OPINION
OPINION
One of the greatest gifts my parents gave to me was to be free to choose my own religion, or to have none. Of course I was exposed to religion, and in time even considered which I might subscribe to. In the end I chose not to believe in anyone else's idea of God and instead I chose to actively think for myself.
I have talked briefly in another article on this site, about changing ones mind, (see Hypocrisy). In that discussion I made the comment that a premise, once accepted and believed, becomes a base for thousands of other thoughts and actions. Thus, if a premise is accepted early in life, the mind will shy away from ever challenging it, to avoid the ensuing mental turmoil that such a change would bring about.
Religions are fine. You want to believe in something which has been passed down through a couple of centuries, instead of using your own 'God given' brain power, that's fine by me. It's not for me, but you can do what you like.
However, I have a problem. I see the organised religions of the world cheating their followers. How? By getting to them young.
It is my opinion that no-one should have religion pressed upon them before adolescence. If this would harm the major religions then surely they are guilty of self-propagation, rather than propagating the glory of their Gods?
Unfortunately, the mental scarring resulting from religious indoctrination is not as far as it goes. The genital mutilation of hapless, helpless children, both male and female is a common occurrence in the world today.
While the ideological 'gift' of religion can perhaps be healed, this non-informed, non-consentual, abuse of children is permanent. It is my opinion that this bloody and painful practice should be unlawful in any enlightened country, on grounds of basic human rights.
Why has this practice continued into modern times? One reason is that the only way a man can intellectually justify what happened to him at such an early age is to believe what he was told and to do that very same thing to his own son. This is a graphic example of Religion using the human mind to propagate itself without any care for its followers or their children.
At some point this must stop. The chain must be broken, and only you set your child free.
Why are the world's religions so afraid that given the cold light of reason, the reason which comes with maturity, their Gods will disappear?
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On Thursday, June 21, 2001, michelle wrote Comments: congratulations to James. No child should have his/her (religion) chosen for them but unfortunately many operate by line of blood for example Jewish maternal line or Parsi where the blood is the religion is the culture etc. etc. This commentator was born C of E [Church of England] but married a high class Hindu under a religious ceremony and my son had all the appropriate head shaving naming thing, so what religion does that make us... When we have to put religion on forms we write "SELF REALISATION"... One of my pet peeves of the so called Christian countries (and having lived in America where it is against the law) is to put "Christian name" on forms etc or in query form ... "What is your Christian name?"... One should NEVER make the western assumption that we all have a "Christian name"... Sorry folks had to get it out! |
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On Saturday, September 29, 2001, Sarah wrote Comments: I myself was "raised" christian but have chosen wiccan as my religion, simply because it was my heart and soul that brought me to the path I am on now, no child should be told this is what you have to believe, I think they should be given a choice and learn as much as they can about all religions and then choose there path, there own beliefs. I don't think any one religion is totally right or totally wrong, but the practice of mutilating is barbaric how can any religion say it is right is beyond me. |
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A page from James David Chapman's website.
Located at: http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~jchap/ Site mirrored here at: http://www.j.chap.btinternet.co.uk |
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