User:Cesar Tort

Cesar Tort in Gran Canaria, November 2008

I was born in Mexico City and lived most of my live there (presently I am living in an island beside Africa). It may be said that I am a “born-again skeptic” in the sense that, for many years, I used to believe in the paranormal but, thanks to CSICOP, I became a skeptic. Although I was raised as a Catholic and later became alienated in a cult, presently I do not hold religious beliefs either. On the other hand, my current political views are plainly stated in my blog.

I am working in what may be called an original synthesis of the work of two authors that have changed my worldview: Alice Miller and Lloyd deMause. Their legacy made me see that the child abuses in the psychiatric profession in which I was originally interested are only the tip of the iceberg of a much wider crime.

Since the times of our simian ancestors infanticide was common, and it continued through Homo sapiens in the ancient world. This can be gathered from the remains of the sacrificed victims. For example, in the big city in which I used to live the ritual murder of children was regularly practiced before the Spanish conquest.

I confess that when I discovered psychohistory I was unprepared to face the vast body of historical evidence about infanticide, child mutilation, the tight swaddling of babies, the ubiquity of incest and other cruelties, many perpetrated through millennia. Once in a while I had to suspend my reading of one of deMause’s books to give me a break before the horrific nature of the revelations.

Similarly, the books of Swiss psychologist Alice Miller made me to delve deeply into the very core of my being: something that goes far beyond the purely cognitive skills needed to, say, a PhD in psychology. I believe Miller is right in her claim that the suffering of a child victim of extreme parental abuse can reach the level of pain in Auschwitz and even more.

Building upon John Bowlby ’s attachment theory, psychiatrist Colin Ross believes that parents are the most notorious soul murderers. For most people this is not obvious. Because of our attachment to the perpetrator what we are dealing with may be called the “foundational taboo of civilization.”

I have written a semi-autobiographical book on the subject (in Spanish) and will try to translate it to English.