From: Balanone Area: Base of Set To: Julia Phillips 15 Jul 94 10:07:42 Subject: Re: Ritual Child Abuse UpdReq On 13 Jul 94 22:36:04, Julia Phillips posted to All concerning: Ritual Child Abuse ... JP> I just x-posted some messages into BeastNet on the subject of Ritual JP> Child Abuse. I didn't want to post them into more than one area, but JP> would be interested to discuss any issues arising. Thanks, but I haven't been able to find them yet. Which echo within BeastNet did you post them into? Balanone PP FidoNet: Balanone at 1:203/444 Internet: Balanone@astaroth.sacbbx.com ... Everyone wants to be noticed, but no one wants to be watched... 201434369420143436942014343694201434369420143436942014343694718 From: John Youril Area: Base of Set To: All 15 Jul 94 13:35:36 Subject: Child Abuse UpdReq --> Note: Forwarded (from: BeastNet) by John Youril using timEd. Original was from Julia Phillips to All. ============================================================================= * Forwarded by Julia Phillips (666:4330/106) * Area : OPEN.PAGAN_ALLIANCE (OPEN.PAGAN_ALLIANCE) * From : Julia Phillips, 37:200/101 (12 Jul 94 21:39) * To : All * Subj : Child Abuse ============================================================================= Hello All! The following appeared in The Times newspaper last Wednesday. I thought folks here might find it of interest. I scanned it, rather than re-typing it, so if anything looks odd, let me know and I'll check the original :) ***Text Begins GUIDELINES on how Roman Catholic Church should deal with priests who sexually abuse children were published yesterday by a Catholic working party. The report contains an apology from a senior bishop to those who had been abused and for "mistaken attitudes within the Church". In the past 18 months. six priests and monks in England and Wales have been convicted of child sex offences. The report calls on the Catholic community to appreciate the damage caused by abuse and to develop ways of protecting young people from abuse. It says the community is now much more aware "of the evil of child abuse". The report warns against the temptation in the Church to protect a priest or monk accused of misconduct from "the glare of publicity". The Right Rev Christopher Budd, Bishop of Plymouth, says in the report: "I wish to apologise sincerely to the survivors of abuse and their families and communities, particularly where there has been abuse by people exercising responsibility in the church." The report recommends that each diocese appoints a priest to be the bishop's representative or delegate in dealing with issues of child abuse. ***Text ends B*B Julia -+- GoldED 2.42.G1219 + Origin: Hiraeth BBS Australia (37:200/101) ============================================================================= Hello All! Julia ___ GoldED 2.42.G1219 - Origin: Hiraeth BBS Australia (666:4330/106) 201434369420143436942014343694201434369420143436942014343694718 From: John Youril Area: Base of Set To: All 15 Jul 94 13:35:50 Subject: Education in England UpdReq --> Note: Forwarded (from: BeastNet) by John Youril using timEd. Original was from Julia Phillips to All. ============================================================================= * Forwarded by Julia Phillips (666:4330/106) * Area : OPEN.PAGAN_ALLIANCE (OPEN.PAGAN_ALLIANCE) * From : Julia Phillips, 37:200/101 (12 Jul 94 21:40) * To : All * Subj : Education in England ============================================================================= Hello All! The following appeared in The Times newspaper last Wednesday. I thought folks here might find it of interest. I scanned it, rather than re-typing it, so if anything looks odd, let me know and I'll check the original :) ***Text Begins RELIGIOUS leaders appealed to schools to devote more time and money to religious education as model syllabuses provided the first national blueprint for the subject yesterday. The guidelines approved by representatives of the six main faiths in England, will form the basis of local discussions on what should be taught in state schools. Christianity will predominate at all stages of the curriculum, unless pupils overwhelmingly follow another religion. Although the School Curriculum and Assessment Authority. Which published the two syllabuses, abandoned an attempt to allocate time to the different religions, the place of Christianity is safeguarded by law. John Patten, the Education Secretary. said that "the great majority of time" would be devoted to Christian study. Pupils will be expected to cover Buddhism. Hinduism. Islam, Judaism and Sikhism, as well as Christianity, between the ages of five and 16. Other religions may be taught if they are present locally. Draft syllabuses published in January have been revised to give schools as much flexibility as possible. The guidelines have no legal force, but should give impetus to the local conferences charged with