Full Version: "Family Values" and "Morals"
For a long time I have wondered how those who equate religion with morals can justify their stance when so many use religious power or influence to commit deviant acts. Everyone is aware of the Catholic priest scandals, but a lot of other religions have their dark sides (and that's not even counting Scientology 
).
I saw a story quite some time ago on Dateline (or a similar program, not sure) about a fringe polygamous Mormon sect on the Arizona/Utah border and the horrors that occurred there on a daily basis. It had been going on for a half a century with little legal repercussion. Now, the LA Times has a very long article on this sect, and the lawsuits being filed against it.
Then there is this from Chicago; a pastor (Bujak) beat a 12-year old abuse victim at the behest of the girl’s MOTHER, who didn’t believe she had been abused by a family member (turns out she had been). How do you recover from something like that – betrayed by the relative who sexually brutalized you, betrayed by your own parents, and betrayed by your church??? The psychological problems this poor girl is likely to have is just sad beyond belief.
I can’t fathom instilling fear in a child as a good thing; whether it is based on a religious belief or not. I read this passage from an essay by Joe Bageant that gives an inkling of what these poor, indoctrinated children go through. Here's a guy in his 50's who still remembers this incident vividly.
If you equate morals with religion, how do you reconcile the many crimes committed under the umbrella of religion?
Are abusers attracted to religions as an easy access to victims and convenient cover for their perversions? Or is it the other way around; the repressive and militant nature of some religions make some people perverse?
How do we, as a society, stop this sort of thing from happening without interfering with “freedom of religion”?
).I saw a story quite some time ago on Dateline (or a similar program, not sure) about a fringe polygamous Mormon sect on the Arizona/Utah border and the horrors that occurred there on a daily basis. It had been going on for a half a century with little legal repercussion. Now, the LA Times has a very long article on this sect, and the lawsuits being filed against it.
QUOTE
Among sect members, girls as young as 13 are forced into marriage, sexual abuse is rampant, rape is covered up and child molesters are shielded by religious authorities and law enforcement.
Boys are thrown out of town, abandoned like unwanted pets by the side of the road and forcibly ostracized from their families to reduce competition among the men for multiple wives.
<snip>
Bent Jeffs reported being sodomized repeatedly at age 5 by the principal of his school – an uncle who would later become religious leader of the community – current fugitive Warren Jeffs.
Sara Hammon said her father, a prominent religious leader with 19 wives, routinely molested her, even sliding his hand up her dress while on his deathbed.
LA Times front page story 5/12/06 “Blind Eye to Culture of Abuse”
Boys are thrown out of town, abandoned like unwanted pets by the side of the road and forcibly ostracized from their families to reduce competition among the men for multiple wives.
<snip>
Bent Jeffs reported being sodomized repeatedly at age 5 by the principal of his school – an uncle who would later become religious leader of the community – current fugitive Warren Jeffs.
Sara Hammon said her father, a prominent religious leader with 19 wives, routinely molested her, even sliding his hand up her dress while on his deathbed.
LA Times front page story 5/12/06 “Blind Eye to Culture of Abuse”
Then there is this from Chicago; a pastor (Bujak) beat a 12-year old abuse victim at the behest of the girl’s MOTHER, who didn’t believe she had been abused by a family member (turns out she had been). How do you recover from something like that – betrayed by the relative who sexually brutalized you, betrayed by your own parents, and betrayed by your church??? The psychological problems this poor girl is likely to have is just sad beyond belief.
QUOTE
Police said the girl's mother took her to the pastor because she doubted the girl's claim that she was being sexually abused by another man.
<snip>
Bujak told the parents that she was lying and privately disciplined the girl on Wednesday evenings between March and May of 2005. The girl, now 13, was struck with a 3-foot strip of wood molding, causing welts and bruises on her legs and buttocks, according to police and the girl's mother.
"He took her in the ladies room, across from his office," the mother said in an interview Thursday. "I was downstairs in the Fellowship Hall." Afterward, the mother said, "Her face was red, and I could see that she'd been crying." Chicago Tribune
<snip>
Bujak told the parents that she was lying and privately disciplined the girl on Wednesday evenings between March and May of 2005. The girl, now 13, was struck with a 3-foot strip of wood molding, causing welts and bruises on her legs and buttocks, according to police and the girl's mother.
"He took her in the ladies room, across from his office," the mother said in an interview Thursday. "I was downstairs in the Fellowship Hall." Afterward, the mother said, "Her face was red, and I could see that she'd been crying." Chicago Tribune
I can’t fathom instilling fear in a child as a good thing; whether it is based on a religious belief or not. I read this passage from an essay by Joe Bageant that gives an inkling of what these poor, indoctrinated children go through. Here's a guy in his 50's who still remembers this incident vividly.
QUOTE
One September day when I was in the third grade I got off the school bus and walked up the red dust powdered lane to my house only to find no one there. The smudgy white front door of the old frame house stood open. My footsteps on the unpainted gray porch creaked in the fall stillness. With increasing panic, I went through every room, and then ran around the outside crying and sobbing in the grip of the most horrific loneliness and terror. I believed with all my heart that The Rapture had come and that all my family had been taken up to heaven leaving me alone on earth to face God’s terrible wrath. As it turned out they were at the neighbor’s house scarcely 300 yards down the road, and returned in a few minutes. But it took me hours to calm down. I dreamed about it for years afterward. Joe Bageant
If you equate morals with religion, how do you reconcile the many crimes committed under the umbrella of religion?
Are abusers attracted to religions as an easy access to victims and convenient cover for their perversions? Or is it the other way around; the repressive and militant nature of some religions make some people perverse?
How do we, as a society, stop this sort of thing from happening without interfering with “freedom of religion”?
CLOSED.
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Thank you for your understanding.
does not host debates of a religious nature. We encourage people to check out Debating Christianity & Religion for pursuing such debates.Thank you for your understanding.
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