ttbn... the usual expression is 'haunted and miserable', my finding what you typed risible is withdrawn if it wasn't a slip of the keyboard and you meant hunted.

Also, it never occurred to me that my "But in this instance I'm more encouraged that the kids are in a state school and not cloistered in a private religious school." would trigger your Catholic recollections since what I intended - and accept was not made clear - was being pleased they were not in one of the increasing number of private Islamic schools which in my limited experience are competent academically but less socially mixed than I think is desirable.

runner. its not up to me to refute your rubbish, the onus is on you to provide the evidence that you nonsensical claims are true.

It is my contention that the evidence of child abuse in church run schools in Australia, is so overwhelming, and so wide spread, and systemic, that its only reasonable that all state support for these perversions be stopped, and those schools in question be placed totally under state control without compensation to church or individual.

Do you agree with me runner? If not, why not?

Paul1405,

What would a Statist such as yourself recommend as punishment for the State that was responsible for the horrific abuse of its Wards and orphans?

<The Forgotten Australians feel forgotten all over again

Those who lost their childhood to abuse and neglect still await justice.

It is now two years since then prime minister Kevin Rudd's national apology gave emotional acknowledgement to the lifetime of suffering faced by many of the so-called Forgotten Australians: those who survived unhappy childhoods in Australian orphanages.

But after a burst of publicity at the time, it seems there is still unfinished business facing them. In fact, it almost seems like they've been forgotten all over again.

The details are worth a reminder, and should break even the hardest of hearts: small children beaten to the point of broken bones for trifling transgressions; tied into bed then whipped for wetting it; and being force-fed insect-infested food and then, unbelievably, made to eat their own vomit when they were unable to stomach it. It is treatment that belongs more in a torture chamber than an orphanage, but it is just a small sample of what was meted out to more than half a million childhood care-leavers who were subject to neglect and abuse in orphanages, homes and other institutions during the 20th century.
..
These were kids who had done nothing wrong and yet were subjected to the most appalling treatment imaginable at the hands of church and state. Many of them are now elderly and carry a lifetime of shame and stigma.
..
Some care-leavers think they have been forgotten because no one is interested in the suffering of poor white children, but perhaps that's not so. Maybe it's because the details of what those children went through are so disturbing that people now find it difficult to comprehend what happened in this country while other families were living happily behind white picket fences.

But happen it did. We as a society need to acknowledge that, own it and do what we must to help others move on.>

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/the-forgotten-australians-feel-forgotten-all-over-again-20111215-1owop.html

Beach,
Why do you call me a Statist? What is a Statist?

First and foremost the priority must be the victims, their welfare, their rehabilitation. If, and most likely this includes financial compensation then that is how it must be. The state cannot negate its responsibility to those that have been grievously wronged by acts perpetrated by responsible persons in the name of the state. There should be no statute of limitations.
Like with war criminals, if there are person living today who were directly or indirectly responsible for these wrongs, they should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
If the state apparatus still exists that allowed these crimes to be carried out, then if it shows no change, no contrition from those within, then such an apparatus should be dismantled, and if necessary replaced with an appropriately acceptable state institution that puts the care and welfare of children ahead of all other considerations.

Beach, your post presents what is undeniable fact, as a society we must own up to our responsibility, no matter how painful or how distant these unpalatable events may be.

Why am I calling for the takeover of Catholic Schools by the state? Because I believe here and now in 2015 that the hierarchy of the church in Australia has not met, by any reasonable measure, the necessary criteria to allow it to continue to operate child care in schools under its control. The church continues to limit its responsibility, minimize its culpability, not acknowledge its accountability, and continue to blame the victims. No matter what it says to the contrary, no matter what pious words come out of the Pope. The facts remain the church first and foremost is protecting its own ass, and to hell with the victims.

cont.

cont

I gave a small example of church failure concerning a brother in a Catholic School in Sydney in 2014, who was quietly moved because of his inappropriate behavior. Was this bloke grooming young boys for future personal gratification, or was he naive, I don't know. What I do know is the churches action in 2014 was not dissimilar to its actions of the 1960's. What has really changed? Can anyone here give a 100% guarantee that the Catholic Church and other religious organisations have made real and lasting changes to their school operations in regards to child welfare. Or have they simply become more sophisticated at hiding the truth. Again I don't know, but is it worth the risk?

Dear Paul,

You suggest two remedies:

1. "that its only reasonable that all state support for these perversions be stopped,"

So far so good, I couldn't agree more.

2. "and those schools in question be placed totally under state control without compensation to church or individual."

Now this is excessive and introduces two problems:

First there's a conflict of interest and the smell of corruption - it's as if a judge ordered the accused to pay a fine to himself.

Second, besides the perpetrators it also punishes the innocent, meaning the children, their parents and the perhaps 90% of teachers who have not done any wrong.

The children would be confused; the parents would be betrayed, who went out of their way and paid (even the poor among them who possibly went hungry to gather the private-school fees) to save their children from being indoctrinated by a state-school; while the teachers would lose their jobs when ordered to teach things that are contrary to their conscience.

This is collective punishment. The world screams and accuses Israel of ulterior motives when it destroys houses in the West-Bank of families whose son/daughter, unbeknownst to them became a suicide-bomber, so what's different here?