approving detailed courses. Fewer than half of the standing conferences, established in 1988, have completed their task. Recent research has shown that local authority schools are spending an average of less than UK 1.00 per pupil a year on religious education. Most of the main religious groups welcomed the new syllabuses, but doubts remained about their breadth and schools' ability to do them justice. Professor Howard Marratt. consultant to the Free Church Federal Council, said: "The success of this exercise will depend on more resources being found for the subject. Beyond 14 in particular, it is being taught, if at all, largely by unqualified teachers." The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey, said the syllabuses had struck a sensible balance. "Prime place is given to Christianity because of its formative influence in our society as a whole, but the importance of understanding the other principal religions is strongly emphasised and there is plenty of local flexibility." But the Christian Institute, an evangelical grouping, said the proposal to introduce young children to several religions was an "educational impossibility". Lady Olga Maitland, the Tory MP for Sutton and Cheam. described the guidelines as a multicultural mish-mash. "Our leading churchmen have not stood up for Christianity," she said. Summary of religious education for children in English schools: At age 5-7: Normally Christianity and one other religion. Introduction to key figures and events. Learning about festivals and religious symbols. Responding to religious stories in the light of pupils' own experiences. Showing awareness of right and wrong. At age 7-11: Normally Christianity and two other religions, as well as issues of moral and spiritual development. Developing knowledge through historical context of religions. Focusing on those people considered examples to others. Considering the impact of religion on local communities. Learning from religion by exploring questions of the meaning and mystery of life. Developing "positive attitudes" to people and their right to hold different beliefs. At age 11-14: Normally Christianity and two other religions. Researching a key period. Identifying shared characteristics of different religions. Comparingthe impact of religions in different parts of the world. Enhancing spiritual and moral development. Relating knowledge of religion to other areas of the curriculum. At age 14-16: Normally Christianity and one other religion. Deepening knowledge through comparisons of different religions and denominations or traditions within them. Studying the impact of religions on attitudes to contemporary issues. Considering experiences which take people "beyond the realm of every-day experience". Developing the ability to defend a philosophical or religious position and to explore religious ideas. By the end of compulsory schooling, pupils should have covered Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism. ***Text ends B*B Julia -+- GoldED 2.42.G1219 + Origin: Hiraeth BBS Australia (37:200/101) ============================================================================= Hello All! Julia ___ GoldED 2.42.G1219 - Origin: Hiraeth BBS Australia (666:4330/106) 201434369420143436942014343694201434369420143436942014343694718 From: John Youril Area: Base of Set To: All 15 Jul 94 13:36:12 Subject: Ritual Child Abuse UpdReq --> Note: Forwarded (from: BeastNet) by John Youril using timEd. Original was from Julia Phillips to All. ============================================================================= * Forwarded by Julia Phillips (666:4330/106) * Area : OPEN.PAGAN_ALLIANCE (OPEN.PAGAN_ALLIANCE) * From : Julia Phillips, 37:200/101 (13 Jul 94 22:15) * To : All * Subj : Ritual Child Abuse ============================================================================= Hello All! Sorry about the Subject: I personally have never encountered a Ritual Child, whether abused or not, but that's what the powers-that-be have been calling the scam. Anyway! The following text is reproduced (yup, scanned again so watch out for typos) from The Independent (British newspaper). The writer is Rosie Waterhouse, who almost single-handedly turned the tide on the Ritual Child Abuse myth in Britain, and revealed the fundie plots for the superficial absurdities they were. Unfortunately, a lot of children *were* abused... by the social services department... before she was able to achieve this. As the Judge in the Orkney case said: seeing a video of a screaming child (a young girl) being dragged from her bed and home by social workers is one of his most abiding memories of the case. Parents were denied any contact with their children, in case they imparted "secret satanic symbols" to them, and in some cases, the separation lasted over 18 months. ***Text begins: SATANIC abuse is a "myth", a government-backed inquiry has concluded. No evidence