Is it time to reconsider Freedom of Religion? Alienated children and dead 11 year old girl thinks so
If you have read any of my previous writings you know I am an atheist. I personally believe that religion is extremely destructive and counterproductive to a happy life. And obviously - I believe that this life is the only one we get. That thought scares the hell out of many people - most of them Christian. There is a beauty in the brevity and urgency of a finite life. We have an extremely limited time to do some bit of good for future generations.
But there is nothing beautiful about a life that is wasted, or stolen. I just finished looking at how Jehovah's Witnesses treat former members of their cult. They are relentless in tearing families apart. Challenging the Watchtower's absurd positions (positions that have been debunked and thoroughly defy reason) means that you lose all friends and family still associated with the cult. What's particularly sad is the unnecessary persecution and ridicule these children face from classmates because they aren't permitted to celebrate - well anything. Their teachers are instructed that they must be removed when any sort of celebration takes place. Kids are cruel - and tend to pick on things that are different. There is no need to subject children to this, or to take away simple joys especially for no reason.They are indoctrinated at birth and fed propaganda by their parents and the con men in the Watchtower from the time they can understand language. They can't vote, hold public office or serve in the military. The cult demands obedience with their absurd customs. There are hundreds of normal positive activities they are forbidden from engaging in - and the only reason they can't experience these things is because they got the bad luck to get conned into this church.
But as disgusting as these things are - parents have the right to steal joy from their kids and have them waste what limited time they have here participating in this farce. Do I wish that were different - yeah - but it's not nor is it ever likely to be. But what should changed are the times when the lives of children are put at risk by the ignorance of religion. JW's don't corner the market here - although they have one absolutely rediculous practice of not allowing blood transfusions. There is a video on youtube where a young couple was told they had to give their baby a transfusion using their blood - or the baby would certainly die. They went to the window, looked into the sky and asked for God's wisdom. They felt God would want them to remain strong to their medically unsound and rediculous position. They told the Dr's that they would just have to trust God - but they would not give blood. These people were so brainwashed they would let their innocent baby die for religious doctrine? WTF? The State intervened and forced them to do it - or face a murder charge and they eventually complied. Then the church excommunicated them for breaking the rules!!!
And it's not just the fringe versions of Christianity that make me question whether religious freedoms need to be reconsidered in this Country. Good old fashioned "normal" Christians Dale & Leilani Neumann watched as their daughter got sicker and sicker and died from diabetes. They hadn't taken her to a Dr. in 8 years and as the visible signs of the disease ravaged their daughters health, they just thought that an invisible man in the sky would miraculously read their thoughts and heal their daughter. They loved a myth more than they loved their daughter. OK - yes I'm venting. I'm sure they honestly believed in their God - but should blind faith give them the right to steal the life of their daughter for their own beliefs?
Leilani just got convicted - but astoundingly no one thinks she'll face much - or any jail time. Why? Because they don't want to take a mother away from an already hurting family? Why should she be allowed contact with any child - ever? She should not. And why should a Christian white woman get any less of a sentence than the inner city black woman who is addicted to drugs and allows her child to die from neglect? I have much more sympathy for the person that's suffering from addiction than the person who makes a conscious choice to watch their daughter die because they are too proud to admit they might (and in my opinion are) be wrong.
A Pew Research poll shows that over half of all Americans change their religious affiliation at least once in their life - many more than once. By stealing the happiness of childhood - or the precious life of a child because you are certain your religion is 100% accurate is obscene and has no place in a civilized learned society. But we're not there yet.
