The Public Abuse Of Children

CW: Child abuse

The abuse of children within various religions is no secret by now. The case against the JW church by the Australian government, the Catholic cover-up and shuffling around of abusive priests, the very public mugshots of evangelical pastors being arrested for sex crimes against kids, and the list goes on. This abuse is happening privately until it’s brought into the public eye. There is abuse happening right out in the open, especially in evangelical and fundamentalist churches, that is not only accepted, but is part of the doctrine.

As I have mentioned before several times, I was raised Catholic and went to Catholic schools for the whole of my primary education. We were taught in religion classes that we were born with original sin due to Adam and Eve eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. However, this was a somewhat abstract concept that I, as a youngster, didn’t fully grasp and so didn’t think too much about it. I can’t be sure, but I don’t think I ever actually believed in it anyway.  Also, Catholics don’t take the Bible literally and generally accept that the story is an allegory for how humans are responsible for their own actions.

I had never heard much about evangelical beliefs or teachings until many years later when I finally got online and started looking into other religions. By this time, I was already pretty much an atheist without actually calling myself so. That’s when I started seeing something disturbing in these more extremist faiths. As I mentioned earlier, the idea of original sin was abstract to me and kind of still is. However, the teachers that I had left it there and didn’t take it any further. That’s not quite the case in evangelicalism. I’ve watched documentaries, but I’ve also heard ex-members and even current pastors refer to children within the church as filthy, dirty, and/or disgusting sinners to the Lord. That’s sick and that to me is abusive. I feel like if I was in that church and witnessed that kind of treatment, I would either walk out or say something (likely the former).

This is abuse, not only by the preachers and pastor who say the words, but by the congregation who allow it and accept it for their children. Many of these children are still below the age of reason, so having someone berate them makes them feel like they did something wrong themselves. Yet, somehow these pastors and parents  think nothing of the psychological damage that they may be causing. Hearing somebody say that a newborn baby is broken and sinful goes so far against human nature. Most people see babies as pure and innocent so that we will protect them and nurture them to grow up healthy.

I wish this doctrinal practice would go into the dustbin of history. I wish parents would stand up for their children and protect them from this form of abuse, but unfortunately, they not only condone it, but participate in it by letting it happen. I am lucky to have pastoral friends who don’t do this because they care for the well-being of the children in their churches. /rant