Below is a video from Channel 4's excellent Cutting Edge documentary series. This episode was aired last night and was one of the saddest and most disturbing pieces of TV I can remember in a long time. It focussed on 3 'child evangelists' from radically different backgrounds but having one thing in common as far as I am concerned: they are all the victims of selfish manipulation and exploitation by their parents which is tantamount to child abuse. I don't mind saying that one of the stories actually caused me to cry. There is a scene which is in the clip below where Samuel Boutwell a seven-year-old 'preacher' is forced by his thug of a father to preach hatred on the streets of New York.
Bearing placards proclaiming damnation for fornicators, homosexuals, adulterers among others, Samuel is reduced to tears when this so called preaching stirs hostilities on the streets. The camera closes in on his bewildered face as he sits on the pavement shaking with fear and a tear slowly rolls down his face. That was when I lost it and found myself also in tears.
It is quite clear from listening to the documentary that this child is constantly seeking to please his brutish father who manipulates this dependence and exposes his son to the most horrific hatred and distorted religion. It is the kind of religion which feeds the paranoia of Dawkins and Hitchins and their ilk and sadly some who watch it will make the mistake of thinking that this is what Religion is all about - them and us, hatred and condemnation, fear and manipulation. But the biggest tragedy of all is the destruction of a child's right to be a child and potentially the destruction of his whole life and others who may come into contact with him in later life if he is sucked down this road of evil and abuse! The other two children portrayed are equally abused and are obviously seen as a meal ticket for their lecherous parents who in one case are not ashamed to refer to the personality cult surrounding their child as an 'empire' which will go worldwide with merchandising to milk the rewards! None of these so called 'parents' are fit to be in charge of innocent young lives and one can only hope that the exposure this documentary brings will have some influence on those who might be able to rescue these children from such abusive treatment!
You can find the rest of the documentary here - It is equally depressing!
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7 comments:
Hi Stephen,
Yes I caught half an hour of this show, i was a bit disturbed but not a bit surprised.
You know i'm a reader rather than a fan of Dawkins, Grayling and Hitchens, but I marvel at your ability to stay true to yourself while having to interpret the same book that that vile man interprets for his son.
I think i'll stick with Jesus the philosopher rather than Jesus the deity....
I genuinely do feel your pain on this, I have always been an strong republican but remember the revulsion I felt when people perpertrated the Enniskillen bomb and then invoked the name of republicianism to justify it, you have looneys invoking the bible and your god to justify their hate... it's not easy man.
P
ps....
Can you make it any more difficult for people to leave comments?
P
Sorry Paul - I was wondering why nobody had commented on this one - I will drop the security and hope for the best :-)
Now that is strange - I see only users of Google accounts could post to the blog - not my intention - anyway now comments open to all and sundry - awaiting the deluge! ;-)
Paul - In response to your comment re Jesus the philosopher vs Jesus the deity, I think you do have a good point. We 'Christians' have a facination with 'Christianity' and an only passing acquaintance with the person (and the philosophy) of Jesus and there is in many cases a vast gulf in between! Some of the values and attitudes we ascribe to deity are repugnant to who/what Jesus was/is and I want to develop this in a future post but I thank you for what is I believe a profound observation.
Have you seen the film "Jesus Camp"? It was filmed in Devils Lake, North Dakota, at an Assemblies of God Bible Camp. This location is about 40 miles from where I grew up and the film brought back memories and aroused ambivalence. My father was a very conservative evangelical and my mother was an very liberal earthy Episcopalian. Dad won the Holy Wars, and I was raised Evangelical Free Church (think Norwegian Fundamentalist Baptists) in rural North Dakota. Today I am an Episcopalian because the piece/peace of God I'm most receptive to is that of his love manifested in Christ and in the holy spirit between us when we are good to one another. --Tracie Stokka, Fort Worth TX
Tracie - No but I have seen a few clips and trailers on YOUTUBE. It is mind boggling how people can pervert the Gospel of Love into a tool of fear, oppression and hatred! I like your relational analogy of the Holy Spirit. That to me is the fundamental (not fundamentalist) element of our experience of the divine - i.e. that which builds relationship and co-dependance rather than isolation and alienation which seems to be the fundamentalist message. I wish some of these people realised the damage they are doing, especially to the more vulnerable and insecure , and all in the name of 'Truth'!
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