Magdalene laundry nuns

miss_shadow · 17-01-2013 02:16AM #1

There was a time my lecturer told us one day our morals would be tested and it seems that that day has arrived.

I work in a catholic founded hospital. It was run by nuns quite a while ago. the nuns still come to visit a few of the residents as it is partly an old folks home too, that's fine. Doesn't bother me at all, your life and entitled to your own religion.

But we have a nun in for a few weeks
and the news is that she was one of the nuns who used to take the babies from mammy and cart them off to America for adoption. This particular nun changed her name too.

I read a book on the magdalene laundry a few months before and after reading it I have been left disgusted at what went on and at this moment I can barely look at this frail old thing without feeling sick.

Have your morals been tested by someone or a situation and had to keep quiet or did you let rip?

Stheno · 17-01-2013 02:18AM

miss_shadow wrote: »

There was a time my lecturer told us one day our morals would be tested and it seems that that day has arrived.

I work in a catholic founded hospital. It was run by nuns quite a while ago. the nuns still come to visit a few of the residents as it is partly an old folks home too, that's fine. Doesn't bother me at all, your life and entitled to your own religion.

But we have a nun in for a few weeks
and the news is that she was one of the nuns who used to take the babies from mammy and cart them off to America for adoption. This particular nun changed her name too.

I read a book on the magdalene laundry a few months before and after reading it I have been left disgusted at what went on and at this moment I can barely look at this frail old thing without feeling sick.

Have your morals been tested by someone or a situation and had to keep quiet or did you let rip?

Got offered a job with a company who do drugs tests on animals, and after some thought turned it down.

Witchie · 17-01-2013 02:21AM

Considered applying for a job in the FAI but since they are a shower of see you next tuesdays I would rather work for the devil.

Jacob T · 17-01-2013 02:25AM

TLDR

admiralofthefleet · 17-01-2013 02:27AM

no comment

Lionel Messy · 17-01-2013 02:33AM

F.uck nuns

Where To · 17-01-2013 02:35AM

Come show me your hardcore feelings
With your raving meanings
Cause I don´t know the way to groove

I never learned to dance this fast
And I don´t know how to move

When the beats tickin´ hard
And the beats tickin´ low
May I think it is unique

I rather like to dance with you
Like we did
cheek to cheek

Jimoslimos · 17-01-2013 02:37AM

miss_shadow wrote: »

But we have a nun in for a few weeks
and the news is that she was one of the nuns who used to take the babies from mammy and cart them off to America for adoption. This particular nun changed her name too.

Would that be verified or just gossip/rumour?

If the latter I'd hold my tongue.

Sarky · 17-01-2013 02:42AM

She'll be dead soon. Why bother doing anything?

smash · 17-01-2013 09:19AM

Punch her in the kidneys!

RossFixxxed · 17-01-2013 11:26AM

Be sure you have the right person. Let rip.

Or just be comforted knowing if we do go to hell we won't get near the fires for all the nuns and priests in the way.

eviltwin · 17-01-2013 11:33AM

I used to work with a racist, in the end I just told the boss I wouldn't have anything to do with that person anymore and the boss was okay with it. If I could have afforded to leave I would have but this was the best compromise. I did try and learn a bit more about why this person felt how they did, thought maybe I could educate them a bit but it was a waste of time. In your shoes I would ask her outright but thats me though, I understand it might not be that easy.

MurdyWurdy · 17-01-2013 11:43AM

miss_shadow wrote: »

There was a time my lecturer told us one day our morals would be tested and it seems that that day has arrived.

I work in a catholic founded hospital. It was run by nuns quite a while ago. the nuns still come to visit a few of the residents as it is partly an old folks home too, that's fine. Doesn't bother me at all, your life and entitled to your own religion.

But we have a nun in for a few weeks
and the news is that she was one of the nuns who used to take the babies from mammy and cart them off to America for adoption. This particular nun changed her name too.

I read a book on the magdalene laundry a few months before and after reading it I have been left disgusted at what went on and at this moment I can barely look at this frail old thing without feeling sick.

Have your morals been tested by someone or a situation and had to keep quiet or did you let rip?

Applied online for a legit looking PA hob. Got called for an interview and it turned out the job was to be a PA to a dodgy business man who owned loads of strip clubs (and I'd say a brothel or two as well) Once I realised who he was I cancelled the interview and told them I already had found a job. Don't really agree with that line of business.

They then passed my CV to a local strip club and I got a call from them asking me to come in to audition to be a dancer! Well dodgy

The club was one where the strippers swam in fish tanks too!

