I don't usually do links if I can help it because I find I learn better if I write it in my own words but this article 'The trouble with troubled teen programs. How the "boot camp" industry tortures and kills kids' has to be read to be believed. http://www.reason.com/news/show/117088.html
Now I understand how Guantanamo Bay or the Abu Ghraib incidents could happen.
How can a country that makes a profitable industry from beating and abusing its children claim any moral high ground against any other country?
I'd be happy for any passing American to leave a comment about this.
It recalls the worst of the religious children's homes in Australia of the last century. It shouldn't be happening now in a supposedly free society and I hope it isn't happening here.
9 comments:
"How can a country that makes a profitable industry from beating and abusing its children claim any moral high ground against any other country?" ... well that would be 'HYPOCRISY' then wouldn't it? ... and we all know how RARE that is.
Yes, isn't it extraordinary how the people who reject moral relativism and insist on the black-and-white difference between good and evil argue for making exceptions when it comes to torture.
No-one can discount your emotions on this one, JT. I, for one, had absolutely no idea the industry of the teen boot camps was so widespread --or lucrative.
But better to re-word you question a bit. It is not the COUNTRY that "makes a profitable industry from beating and abusing its children" but rather a few idiots within it who are managing to fly under the radar and take advantage of desperate parents who have allowed--or caused--their kids to get messed up (with the help of a materialistic society).
Oh, and forgive me that this is TOTALLY off-topic but you might wish to bookmark the following information and have a good laugh or two next time you have access to a computer with highspeed connections (library nearby?). I watched the first episode on various YouTube links tonight and laughed and laughed. Makes me miss the good old days when I got to watch the CBC. Decrepit Old Fool is right: "Little Mosque on the Prairie" is a comedy that we all need right now. Droll is an understatement.
Maybe, being in Australia, it's part of your domestic TV lineup?
Anyway, info is here:
http://www.decrepitoldfool.com/index.php/weblog/comments/little_mosque_on_the_prairie/
Not on the TV horizon yet but I have seen the LiveJournal kids raving about it. Probably we'll get it on SBS if we're lucky.
That boot camp thing really got under my skin especially where they can change the name and move so they can't be sued. Unfortunately we have a couple of political bloggers who'd think it was a peachy idea. The same ones who want national service and conscription back but know they wouldn't have to do it.
I understand.
From "Little Mosque":
The handsome young lawyer-imam says,
"Oh, yes, when I was young my parents never fasted. [rolls eyes] They were huge."
or
[Muslims standing around a home telescope, talking together about when they should start fasting]:
"Traditionally, Ramadan begins when the New Moon is first seen in Saudi Arabia."
"Give me a break. The Saudis couldn't find the moon unless there was oil spurting out of it."
The old imam who's being replaced, in his final sermon:
"The enemy is not only out THERE. The enemy is much closer than you think; the enemy is in your KITCHEN!
"My point is this. Wine-gams. Rye-bread. Liquor-ish! Western traps designed to seduce Muslims to drink alcohol!
"American Idol. Canadian Idol. I say, all idols must be smashed!
"Desperate Housewives? WHY should they be desperate when they are only performing their natural duties?"
[two women whisper, hey did you tape last nights episode? Oh, yeah, it was SO good.]
Thank you KR, it sounds really good but I expect some of our loonier followers of the crescent moon would be denouncing it the minute it hit the tv screen.
Yes, I imagine so. However what my excerpts above don't show is that all that dialogue I've quoted is spoken by Muslims. And my excerpt doesn't show the context or presentation. The programme is typical of the CBC (and ABC, too, I think) in that there is no laugh track. And the programme shows both ignorant locals and more open-minded locals. There is an attempt to be well-balanced, to show some modern, urban Muslims and to show them in a good light. Nonetheless, yes, I suspect that CBC is in for a rollercoaster ride.
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