The Inquisition attempted to find, try, and sentence those people guilty of heresy. Heresy is any religious belief or practice opposed to a particular church. In this case, it meant anyone that did not believe or practice the Catholic religion. The original penalty for heresy was excommunication. However, when Christianity became the state religion in the fourth century, heretics came to be considered enemies of the state.

The inquisitors, who had ASSISTANTS AND THE POLICE TO HELP THEM, would set up at a central location and issue an order that all guilty of heresy must come and confess. THOSE WHO CAME FORWARD AND CONFESSED HAD MILDER PENALTIES THAN THOSE WHO DID NOT. Those who were accused of heresy and did not come forward went to trial. IF THE INQUISITOR THOUGHT A SUSPECT WAS LYING, THEY COULD PUT HIM IN PRISON AND HAVE HIM TORTURED. OF COURSE MANY ACCUSED OF HERESY WERE NOT GUILTY OF ANYTHING. A NEIGHBOR OR ENEMY WOULD SECRETLY REPORT THAT A PERSON WAS A HERETIC. THE ACCUSED THEN WENT TO TRIAL AND HAD TO PROVE THAT HE WAS INNOCENT, WHICH WAS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE. FOR MANY, A SIMPLE ACCUSATION BY AN ENEMY WOULD MEAN YEARS IN PRISON AND TORTURE UNLESS THEY CONFESSED.

The sentences for those who confessed or were found guilty were announced publicly. The sentence might be some type of service to a hospital or monastery, or it might be a flogging or the wearing of a cross. If the heresy was considered serious enough, a person’s property was taken away, or he could be sent to prison. The church could not execute anyone, but in severe cases, it would hand the prisoner to a civil court to be executed.

When people hear the word ‘Inquisition’, most think of the Spanish Inquisition. But the Inquisition took place in many countries. It even occurred in the New World in the Spanish colonies! In case you missed that last sentence, read it again, it took place HERE! A person could be charged with heresy for not eating pork, not drinking alcohol, or caught smiling at the name of the Virgin Mary, and a ritual bath of purification. To the inquisitor, a person who refused to eat pork might be a ‘Jew’ practicing his religion secretly. Someone who refused to drink alcohol might be a Muslim. This is where I want to drop into the article here that Cherie Safapau’s ex-abuser/ ex-husband is in fact a Muslim. No way do I believe that this has nothing to do with the living nightmare she is being forced to endure up to present day.

Prisoners found guilty of heresy were forced to march in procession and wear a Dunce’s cap. The procession included trumpeters, drummers, priests, local officials, judges, the bishop and men carrying lighted candles and crosses. The condemned wore a tunic with a red cross on it. Many of the condemned had their heads shaved, and some had to wear a Dunce’s cap, which was a symbol of a ‘Jew’. Now, the next statement of facts about this subject is the most fascinating and answered a huge question for me, which is, “How come my fellow red blooded Americans refuse to wake up from their fairy tale slumber of the blatant lie that our judicial system has anything to do with justice?”

Pay attention – Galileo was accused of heresy because he believed the sun was the center of the Universe. The church taught that the Earth was the center of the Universe. GALILEO WAS BROUGHT BEFORE THE ROMAN INQUISITION IN 1632 AND QUESTIONED AT LENGTH. WHEN HE WAS QUESTIONED, HE RETRACTED HIS STATEMENT AND SAID THAT HE REALLY BELIEVED THE EARTH WAS THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE AND PROMISED NEVER TO SAY OTHERWISE AGAIN. As we all know now, Galileo was a very intelligent man, we as parents and grandparents fighting the family law court in present day are put into the same psychological equivalent as Galileo was back in 1632. The following facts are the reason for Galileo’s retraction; now this is just my assumption, but considering these facts it is no doubt a safe assumption.  

Just before a prisoner was to be executed, he was given the opportunity to confess. If he did confess, the public officials would have mercy on him and strangle him. When the procession of the condemned reached the designated spot, there was a sermon and a reading of the names of those to be punished. There would be an explanation of the crimes committed and a reading of the sentence. Some received relatively mild punishments, while others were executed. If the person had recanted his sins, he might only be punished by having to wear a tunic with a red cross on it. This would be a constant reminder to everyone that they should not commit the same crime.

Other prisoners might be flogged or put in prison. Those convicted of very serious crimes might be released, only to be taken to a civil court and sentenced to death. Like today, they passed the buck. Not sure what their Bible says but mine says that all sin is waged the same. But, I digress. If a person was sentenced to death and at the last minute confessed his crimes and asked for forgiveness, the public officials would have mercy on him and strangle him before he was burned alive. Physical torture was used to gain guilty confessions from innocent people. Only in the family law court today, they hang your children over your head. As a mother myself, I honestly would rather go through the physical torture than what I have gone through emotionally and psychologically.

