As bad as the Catholic pedophile scandals have been, it’s important to remember that they appear to be just one part of a far bigger problem.

Taking one step back, we find similar abuse scandals among Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, the Salvation Army, and other religious groups.

Taking another step back to widen our perspective even further, we find the Bible itself a less than child-friendly document. Although it does quote Jesus as saying “And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea” (Mark 9:42), most American Christians seem rather more fond of its “Spare the rod and spoil the child” mentality (as expressed in passages such as Proverbs 13:24 and Proverbs 23:13-14). Although many if not most modern psychologists seem to believe it is virtually never ok to spank a child (and numerous European countries have actually banned the practice), news stories about Christians who have severely beaten children pop up far more often then they should. (More about this can be found in an entry I posted on 7/14/02.) It’s also true that while the Ten Commandments tell us to honor our parents, they rather pointedly do not tell parents to honor their children. Similarly, Exodus 21:15 and 21:17 demand the death penalty for children who hit or curse their parents but parents who hit or curse their kids apparently don’t merit so much as a gentle rebuke or a dirty look.

Taking one more step back, we find other, less severe, but perhaps much more widespread behaviors inspired by Christianity that seem less than child-friendly. Forcing kids to dress up in uncomfortable clothes, sit quietly on hard pews, and listen to scary old men tell them for the umpteenth time what sinners they are and how awful hell is may not be quite as prevalent as it used to be, but has there ever been a Sunday yet in American history when it hasn’t been an acutely painful reality for thousands of young minds? Has there been a day yet in the last thousand years when untold thousands of people weren’t suffering from the lingering effects of the traumatizing variety of Christianity James Joyce detailed in his A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man? And how many more thousands, perhaps millions of young minds are now on the verge of being permanently traumatized by the gruesome images of Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ”?

Taking yet one more step back, we can only wonder how much pain and damage may be inflicted on trusting young minds by parents in future years as they continue to pass along as Absolute Truth the Bible’s mythic accounts of inherited guilt, hell, crucifixion, demonic possession, murder, rape, holy war, holy slavery, holy plagues, genocide, a sudden worldwide flood, and impending apocalypse.

Stepping back again, we see that this isn’t merely the behavior of a few isolated, misguided parents but the long-standing standard operating procedure of much of organized religion. As the Jesuits so famously - and chillingly - once put it, “Give us a child until the age of five and we shall have him forever.” Far from apologizing for or being ashamed of exposing kids to the psychologically damaging myths and absurd worldview of the Bible, Christians have historically insisted on their right to do so - and they’ve proudly exercised that right in a highly organized fashion for centuries. Instead of recognizing how wrong and damaging it can be to play upon the fears of children, to abuse their trust, and to engage in blatant, disrespectful forms of brainwashing, Christians (like many other theists) have instead largely seized upon these unfortunate and unfair ways of instilling a message that fact and logic alone apparently cannot convince a mind to accept.

(To be continued...)