Posted on 06/10/2014 9:04:38 AM PDT by Mrs. Don-o
Few of us are inclined to look a gift horse in the mouth, and that applies in spades to journalists running with a sensational news story. But even by normal media standards, recent reports about the bones of 796 babies being found in the septic tank of an Irish orphanage betray a degree of cynicism and irresponsibility rarely surpassed by allegedly reputable news organizations.
Although the media attributed the “dumped in a septic tank” allegation to Catherine Corless, a local amateur historian, she denies making it. Her attempt to correct the record was reported by the Irish Times newspaper on Saturday (see here) but has been almost entirely ignored by the same global media that so gleefully recycled the original suggestion.
Today the Irish Times has published a reader’s letter that has further undercut the story. Finbar McCormick, a professor of geography at Queen’s University Belfast, sharply admonished the media for describing the children’s last resting place as a septic tank. He added: “The structure as described is much more likely to be a shaft burial vault, a common method of burial ...in many parts of Europe.
“In the 19th century, deep brick-lined shafts were constructed and covered with a large slab which often doubled as a flatly laid headstone. These were common in 19th-century urban cemeteries…..Such tombs are still used extensively in Mediterranean countries. I recently saw such structures being constructed in a churchyard in Croatia. The shaft was made of concrete blocks, plastered internally and roofed with large concrete slabs.
[T]he verifiable facts that have emerged so far amount merely to a strong story for the media of one small country. The one “fact” that turned all this from a disturbing national story to a screaming global sensation is one that is almost certainly false.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
What I don't understand is why even some FReepers ran so gleefully with it. Why the multiple postings with comments like "Infanticide!" "Murder!" ? Why the zeal for "First the verdict, then (or never) the evidence"? Why the blood libel?
Why should I conceal my disgust?
ONE fair-minded non-Catholic FReeper private-messaged me with a sensible statement, as I agreed as follows:
"Catholics should be demanding a fair and unbiased accounting and not avoiding it or condemning anyone who brings it up."
Here we agree.
One of our most serious moral obligations is to respect, and demand respect for, the truth. Truth is what I would strive for, for myself; and what I would demand
“Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.” (John 7:24)
Bones from 796 babies?
This would keep the cast of “BONES” busy for a year.
Yeah, well, unfortunately, this is the dark side of FR. I didn’t even know such a side existed until about a year ago...
The original story was stupid for its claim and made no sense.
That's so unexpected!
Happy to see the truth has come out on this.
Check you mail. :)
My first visit to Dublin was in the late 60s. I’ll never forget the squalid conditions and the women wearing shawls over their heads and carrying barefoot, filthy children around. Yikes! It improved over the years. But I couldn’t wait to get out of that city.
"The nuns who ran the orphanage have long since gone to their reward but if they could speak for themselves they would no doubt claim they were doing their best in appalling circumstances."
I suspected that it was a mass burial site and that the nuns were doing the best they could under the circumstances. I'm glad this article shed some light.
I thought this sounded like a total hoax from the beginning - reminiscent of the ‘Philomena’ story. After reading the debunking of the entire movie by Bill Donahue, I will not see it. It’s wrong to make people think they are watching a true story when it’s a lying hatchet job, even if Dame Judi lent her star quality to the flick.
Now we’re back to “it’s not a septic tank it’s a crypt, and besides they’re not in there.” Well, where are they then?
The wild rationalizations and weird excuses from the FR faithful over the past week or so have been fascinating to watch. The Irish themselves are far more forthright and honest.
The Archbishop of Dublin warns that more mass graves are likely to be found:
More mass graves. That means Tuam has one. Maybe that’s why what has long and widely been understood to be a septic tank is now being sanitized into a “crypt”?
Isn’t this where Chief Justice Roberts got his babies? Ireland not a septic tank. He relegates the Constitution to that vessel.
If you need the drawer and it is still "occupied", then the Catholic Church now lets you cremate the body. I have attended several New Orleans funerals where I personally saw this and had it explained to me.
Yeah, well, unfortunately, this is the dark side of FR. I didn’t even know such a side existed until about a year ago...
____________________________________________
FReep much? Guess not.
Seriously, articles are posted every day and FReepers knee-jerk over them as if they were Gospel. Someone can post some obscure blog or some 4th rate internet “news” source and BOOM!
Haters gotta hate. As if it were true.
Even this story from Forbes denouncing those previous articles? I withhold judgment on this too. How do we know this is not a liberal spin to take the heat off the pro-abort results from decades ago. What may or may not have happened in Ireland is certainly ongoing here as we murder infants and the pre-born.
We may not bury them in septic tanks, be we dispose of them none the less.
And maybe that’s why Forbes is posting this. To take the heat off normal abortion tactics.
Plainly you want it to be a septic tank. Equally plainly, others don't.
Those of us who are interested in the truth of the matter, like myself, will never know for sure if we've got it, because we'll never fully trust our sources, because see above.
Searching for truth isn’t nearly so easy as grabbing onto a handy emotion and running with it like crazy.
It would be heartening to see a genuine apology or two.
My personal favorite is the articles based on news releases by attorneys who are filing a lawsuit. An especially enthusiastic response is observed when CPS or LEOs are involved.
I'm no fan at all of recent changes in LEO procedures, but an article based on an attorney's news release is not a factual story at all. It is a spun version of one side of the story.
After all, attorneys never shade the truth, do they?
Yeah, well, unfortunately, this is the dark side of FR. I didn’t even know such a side existed until about a year ago...
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Plenty of Freepers here are going straight to Hell when they die, not passing Go, not collecting $200.
Well, I don’t presume to know who is going to hell and who is not. None of my business. But I already sense the disappointment that this story may fall apart, lol.
You’re lucky you didn’t realize for so long.
I think “that side” should have been banned years ago and saved everyone a lot of grief.
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