Cherie Safapau has gone through the past ten years and counting being tortured emotionally, psychologically, financially, socially, and professionally all over the ego of a sociopath Muslim. It’s worse than the subsequent compilations – Chinese water torture was not a type of torture typically used during the Inquisition. Torture was not considered a punishment; IT WAS USED TO GET CONFESSIONS OUT OF THOSE WHO WERE ACCUSED. Sound familiar?

Many different kinds of torture were used. A prisoner might be hung upside-down. Sometimes a victim was placed on a rack and stretched. He might even be burned while being stretched. KEEPING A PRISONER AWAKE FOR A GREAT LENGTH OF TIME WAS USED TO GAIN CONFESSIONS. A symptom of PTSD is insomnia – I wanted to add that in there to make my very valid point of the psychological equivalent of keeping children wrongfully away from their loving mothers. Allow me to propel forward here recanting our blood stained history. Mind you, history always repeats itself in one form or another.

Sometimes a long rope was used to tie a victim’s hands behind his back and the other end was thrown over a beam in the ceiling. The prisoner was drawn up and weights were placed on his feet. Another type of torture was called the leg-screw. The prisoner’s leg was put into a device consisting of two pieces of metal which pressed together when a screw was turned. The inquisitioner turned the screw until the leg was crushed. Another method of torture was dousing a prisoner’s feet with a liquid that would burn and then lighting it. The victim could be placed on his back and filled with water.

The aforementioned is a very well detailed description of how I feel emotionally every time I encounter the courtroom, or its’ officials, or when I wake up in the morning without my children or my home or my financial security. Cherie Safapou’s living nightmare has been going on for seven years longer than mine. And this incredible woman is still standing, and with a sound mind at that. The family law court of California is completely responsible for our emotional and psychological torture chamber we are forced to refer to as our lives without our sons in it, whom need us desperately. If that is not enough to convince you that you do not live in the America the fairytale, maybe you need to read on… 

The person who tortured the prisoners was usually a Priest. When the inquisition began, it was originally felt that priests should not be involved in torture. Therefore, people who were not priests were given the job of torturing prisoners. After a while, however, it was decided that it was inconvenient to have those other than priests to conduct the questioning and the torture. So, to make it more convenient for the torturers; in 1252, Pope Innocent IV issued a decree approving torture.

WHILE TORTURE WAS PERMITTED, PRIESTS WERE REMINDED THEY SHOULD NOT SPILL BLOOD AND THEY COULD ONLY TORTURE A SUSPECT ONCE. HOWEVER, INQUISITORS WERE ABLE TO GET AROUND THIS RESTRICTION OF TORTURING ONLY ONCE BY TORTURING A VICTIM AND THROWING HIM INTO THE CELL. THEN WHEN THEY TORTURED HIM LATER, THEY CLAIMED IT WAS JUST A CONTINUATION OF THE FIRST TORTURING, NOT A NEW ONE. Now, pay close attention to this next statement of facts; THEY WOULD REPEAT THIS PROCESS UNTIL THE INQUISITOR WAS ABLE TO GET A CONFESSION. WHEN A PERSON MADE A CONFESSION UNDER TORTURE, HE WAS REQUIRED TO LEAVE THE TORTURE CHAMBER AND REPEAT THE CONFESSION TO A CLERK, SINCE CONFESSIONS MADE DURING TORTURE WERE NOT VALID.

If the punishment for the crime was death, the priest would have to turn the prisoner over to the civil authorities to carry out the judgment. If you think and or believe that what the family law court does to families today is any different than the inquisitions of yore, you need to wake up! Do not kill the messenger here either. It was the American dream for myself and Cherie too, until we fell prey to the living nightmare of the family law court in beautiful sunny California!  

Moving on, a lot of us mothers and fathers and grandparents have fired our attorneys, either retained or court appointed, and began defending ourselves with the hope to actually obtain justice in the justice system. Cherie and I have tried this Pro Per angle. That being said, MOST ACCUSED OF HERESY DEFENDED THEMSELVES BECAUSE LAWYERS WOULD NOT DEFEND THEM. WHILE LAWYERS WERE AVAILABLE DURING THE INQUISITION AND PRISONERS HAD A RIGHT TO USE ONE, FEW DID. Why? You ask…here’s the kicker; IT WAS THE GENERAL BELIEF THAT IF A LAWYER DEFENDED A HERETIC, HE MUST BE A HERETIC.

