I read Cecil’s column on the Magdalene houses in Ireland. I lived in the west of Ireland in the 1960s. In the village there was a convent of the Sister’s of Saint Louis - in which the nuns wore blue and were coloquilly (sp.) called the “St. Louis Blues”. Although a teenager at the time, I was aware that “troubled” girls stayed at the convent and worked in the laundry. I innocently thought that they were being helped through the trials of a teenage pregnancy.
Cecil’s article questioned how these girls continued to stay in the convents for many years. Could they just have escaped? The problem was not one of physical captivity. It was a problem of MENTAL captivity! These girls, and indeed Irish society outside the convents, were the victims of brainwashing and mind-control. It was not an option to break out of this situation, mentally or physically. The mind-control was such that few realized that they were actually being controlled. Few could think “outside the box”! The “box” in this case was a virtual total control of society by a severely pathological, “omniscient” and omnipotent Catholic church. Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Human beings generally adapt to their environment in order to survive. However bizarre, inhuman or pathologic a situation appears in retrospect or to “outsiders” concurrently, those “in the box” accept the situation as normal (conforming with that society). Let us hope that our present society, and its lack of apparent concern about the current state of our international affairs, will be understood in retrospect.
Welcome to the Straight Dope Message Boards, Declinax, we’re glad to have you with us.
When you start a thread, it is helpful to others if you provide a link to the column that you’re commenting on. Saves searching time, keeps us all on the same page, etc.
In this case: Did the Catholic church in Ireland imprison wayward girls?
No biggie, you’ll know for next time. And, as I say, welcome.