia has its own version of those septic tanks, where instead of interning corpses we detain and humiliate innocent living persons in contravention of international law and with the acquiescence of millions of Australian voters.

I’m Rod Benson for the NSW Council of Churches.