At The Root of Evil

A while ago a person sent a request to one of the knitting lists for garments to be sent to a charity that takes care of orphaned Muslim children. A good cause you'd think.

No. It brought forth some of the most stupid and wicked posts I have ever read. The concensus seemed to be that no, they would not be doing anything to support Muslim child orphans as they would only grow up to hate us! I was gobsmacked at such unashamed wickedness. It seems they wanted these children dead because they were Muslim. In their wicked ignorance they see all Muslims as mad and bad. And they wonder why 'we' are so hated.

I see no diffrence between Xtian Fundies, Muslim Fundies, Jewish Fundies, Sikh Fundies, Hindu Fundies etc. All of them are warped, utterly self centred and wicked in their thoughts and actions. It is no surprise to me that a country so full of religious fundies should be the one so vociferous in it's hatred of all Muslims and so ignorant of the world in which they live.

Fundamentalism is a sickness our world needs to rid itself of. At it's root is fear and child abuse. It is no accident that these fundies insist on 'educating' their children and keeping them 'protected' from the rest of the world. They know only too well how children are easily molded. They understand that if you indoctrinate a child you are likely to end up with an adult who will espouse the cause unquestioningly. Instill fear of damnation, abandonment, rejection in a child and you get that child to do your bidding. That is child abuse. Mental, emotional and spiritual abuse and in many cases physical and sexual abuse. So many so called Xtians advocate the hitting of children. It has nothing to do with love. It is all about fear and control. Nothing else. Some Muslims know this too and we see the result of it.

I am not referring here to those people of all faiths who use their intelligence. Who know love and compassion and who do not fear their God. These people do not hate. They do not prostitute their God. They do not use their God to justify their wickedness.

We need to free ourselves of this fear. We need to stop abusing our children. We need to stop paying lip service to the idea that abusing children is wrong and act as if we really do believe child abuse is wrong. If we did that, and not just say the right words or be sentimental, child abuse would stop just like that. Child abuse happens because we as a society do not care about it. We only pretend to because it makes us appear to be what we are not - caring and compassionate. We don't see children as human beings like us. We see them as puppets to mold as we please.

We do things to them we would not dream of doing to an adult. In fact if we did to adults what we do to children we'd end up in prison! Imagine what would happen to a boss who spanked a member of his office staff! Imagine how an adult would feel if this happened to them. Angry, humiliated, shamed. Especially if people didn't stop it or condoned it! Why would a child feel any diffferent? The only reason adults say it 'didn't harm me' is because they shut off the anger and shame and pain. Why? Because society says we must never feel badly toward out parents! Only bad people feel negatively towards their parents. Honour Thy Mother and Thy Father, no matter what! And people wonder why children keep quiet! Why they don't say when they are being hit, molested, neglected etc. WE won't let them!

And we punish them if they dare to speak up. I know this to be true. Even as a 47 year old man, I am constantly harangued, abused, hated because I dare to speak up. People want people like me to shut up, to disappear. We are a thorn in their side. We keep shining a light into places they do not want to see or be seen. They want to keep their own suffering concealed thru shame and fear. Or they want to keep secret the abuse they are dishing out. Or they want to keep their power. Those who 'educate' children, who indoctinate them, who insist on faith based schools. Who insist on having total control over children. They want people like me, and there are many like me, to shut up, to disappear. And if they don't kill us, they belittle us instead. They label us as mad or deviant or so damaged that what we say should not be taken seriously because after all how could such a damaged person make any sense? They accuse us of self pity, of raging, of attacking, of being unstable, of being deficient and twisted. Anything. Anything. They will say and do anything to discredit us. We threaten them. Our words, our speaking out, threatens them, their power. The more they undermine us, the more they attack, the more they lie about us, the more threatened they are.

My own writing about this subject has brought more than one sick stalker my way. I get regular abusive emails or blog comments, vile and demented ones. It would be tempting to say these sick people must be abuse victims. Proably true. They turned and have become abusers. They have joined the problem. They are not abuse survivors . They are abusers. They identified with the abuser and followed their path. They took the easy road. Sad beyond words. However, my own reaching out is to those that did survive or are battling to, those that have not become abusers or who have chosen not to be, those who are doing what they can to break the cycle.
That is my interest. I know from the emails I get that people are being touched, that people are reading and some are prompted to share their secrets as a result. What a blessing that is.

Abuse is serious and can be deadly. Worst of all, it can turn what would have been a loving caring person into a monster. Whilst we must NEVER ever accept the unacceptable, we must also keep in mind that 'there but for the grace of God go I'.