Horrible.

[enlightenment]

There can be few more acts despicable than the psychologically terrorising the minds of the very young.

A few months ago, I happened to watch a docu-film called Jesus Camp. You may be familiar with it. Exerts can be seen on You Tube. Having watched it, and done further research, I felt literally disturbed and sickened at the systematic brainwashing by adults on young children, in the name of religion, in the most unabashed manner possible.

No healthy human being could possibly be aware of this type of technique, and approve of it, they could surely only consider it an abomination, and effectively a form of abuse. And those engaged in such abuses should face the courts.

 

[Sam Albion]

..get them young and you'll have them for life... and yeah, they might be brainwashed, but shucks, they're sure all squeaky clean now...

!

 

[taijasi]

You know, that's something I am grateful for ... Jagannatha, the Juggernaut. What this amounts to, in practical terms is that all which is undesirable, which is a holdup to the progress of the Divine, shall be crushed ... ground under the wheels of God's Chariot.

The smug and self-righteous often believe that they know, apparently quite as well as [if not better than] their God, just what these elements are ... and they fear anything which threatens their specific interpretation. Is Jesus Camp not the example par excellence?

So, as someone who believes deeply in the destined and inevitable success of the Juggernaut, I just think we should do our best to keep well out of the way. For me, that means keeping Jesus Camp about as far away as I would a plague-infested rat ... for in this case, are we not simply viewing a particularly nasty form of the carrier [rat] of a vile, infectious and deadly plague [xenophobia, self-righteousness, "my way/our way or the highway"]?

This doesn't mean taking exceptional delight as we watch these antiquated, disturbing behaviors disappearing from our society. After all, the purging is a gradual one, and often there is difficulty in relinquishing what we have invested so much energy into ... in the form of time, money, brainwashing, etc.

Our approach should be, imo, simply to keep steadfast to our chosen path, and although it may be helpful, cathartic and productive ~

CASE IN POINT

~ to discuss these matters here & there.

Perhaps our overall attitude should be one of quiet disregard. I can quite assure you, if I come across any plague-bearing rats, my next step (possibly after containment) will be to contact the Health Dept., FEMA, etc. I am only being somewhat tongue-in-cheek, and this expression hardly seems to belong in the same sentence as a consideration of plague-bearing rats. Is this an accurate comparison for the kind of garbage that goes on at Jesus Camp?

I think so. It may only be one person's opinion (and I can relate to the matter abstractly in more ways than some folks might imagine, so I wish people would be careful with their assumptions) ... and it may seem harsh. But while I have compassion, and Hope for the best, for all those trapped in these outworn, xenophobic patterns, I also acknowledge:

THE JUGGERNAUT

When God says MOVE, GtF out of the way!
What, did you expect the Wheels to come grinding to a HALT?
For Cosmos to stop and turn on dime because YOU refuse(d) to get with it?

Good God, what are these people on, anyway!

Wait wait wait, powerful energies, affecting human thought? Patterns of behavior, worship, even DIVINE APPROACH, some rooted in thousands, perhaps even hundreds of thousands of years of human evolution ... properly appreciated ONLY if one has a grasp of zodiacal cycles and the appearance of Divine Avatars, beings of COSMIC (rather than Systemic) stature & influence?

Nahhh. It's just a bunch of Jesus-Freaks.

No for real; I think the previous paragraph says more about what's at the Heart of the issue ~ and truly, we all CAN relate.

Ever tried to give up a bad habit? Or just one that you know you need to phase out in order to allow something healthier and more productive to take root? Truly, it ain't no easy thing.

Vide Matthew 8: 28-34, and the need for the swine in order for this work to move forward.

In the end, it is still pretty dumb to stand in the way of Jagannatha.
​

 

[enlightenment]

The good news is that following the controversy over the documentary, the camp has shut down ... indefinitely.

The bad news is that those behind it are still at large, still free to capitalise on trusting minds, when they should be behind bars.

And you also have to wonder about the mind of the parents who put their children through this (I bet the majority of them home schooled their children, another cultish way of keeping them from the outside world, while brainwashing them with lies).

 

[wil]

The good news is that following the controversy over the documentary, the camp has shut down ... indefinitely.

The bad news is that those behind it are still at large, still free to capitalise on trusting minds, when they should be behind bars.

And you also have to wonder about the mind of the parents who put their children through this (I bet the majority of them home schooled their children, another cultish way of keeping them from the outside world, while brainwashing them with lies).

Its a big world. We come in all kinds. Yes we've got the fundies like you despise...and then the libs that blow pot smoke in their babies face....and the bikers that raise their kids while they are making crystal meth....and the racists who raise their kids with their bigotry...

It comes in all shapes and sizes...it will always be here in pockets and they think they are good parents and can't understand how you could raise your kids as you do...

 

[enlightenment]

Its a big world. We come in all kinds. Yes we've got the fundies like you despise...and then the libs that blow pot smoke in their babies face....and the bikers that raise their kids while they are making crystal meth....and the racists who raise their kids with their bigotry...

It comes in all shapes and sizes...it will always be here in pockets and they think they are good parents and can't understand how you could raise your kids as you do...

We do come in all kinds as you put it, Wil, and diversity is something I welcome.

However, my tolerance of diversity ends when it crosses the boundary into the physical or mental abuse of minors.

In most of those examples you gave, the law would agree with me, and very possibly, the children involved would be removed, perhaps even rehomed with parents who would give them a chance in life, free from abuse.

It seems to me that if you bolt 'religion' onto something, it opens up a whole new world of being able to carry out abuses on someone, without the same restrictions that apply to everyone else.

Genital mutilation of male and female children, by deluded parents?

Forced marriages, with reprisals who do not comply, by deluded masses?

Those things are shameful to any healthy minded person, and they belong in the past.

Don't you agree?

 

[wil]

did not the law agree with you and shut down the Jesus camp?

 

[enlightenment]

did not the law agree with you and shut down the Jesus camp?

Hi Wil,

As far as I know, it was due to the adverse publicity over this camp that forced those behind it to close it down...indefinitely.

I do not think there was a legal mandate to do so.

The women who is behind it all, she still walks around free, and has declared that she is now involved in other similar activities.

As far as I know, there is nothing (at least in the US), to stop another 'Jesus Camp' springing up, and perhaps there are actually others that are not as well publicised.

Children are never the property of adults to do with what the adults wish.

They are people who should be afforded full legal protection from either psychological abuse or physical abuse.

No exceptions.