Odysseus · 17-01-2013 12:15PM

I often work with people who have committed various acts which most people would deem immoral or often illegal, often both. However, I am there to work with the person, they are entitled to the same amount of respect that any other client would be entitled to.

Of course, I will make judgements, but I talk about them in supervision so that hopefully they do not effect the quality of the service I supply. It doesn't matter if a person experienced abuse or they are the ones that caused the abuse, they are entitled to the same quality service; if I cannot supply that I need to pass the person on to someone who can.

krudler · 17-01-2013 12:19PM

Odysseus wrote: »

I often work with people who have committed various acts which most people would deem immoral or often illegal, often both. However, I am there to work with the person, they are entitled to the same amount of respect that any other client would be entitled to.

Of course, I will make judgements, but I talk about them in supervision so that hopefully they do not effect the quality of the service I supply. It doesn't matter if a person experienced abuse or they are the ones that caused the abuse, they are entitled to the same quality service; if I cannot supply that I need to pass the person on to someone who can.

Supermacs?

cml387 · 17-01-2013 12:22PM

"Let he who is without sin cast the the first stone"

gobnaitolunacy · 17-01-2013 12:22PM

It's the nun's own business, she has to live out her days with that in the back of her mind. That is, if her mind is still firing on all six cylinders.
You reap what you sow.

Anyway, how do you know she really did this or is it just gossip.

SEPT 23 1989 · 17-01-2013 12:26PM

Taking babies from new mothers

have a long think about that:mad:

Sarky · 17-01-2013 12:28PM

cml387 wrote: »

"Let he who is without sin cast the the first stone"

*BAM*

Got 'im!

Leftist · 17-01-2013 12:43PM

gobnaitolunacy wrote: »

It's the nun's own business, she has to live out her days with that in the back of her mind. That is, if her mind is still firing on all six cylinders.
You reap what you sow.

Anyway, how do you know she really did this or is it just gossip.

yep. same logic should go to other crimes. Murder, kidnapping (which is essentially what that was). They have to put up with the guilt, locking them away in a prison is just inhumane.

and there are lunatics out there that want that same institution to influence government decisions.

I Heart Internet · 17-01-2013 12:44PM

miss_shadow wrote: »

There was a time my lecturer told us one day our morals would be tested and it seems that that day has arrived.

I work in a catholic founded hospital. It was run by nuns quite a while ago. the nuns still come to visit a few of the residents as it is partly an old folks home too, that's fine. Doesn't bother me at all, your life and entitled to your own religion.

But we have a nun in for a few weeks
and the news is that she was one of the nuns who used to take the babies from mammy and cart them off to America for adoption. This particular nun changed her name too.

I read a book on the magdalene laundry a few months before and after reading it I have been left disgusted at what went on and at this moment I can barely look at this frail old thing without feeling sick.

Have your morals been tested by someone or a situation and had to keep quiet or did you let rip?

Firstly, i assume if the hospital was "catholic founded" then it is still either operated by a religious order or (far more likely) a board of trustees with a small number of members of that order still represented on the board.

Most importantly, I wouldn't go making some kind of stand based on information you present with the phrase "news is that".

Many nuns would have been known by religious names (often male names) in the past - names they took upon entering the order. As this (along with habits, etc) has fallen out of favour, most nuns now use their own names on a day to day basis.

Bottom line - unless you know for a fact that this woman did bad things, why take a set against her because you read some book?

To answer your question - yes my morals were tested over somehting I did - and I 'fessed up. I'm not telling you what it was though!

Fratton Fred · 17-01-2013 12:56PM

I exposed myself to a group of nuns once.

Two of them had a stroke................but the others couldn't reach.

sorry, couldn't resist

Mrs OBumble · 17-01-2013 12:57PM

miss_shadow wrote: »

Have your morals been tested by someone or a situation and had to keep quiet or did you let rip?

Yup: a colleague, who was married to someone I went to school with, had an affair with another colleague. We even found out he was riding her even while the wife was having their 2nd baby.

I had to be polite / professional to both of 'em in the office for well over a year after it all came out.

Re your situation:

1) Who died and made you God, and

2) If you're working in a hospital, you can assume that your patients and their visitor include some right lovely peope (drug dealers, rapists, wife-beaters, murdererd, bankers, thieves, etc) - because they get sick just like anyone else does. Whatever. You're paid to provide healthcare to 'em, not to judge wha they did. Leave the justice system jobs to people who are paid to do 'em.

Get over it.

17-01-2013 01:00PM

I'm not interested in defending the clearly indefensible, and what this nun is allegedly responsible for, and indeed the suffering caused in Ireland by the whole CC, comes under that term.

However, to play devils advocate, I think we should look at her supposed acts through the lens of the times they were carried out in.

