Abrahamic Abuse

Religions Can Be Awfully Unkind

6 to 8 min read

YouTuber Sarah Rocksdale posted a brave and sincere video, sharing her experiences of upbringing and indoctrination within an evangelical Christian community. Hat's off to her. Being raised in such a manner may seem subtle compared to the harsh realities of Middle Eastern strictness, but even mild indoctrination shapes our worldview! 

Molding a child's perspective to conform to religious dogma and discouraging their instinct to question stifles their intelligence. In these cults, girls are often made to blame themselves for the sexual advances of aroused men. We've seen this in the case of Warren Jeffs of the FLDS, and in historical abuse cases within Catholic, Anglican, and Orthodox churches—more will likely come to light. Child offenders exploit the bodies of minors, but religious abusers also manipulate their victims' behavior, leading to ongoing compliance.

Let's avoid that well-trodden path. If you turn on Netflix or browse Amazon Prime, you'll find documentaries galore from religious morality, to church paedophile rings to the crusades. Then there are shows like "The Borgias," depicting a family of incestuous, adulterous murderers—two of whom became Popes! What drives people to embrace these corrupted religions, knowing Catholicism once castrated boys (castrati) to enhance their choir voices?

Homophobia and misogyny have long echoed through the corridors of abrahamic traditions. The denial of homophobia by abrahamic school protesters backfired in 2019 in Birmingham, England. A particularly outspoken Muslim protestor challenged the inclusion of same-sex themes in school materials—a story about a baby penguin with two dads.

The man, confrontational by nature, and others left some children and the headmistress feeling intimidated. The dispute escalated but thankfully, no one was injured. The case reached court, and the main agitator, who had no children at the school, lost credibility when recordings surfaced showing homophobic slurs. Consequently, the Islamic group of mothers lost their battle to remove the penguin book from the curriculum, and key individuals were banned from school premises. Granted, we shouldn't generalize based on a few bad examples. 

Nowadays, the Western world often links religious violence with 9/11, the beheading of a teacher, and the French cartoonist, not to mention the countless assaults and ongoing strife in the Middle East. While Israel has its own history of harsh punishments, they're not known for targeting Europeans over caricatures. Islam has suffered under Western occupation, and these intrusions are often cited as evidence of Western malevolence. Is the UK miserable? 

Clearly, with concepts like the apocalypse, messiah, and jihad, abrahamic religions can be seen as particularly conflict-prone. In contrast, dharma-based and meditative traditions like Buddhism, Jainism, Advaita Vedanta, and Sanatana Dharma are peaceful. Armies representing atheism or non-religious agnostics are virtually unheard of. Interestingly, it's often those who proclaim peace who wage wars. I'm not suggesting a binary choice between 'good' Dharmic and 'evil' abrahamic spirituality. Everyone can hold personal beliefs or none at all.

Atheism can be a spiritual stance too. Apparently, we lose innocence when we learn about immorality and engage in it. That's how religions often brand us as sinners. If you're at home and decide to indulge in foot porn while dressed as Spider-Man it's inconsequential if you're unaware of any supposed immorality. What if we never learn such rules? We have our golden rule and our innate human empathy—what more is essential?

St. Paul advocated for controlled sexual behavior—a rather Orwellian concept, don't you think? Today, modern evangelicals like William Lane Craig idolize the perfect family as the cornerstone of God's kingdom. To me, that's absurd. We don't all have to agree. The heteronormative adage 'go forth and multiply' is well-known. But if Paul's God demonizes homosexuality, it's akin to a potter faulting his pots for not turning out as intended. A perfect God doesn't err. . . nevermind. 

If homosexuality were truly an issue, an omnipotent being could simply 'turn off' that aspect of human DNA, rather than resort to eternal punishment and lamentation. Without resorting to vague statements like 'The Lord works in mysterious ways,' no Abrahamic faith has adequately explained why the world is naturally imbued with a cruel, sadistic streak. The problem of evil implies complicity on the part of the Almighty for permitting such malevolence.

Reference:
Rocksdale, S. (2019). 10 Harmful Effects of Religion. YouTube. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=a0Q_IhGdDcA#Menu