What Religion Does to Children

1.1 On January 1, 2008, Yaser Said shot his daughters, Amina and Sarah, to death. He then escaped into dar-al-Islam, the world of Islam.

1.2 Apparently the girls were becoming "too Westernized". In particular, they were showing interest in non-Muslim boys. So their righteous Muslim father, who had abused them sexually already, decided to murder them. In Islamic circles, this is called "honor killing".

1.3 This is what religion, whether Islamic or Christian or Judaic or whatever, does to children. It circumcises them; it spanks them (which as a Christian I also did [1]); it teaches them primitive myths as absolute truth, and warns of terrible punishment if the children do not believe; finally it teaches them to prefer faith over science and reason. It makes them gullible incompetents, unprepared to succeed in secular society. Sometimes, as with the Said sisters, it even kills them outright.

1.4 Concerning spanking, or striking with the "rod of correction": in what other situation do we in civilized society allow a larger person to hit a smaller and weaker person? It appears that spanking enjoys special protection.

1.5 Indeed, the list of religion's self-justified crimes against children is almost endless. What then is the positive value of religion for children? It can and sometimes does teach compassion and caring for the poor and sick, but these values can be taught more clearly without God in the way.

1.6 Anything religion can positively do for children, for example establishing a sense of kindness to others, can better be done by humanistic teaching. Humanism is centered on human rights, not the righteousness of a supposed God.

1.7 I repeat that there is nothing religion can do to help children, that cannot better be done by humanistic teaching. Given that religion exposes children to hideous abuses, even causing their deaths, it becomes apparent that religion is very often nothing more than sanctified child abuse.

[1] The Bible does teach the use of "the rod of correction" on children in the following verses:

• Pr 13:24 He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.
• Pr 22:15 Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.
• Pr 23:13 Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.
• Pr 23:14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.
• Pr 29:15 The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.

Can you deny that the Bible teaches spanking, or more accurately, striking with a rod? If you say that all these Proverbs are figurative, or only in the Old Testament, then read is this one:

• Heb 12:6-10 ⁶For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

  ⁷If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

  ⁸But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.

  ⁹Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?

  ¹⁰For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.

If anyone still doubts that the Bible teaches "scourging" or spanking of children, they are simply immune to the evidence. As a Christian, I not only spanked my children, but if the Bible, the Word of God, had clearly said to kill them, I would have done so. Therefore when Islamists fly airplanes into buildings, I understand: they are obeying the Qur'an, the Word of their God.