The catholic church reigned supreme until very recently in this country, and many members of religious orders entered those orders to comply with familial expectation, or to escape crushing poverty, and sometimes because of a sexuality they were taught to be sickeningly ashamed of (in order to hide from the expectation of conventional heterosexual marriage).

You also cannot underestimate the sheer blind faith that nuns and most other Catholics in Ireland had in the status quo, as outlined and promoted by the top brass in the best dresses.

If a relatively inexperienced, closeminded and indoctrinated individual was constantly told that what they were doing was incontrovertibly right, was not just fair and moral, but also was saving the soul of the two people involved (mother and baby) from an eternity suffering agony in hell, I can see why they might believe it. They might believe it in their bones, or they might choose to believe it because it was easier or it suited them, but its not unreasonable to assume they did believe they were doing the right thing in a bad situation.

Now we have evolved as a society and culture to know much better, thankfully. But its very possible that that lamest of reasons and most flimsy of excuses applied to this woman at the time. She probably didn't know any better.

She has to live with that now, and your best option OP is to behave towards her with the respect and dignity that she denied her charges, for your sake if not for hers.

strobe · 17-01-2013 01:05PM

Candie wrote: »

I'm not interested in defending the clearly indefensible, and what this nun is allegedly responsible for, and indeed the suffering caused in Ireland by the whole CC, comes under that term.

However, to play devils advocate, I think we should look at her supposed acts through the lens of the times they were carried out in.

The catholic church reigned supreme until very recently in this country, and many members of religious orders entered those orders to comply with familial expectation, or to escape crushing poverty, and sometimes because of a sexuality they were taught to be sickeningly ashamed of (in order to hide from the expectation of conventional heterosexual marriage).

You also cannot underestimate the sheer blind faith that nuns and most other Catholics in Ireland had in the status quo, as outlined and promoted by the top brass in the best dresses.

If a relatively inexperienced, closeminded and indoctrinated individual was constantly told that what they were doing was incontrovertibly right, was not just fair and moral, but also was saving the soul of the two people involved (mother and baby) from an eternity suffering agony in hell, I can see why they might believe it. They might believe it in their bones, or they might choose to believe it because it was easier or it suited them, but its not unreasonable to assume they did believe they were doing the right thing in a bad situation.

Now we have evolved as a society and culture to know much better, thankfully. But its very possible that that lamest of reasons and most flimsy of excuses applied to this woman at the time. She probably didn't know any better.

She has to live with that now, and your best option OP is to behave towards her with the respect and dignity that she denied her charges, for your sake if not for hers.

Nuremberg defense, huh? How retro.

17-01-2013 01:06PM

strobe wrote: »

Nuremberg defense, huh? How retro.

How droll.

But no, as I've said its indefensible. Doesn't mean we shouldn't try to understand it though.

Madam_X · 17-01-2013 01:08PM

cml387 wrote: »

"Let he who is without sin cast the the first stone"

Lots of sins carry far more weight than others. I think a person whose only sins are the usual human failings is quite ok to condemn the Magdalene Laundries system.

strobe wrote: »

Nuremberg defense, huh? How retro.

It can be a valid defence though. I don't get why it's often dismissed or why those dismissing it are so sure they wouldn't have crumbled under similar pressure/fear.

krudler · 17-01-2013 01:12PM

cml387 wrote: »

"Let he who is without sin cast the the first stone"

Sin doesn't exist.

Whack!

17-01-2013 01:13PM

Mod

I'll just get this in here now.

If this turns into an anti-catholic/anti-religion/pro-catholic/pro-religion thread, it will be locked.

We'll keep the religious discussion for the appropriate forums.

Ta.

gobnaitolunacy · 17-01-2013 01:21PM

Leftist wrote: »

yep. same logic should go to other crimes. Murder, kidnapping (which is essentially what that was). They have to put up with the guilt, locking them away in a prison is just inhumane.

and there are lunatics out there that want that same institution to influence government decisions.

Unless you or your family were affected by (alleged) past misdeeds, it's none of your business.
What's the OP supposed to do? Go to the Gardai on foot of what is just 'talk'?

curlzy · 17-01-2013 01:24PM

While I can understand your anger OP, you'll just get yourself in trouble if you say anything. My own grandmother was "raised" in an orphanage by the Sisters of "Mercy", (mercy my hole) and I have a very strong dislike of nuns, priests etc but if I bump into them in a professional capacity I act professionally. A rant wouldn't do any good anyways, if they've half a brain they know the horrific things they did, if they don't well sure your rant won't change that.

Just be glad you've never done anything so disgustingly horrific and have to live the rest of your days knowing what you did.

Magdalene laundry nuns

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