was found to substantiate any of the 84 cases in which it was alleged that children were sexually abused in bizarre black-magic rites. The findings, exclusively revealed by the Independent on Sunday in April, were published yesterday after a three-year inquiry conducted by Jean la Fontaine, emeritus professor of social anthropology at the London School of Economics. The report blames Evangelical Christians and self-proclaimed "specialists" for the scare which led to police investigations across Britain from 1988 to 1991. The conclusions will strengthen claims for compensation by families whose children were taken into care after false accusations of child sex abuse in satanic ceremonies. Solicitors acting for three families from Rochdale have issued writs alleging negligence and breach of statutory duty by Rochdale's social services department. Their 19 children were seized in June 1990 by police and social workers, who believed they were victims of satanic abuse. A similar scare on the island of South Ronaldsay in February 1991 prompted the Department of Health to commission an inquiry to investigate all allegations of satanic abuse. Neil Kinsella, the Rochdale families' solicitor, said: "The families were victims of what appeared to be a macabre race by social workers to be the first to discover rings of satanic child abusers. As a result of the false allegations, the parents and children were subjected to appalling emotional and pscyhological trauma." Virginia Bottomley, Secretary of State for Health, urged child care professionals to read and learn lessons from the report which, she said, "exposed the myth of satanic abuse". David Blunkett, Labour's health spokesman, said: "it is crucial we do not lose sight of the fact that many of the children involved had been sexually abused. Children must be protected from all sexual abuse -- the fact that ritual abuse was ruled out here must not undermine that imperative". Providing the first official definition of satanic abuse, the report said: "Rites that allegedly include the torture and sexual abuse abuse of children and adults, forced abortion, human sacrifice, cannibalism and bestiality may be labelled satanic or satanist. Their defining characteristic is that the sexual and physical abuse of children is part of rites directed to a magical or religious objective. There is no evidence that these have taken place in any of the 84 cases studied". The report said there were three substantiated cases of "ritual, not satanic abuse". It explained: "These were cases in which self-proclaimed mystical/magical powers were used to entrap children and impress them, and also adults, with a reason for the sexual abuse, keeping them compliant. In these cases, the ritual was secondary 10 the sexual abuse which clearly formed the primary objective to the perpetrators." The rituals performed in these cases did not resemble the extreme allegations such as drinking blood, child sacrifice and cannibalism, which featured in the other 81 cases. The report said there was evidence the number of satanic abuse allegations involving children had fallen since 1991, but more adults were now claiming they had been ritually abused as children. Interview techniques used by social workers and the inaccurate transcribing or summarising of interviews were criticised. "The interviews with children were frequently poorly conducted. Too frequent interviewing, leading questions, contamination, pressure and inducements to agree to suggestions may have resulted from the anxiety of the interviewers to find out what happened". Trying to explain why social workers and others believed the children were victims of satanic abuse the report concluded: "A belief in evil cults is convincing because it draws on powerful cultural axions. People are reluctant to accept that parents, even those classed as social failures, will harm their own children, and even invite others to do so, but involvement with the devil explains it. The notion that unknown powerful leaders control the cult revives an old myth of dangerous strangers. Demonising the marginal poor and linking them to unknown satanists turns intractable cases of abuse into manifestations of evil". However a Labour MP, Llin Golding, who is vice chairwoman of the all-party parliamentary children's group called for another government investigation involving psychiatrists and therapists who say they have dealt the satanic abuse cases. Mrs Golding, MP for Newcastle Under Lyme, said: "Just because one person found no evidence, that doesn't mean satanic abuse does not exist." ***text ends B*B Julia -+- GoldED 2.42.G1219 + Origin: Hiraeth BBS Australia (37:200/101) ============================================================================= Hello All! Julia ___ GoldED 2.42.G1219 - Origin: Hiraeth BBS Australia (666:4330/106) 201434369420143436942014343694201434369420143436942014343694718