Posted on 06/18/2007 2:36:09 PM PDT by wagglebee
NEW YORK, June 18, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Religious education is a form of child abuse and violates the rights of children, contends a thesis to be considered by secular humanists at the Center for Inquiry's congress in Beijing this October.
The Center for Inquiry, an organisation recently awarded special consultative status as an NGO at the United Nations (UN) will consider the proposals of Innaiah Narisetti, the chairman of the Center for Inquiry's India chapter, that portend the next stage in the assault on the rights of parents to educate their children.
Nasiretti called the influence of religion a "severe shortcoming in the global campaign to protect children" and a contributor to child abuse saying, "In one form or another, all religions violate the rights of children."
"Such abuse begins with the involuntary involvement of children in religious practices from the time they are born," says Narisetti. "All religions, through ritual, preaching, and religious texts, seek to bring children into day-to-day religious practice."
"This gives holy books and scriptures, as well as those who teach them, an early grip on the developing minds of young people, leaving an indelible impression on them," said Narisetti, calling Sunday schools, madrassas, or Jewish or Hindu temples, centers of indoctrination for children.
Nasiretti's proposal would reject the long-recognized inherent rights of parents to educate and provide for their children's religious instruction in favor of regulating children's exposure to religious influence by world governments abiding by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
"The time has come to debate the participation of children in religious institutions," continues Narisetti. "While some might see it as a matter better left to parents, the negative influence of religion and its subsequent contribution to child abuse from religious beliefs and practices requires us to ask whether organized religion is an institution that needs limits set on how early it should have access to children."
The UN forum proposed by Narisetti would debate the "pros and cons" of religion on children and determine whether religion contributes to global child abuse.
"The UN must then take a clear stand on the issue of the forced involvement of children in religious practices; it must speak up for the rights of children and not the automatic right of parents and societies to pass on religious beliefs, and it must reexamine whether an organization like the Vatican should belong to the UN," stated Narisetti.
"Until this happens, millions of children worldwide will continue to be abused in the name of religion, and the efforts made by the UN will continue to address the symptoms but not the disease."
Was the ACLU at the meeting? If not, why not?
“It is said that shortly before the end good will be called evil, and evil, good”
Some days, I think we’ve reached that point.
Who does this guy pray to? Isn’t it a religion?
I can’t understand why any of you are the least bit surprised to see this kind of thinking. These people want to do away with family, religion, nationhood, morals and anything else worth fighting for.
Communism - the opiate in the “global campaign to protect children”.
Yes and no. Keep in mind that in Asia and the Middle East, much of the “religious education by parents” involves turning their male kids over to Muslim extremists who forced them to memorize the Koran word for word, brainwash them with the most hateful and violent possible interpretations of the Koran, train them psychologically and logistically to be suicide bombers, and then send them off to blow people up, and teach them to brutally murder their daughters, sisters, and wives for the slightest offense to their “honor”. The girls, of course, are trained to hide in their homes, go out in public only when wearing some sort of tent and accompanied by a male relative, and to accept that they deserve to be brutally murdered by their fathers, husbands, or brothers if they so much as speak to an unrelated male or show a glimpse of their face in public. If I was living in a part of the world where that sort of “religious education” was prevalent, I’d probably think having the UN intervene and regulate children’s religious education was a great idea.
Years ago I subscribed to “the Sceptical Inquirer” when it focussed on debunking psychics, Nessie and the like. When they moved to religion bashing per their parent org. that was too much.
Ping to read later
Mark
Maybe the next time there has to be a struggle in the cockpit agaisnt terrorists, the American heros can deflect the jet in the direction of the UN building as the only means to avoid killing the most Americans?
...and the UN out of the US. Throw them out on their fascist @sses.
Evil on the rise.
How much are we paying this organization to show up for work everyday to “advise” the UN?
And if the UN nods in agrreement with this position, let’s start that purge of religious education in the muslim world.
They might as well claim that all parents abuse children. How lucky for them to be able to know what all children everywhere need. Perhaps next they will require everyone to bow down and worship them.
I used to mess around with CFI for a bit, anyone who knows them knows that there are always a few quacks around...remember this is a proposal and from what I know about them there is no way this is going to pass.
Just cause some idiot congressman brings up a ridiculous bill doesn’t mean Congress is c***.
What? No Barf Alert?
All over the world, there have been many test cases to get religious instruction labeled as child abuse. One of these days, it will happen here. The State can accept no competition.
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