When Christopher and Peter Hitchens debated against each other, Peter (a Christian) stated that one of the most offensive parts of Christopher Hitchens’ God Is Not Great is the section arguing that religion is a form of child abuse. Dawkins makes a similar assertion in his The God Delusion. But is this hyperbole? Is it appropriate to say that metaphysical beliefs should or shouldn’t be “forced” on children?
One child who has been thrust into the middle of this question quite forcefully is Matani Shakya, a Nepalese girl who was recently declared by a panel of judges (with executive approval) to be a god. Is being declared a god child abuse? Probably not. Most parents treat their kids like gods anyway. But, lets see what’s really going on here.
First, Matani had the good fortune of being born into the Shakya clan which, thanks to the gracious Hindu system of theologically-sound racism, means that she is considered to be innately superior to the large majority of her Nepalese brethren (in fact, the Buddha himself was a member of this master race). Between this and an (un?)fortunate coincidence of astrological signs, she was taken from her parents to be tested for goddesshood.
After being inspected, probably in the nude, by a cabal of elderly religious judges for bodily imperfections, she was then taken to her final test: a night in a room filled with the severed heads of farm animals. Really. If she showed any fear, she would be dumped back with her family. But, she didn’t, and she now gets to live a life of complete seclusion in a temple, with virtually no contact with her family, being adored by the devout. This will go on until she hits puberty, at which point she will be unceremoniously deposed by another lucky young Shakya and will spend the rest of her life in probable poverty and cursed with a superstition that keeps bachelors from seeking the hand of young ex-goddesses.
Also, Matani is three years old.
So, the question- is this child abuse? Is being taken from your family due to an unhappy coincidence of your birthday and religiously-imposed racial identity, stripped naked for the inspection of priests, dumped in a dark room alone with the rotting skulls of goats and sheep, then dropped on a lonely throne to continue this The Lottery-esque luck-of-the-draw charade until she’s old enough to be cognizant of her misery, only to be immediately removed from her lofty position for the crime of being an adult woman, child abuse? Nepalese child abuse law thinks so. But what do you think?
Another family destroyed by religion
Thursday, December 18th, 2008If you are familiar at all with the usual arguments of the faithful for their religion, you would be well versed with the way they whine about how religion brings families together, helps people be moral, yada yada yada.
This article shows another side of religion that the theists don’t like to mention.
To make a long story short: A Hindu priest rapes a woman, is arrested, and confessed to the crime. The woman’s son refuses to believe that the priest did it (because men of god don’t do bad things ever, right?), and now refuses to visit his mother in hospital.
This is utterly despicable, not only on the part of the so-called holy man who used his position to commit monstrous crimes; but also on the part of people who are so deluded religious leaders that they would rather be split from their families than believe that a man of god could have done something wrong.
When religion is concerned, it seems that everything suddenly becomes AWWRIGHT. Children dying because their parents refuse medical care – it’s AWWRIGHT! Families split because of religion – it’s AWWRIGHT! Science education messed up because of religion – it’s AWWRIGHT!
[appeaser-speak]What makes it AWWRIGHT, you ask? Why, because it is religion, of course! Religion should not be criticized because it is RELIGION, and we need to show some respect here. Respect religion because it is religion! Don’t you see the logic here? You might offend someone, and that is bad![/appeaser speak]
See the problem with that approach? When situations such as the above happen, most appeasers are quick to denounce the practice as ‘extremism’ and the like, without realizing that their actions then make them exactly like the so-called ‘militant atheists’ they abhor…because, we all know that speaking out against religion makes us militants.
Militants. Serious business.
Tags: atheism, Hinduism
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