DanGreenUser

An editorial in the NY Times, April 2, 2011, entitled, “What Happened to ‘Zero Tolerance’?”, spoke of the gaping holes in the “zero tolerance” mandate for priests suspected of abusing children, since any allegations about rogue priests are first vetted by chancery officials working for the archdiocese before the cases go before independent review boards. This is the same as police departments, health, legal, and other professions vetting complaints behind closed doors before they are turned over to outside boards working on the public’s behalf. It’s a no-brainer when it comes to conflict of interest.

A committee of American Roman Catholic bishops has now announced that a popular book about God by Sister Elizabeth A. Johnson, entitled “Quest for the Living God”, should not be used in Catholic schools because it does not uphold church doctrine. . Sister Johnson in response, said that the bishops never even invited her to discuss the book and that she was unaware that they were assessing it until they had already decided to issue a condemnatory statement.

When it comes to religious control, old habits are hard to break but at least the Catholics aren’t currently killing people who don’t agree with their point of view. Something good about that.

Just as Brother Denny Boyle told Blue on Page 90 that it was his “turn to pay the piper”, the Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus is now experiencing payback time. It has agreed to pay $166 million to more than 500 victims of sexual abuse. The Jesuits are a Catholic religious order whose focus is education. and this the largest abuse settlement by any order of the Catholic Church. (New York Times, March 26, 2011).

Significant as this is to the survivors, this article represents the type of documentary reporting about nameless victims that we have been exposed to since the late ’60’s. It has come to the point where the public has become numbed by it all and just doesn’t pay attention anymore. Accordingly the article was placed on page 14 of the paper. Yet, when people read “Blue Saltwater”, some tell me that they find the story “dark”, like it’s a bad thing, and that it makes them feel the pain. Does this mean that experiencing Blue’s reality will help people more fully understand the gross dysfunction of the Indian Residential School System and its aftermath? I hope so.

How many aboriginal children died while in the custody of residential schools just like Jeremy Cardinal? Jeremy was Blue’s first friend when he arrived at the school and Blue did as much as he could to help the little guy survive. When Jeremy ran for his life and drowned, it was a defining moment for Blue and catalyzed his escape from the school. See Page 88 in the book.

The recent story in www.thestar.com  by Peter Edwards of March 15, 2011 entitled “Star readers rally to bring Charlie Hunter home” reinforces the prevelence of this occurence during those years of incarceration. I think the days of blame must come to an end and instead we must all work together to begin about the healing process. A national monument to all those who will never be found or returned should be built by the Truth and Reconcilation Commission. This would be a good first step and help ensure that we “never forget”.

A tough restless teenager, born and raised on Haida Gwaii. He’s had it with schooling that means squat, and with all the quarrelling and anger that fill his home. Balfour . His dream is independence, by following in the path of his Haida ancestors and becoming a fearless hunter on the North Pacific. He is shocked to realize that his father is not the hero that he had always revered, but rather a macho wife-beater whose final answer is aways delivered with the back of his hand. His mother has chosen the refuge of Father Joe Murphy, a new young priest that has come hanging around. How can you blame Blue for being pissed off?