It followed that if he were a heretic, then the arguments he used to defend the accused must be lies. Not only would the lawyer’s client be found guilty, the lawyer would be found guilty as well. In the New World, the main job of the lawyer of a man being tried for heresy was to get his client to plead guilty. In the New World, unlike Europe, those accused of heresy often used a lawyer. The inquisitor designated three lawyers from which the accused might choose. Instead of defending his client, the lawyers’ main purpose was to convince the defendant to plead guilty.

The following is quoted text from the GED World History booklet of facts, “Unlike modern trials in the United States, those accusing the defendant did not have the responsibility of proving him guilty. In other words, the defendant was not considered innocent until proved guilty as he is in the United States.” Allow me to repeat that – the defendant was not considered innocent until proven guilty as he is in the United States. The defendant was guilty unless he was able to prove himself innocent. If he was not able to prove himself innocent, he was found guilty.

Now, these are the lies we are fed in school growing up, which is why Cherie and I had some sort of faith in the system, at first. All I have to say is welcome to the New World people! The family law court is not following what our history books say the United States does in the judicial system. This also rings true for the criminal courtrooms as well.

Moving forward in my compare and contrast, America the beautiful…the smoke screen of the continuation of The Inquisition…those who confessed to heresy in the Americas were allowed to return to church. But they could not become Druggists, Grocers, Bleeders or lawyers. The laws were slightly different in the colonies of the New World as compared to those in Europe. In the Americas, those who confessed had their funds confiscated. They were required to wear a tunic with a red cross on it. They might be given lashes or required to serve as oarsmen on galleys. They would also have to fast on certain days, say prayers, and attend mass. There is a word for this – it is called a SLAVE. 

The following comparison is not exactly the same due to the fact that Cherie and I are not dead. We have learned to live half alive, but we are not dead. We have lost fellow warriors because this battle for our children became too much for them and they have made the devastating decision to commit suicide. There are too many parents that I know of that this has happened to. That being said, allow me to educate you on the following facts in our history.

It was possible for someone to be brought to trial and to have his property confiscated even though he was dead. Confiscation of property applied only to those cases where the accused was able to escape the inquisition or died. There were many cases where a person had been dead for many years and then judged to be a heretic. The dead man needed to go through the same parade as those who were alive went through. His corpse was dug up and paraded through city streets and his name and offenses were read in public. The dead heretics’ property was confiscated from his heirs.

It did not matter if the heirs were good practicing Catholics and committed no crime or no heresy. If it was judged that the person who had willed them their property and money was a heretic before he died, their inheritance was taken. This is the precise psychological equivalent of Parental Alienation! You cannot tell me any different. Our children are suffering from this child abuse expounded directly from the family law court in which was created to protect the best interest of the children! Read Cherie’s court documents and watch her video and wake up!

My point is people have never changed throughout the beginning of mankind. If you think or believe for one minute that modern authoritative figures have changed at all since the aforementioned inquisitions, you live a slumbered fairytale existence. It is time to unplug from your indoctrinated lies you have been told your entire lives and stand up for the most imperative issue to our continued existence – the protection of our children. If you do not, your existence is pointless and shameful. Our children are the future and they must be raised with love and understanding and the God-given freedom of being able to give and receive love from both of their parents, when they want to and need to.

If you are a parent that denies their children access to their other parent, then you must call yourself a child abuser of the worst kind. Call yourself Hitler, because you are no different. If you are a judge or a social worker that commits this same crime, you too are a child abuser. If you are an attorney that allows this to go on, you too are a child abuser.

To bring a little more to your history lesson, I am including some quotes from some of my favorites, whom I call heroes in my book, that stood up for what is right and good, “First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out – Because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, I did not speak out – Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out – Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me – and there was no one left to speak for me.” ~Pastor Martin Niemoller (1892-1984).

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was an outspoken Pastor and Theologian, underground Seminary Professor, and spy against the Third Reich. His life was cut short at the hands of Nazi interrogators, “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” Mark Twain has a quote that I will end this Canary Story with, “It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare.”  Now look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself will God hold me guiltless?

Watch the video of Cherie’s nightmare right here:

Wendy Greene is a fourth generation Human and Civil Rights activist, writer/advocate for the victims of autism and homelessness, and author of the up-and-coming book ‘Justice’. The Canary Stories are individual true accounts documenting the corruption and fraud of Child Protective Services and similar agencies, sent from around the world by parents requesting that their voices be heard. The ongoing reports are named The Canary Stories after the life-saving canaries that protected the coal mines. Today, The Canary Stories are also sounding the warning in an attempt to save children, families and even lives. Readers can email Wendy at [email protected].