What is Black Collar Crime?

 Thanks to http://tirelesswing.blogspot.com/ for the title picture.

                I believe the first use of the  term "Black Collar Crime " comes from the Australian group Broken Rites who began operation in 1993, when the victims realized the absence of any support for the victims of Church based abuse coming from the Church. This was when the realization that the hierarchy of those Churches are really only interested in protecting their own Priests/Ministers. But it was not yet clear just how much the churches where covering up for their own.


Currently the US based Freedom From Religion Foundation publish the Black Collar Crime Blotter  that tracks and monitors crimes committed by those involved in the churches,  it's very US based but does have the occasional story from Australia and Europe. Locally the site  http://www.tor.id.au/ is updated regularly and is more Australian centric, while also concentrating on the Catholic Church.

http://www.clergyabuseaustralia.org/ is a site from a survivor of Clerical Abuse, it's quite personal, has links to help groups, books and resources. but does not look to have been updated for some time.

For those people that have been through abuse and wish to network with others Survivors Australia are quite active.

Recently the Pope commented the current church scandals are because of the change in society in the 1960s. But that would mean there was no abuse before the 1960s wouldn't it?

So lets see...

After WW2, Britain, as did most countries, had a lot of orphans,  so here begins another chapter of the child migrants to the Empire. This is probably a story unknown outside Commonwealth countries, but the national Library of Australia has a short paper on it here. But, basically children as young as three were sent out to Australia, Rhodesia, Canada, and New Zealand, with the idea they would be leaving Britain behind to go to orphanages and possibly families for a better life. But on arrival they where generally used as a cheap labour force. In fact the Christian Brothers used the children as labours to construct the buildings they all lived in.

A support group for the Forgotten Australians has been formed. But without going in to much detail, again it's a story of the supposedly Godly members of our society abusing those to young to defend themselves. This was first brought to the attention of the public with the 1989 book  Lost Children of the Empire that was later made into a film.

Just this story would prove the lie about the Pope claim.

Andrew Murray was an Australian Senator, as well as a child migrant, he writes a history of the recent events of this incredibly sad story, concentrating on the despicable history of the Christian Brothers.

For more information on Child Migrants the Child Migrants Trust should be your first call. But it's one of  the most shameful events in Australian history

Finally, the EROS foundation have a site on Clerical Abuse, I can't say how accurate it is, and it looks not to be updated for sometime. Also the Foundation is very much Pro-Porn, as the Churches are against it. While some of the information on here would be useful, I can't help thinking it also has another agenda.

The Christian Brothers is looking to be a blog post by itself, it's evil activities have been all over the world, currently the Irish are investigating them quite closely.



As men's prayers are a disease of the will so are their creeds a disease of the intellect.-
Ralph Waldo Emerson