Date: February 29, 2016
01) 6 ways religious exemption laws are exploited
“Religious freedom is one of the basic rights guaranteed to Americans in the Constitution. But just how far should that freedom extend?
Across the country, lawmakers have carved out exemptions from common rules for religious groups, ranging from immigration to land use. According to an analysis by The New York Times, more than 200 exemptions for religious groups were folded into congressional legislation from 1989 to 2006.
These loopholes are meant to give church groups the freedom to practice their religion without government interference. But religious exemptions also can lead to problems, as we explore in our latest episode: Scam artists who claim to be religious have taken advantage of these exemptions, and children have been hurt.
Here are a few troubling examples of these exemptions, several of which you can hear about in this week’s episode of Reveal.”
I about fell over, when I heard that judge [who supports the religious school] reference “the child’s constitutional rights” being violated [by police raiding the school, and taking them into custody]…
…Having been a child who grew up in that general kind of setting…I can tell you, that a child’s constitutional rights [whatever meager ones may exist, in the first place] are very likely trounced all over, and violated on a regular basis…by their forced subjugation to this kind of religious institution.
They typically have little to no say, in whether or not they end up in such a place…and what happens to them, as result of being sent there. They’re subjected to an overwhelming saturation of religious indoctrination, without a choice in the matter…Heck, normally, their entire foundation on which they form a view of the world around them, is whatever these institutions want to tell them…no matter how rationally and ethically dubious [or even heinous]…And they can be severely punished, for not accepting these things.
I’m not implying all religious schools are as bad as the one featured in this episode…But I am asserting, that a lot of abusive manipulation and control goes on in them, because of their very premise and nature.
It often outrages me…how people can get all bent out of shape, and attribute all manner of ills to Child Lovers and Teen Lovers [for simply having an intimate relationship with a child or teen]…while at the exact same time, religious institutions get away with this flagrant abuse and manipulation of children and teens […and even older people, of all age groups].
Speaking as a product of a K-12 religious school…I can tell you, they are a poor primer for life in the real world…In fact, they are a handicap for developing the skills to get along in the world. You grow up ultra sheltered in these environments…You’re taught to believe, think and reason “just so” [and ostracized, if you don’t], by the people who teach you, essentially, everything [at that point in your life]…They do everything in their power, to be your sole source of trusted knowledge, information and exposure…They feed it all to you, “just so”…and they manipulate you, into being scared of seeking, or accepting, outside sources…
…Then, after most of two decades…you get dumped into the real world, without any real skills [because what these places offer, is typically the bare basics of education, with a few meager electives (A massive pitfall of these places, is that they are rarely linked into any larger educational systems…they are isolated islands, with limited resources…They cannot offer, even what your typical public school can.)…and a ton of entirely useless knowledge on their specific style of theology…unless, by chance, you want to be a preacher or missionary, in that religion]…You’re not sure what to do with yourself…You’re saddled with a fear and distrust of the world around you…
…It’s just a complete and utter mess…You’ve quite literally been set up to fail, in this world and in life…And for the life of me…I cannot understand why so many others don’t see this…
…These places groom you, to be an awkward, maladjusted, fearful failure in life…
…When you’re no longer under their thumb…and reality of the world starts sinking in…So much of what they have taught you, starts crumbling away…And it’s like the worlds biggest sucker punch…It’s bewildering…It’s infuriating.
It’s like you’ve been dumped into some “total recall” movie world…where everything you previously thought you knew, is now discovered by you to be dubious…or even outlandishly wrong…And it’s completely debasing, on a full life scale…And you don’t really even know where to go from there…
…How can this not be psychologically damaging?…How can anybody believe that it is not?…or that there shouldn’t be anything done about it?…
…Getting back to societies insane, hostile reactions to natural, human sexuality…and how it forcefully imposes such unsubstantiated fear and blame upon it…I’ve found it to be the utter height of grotesque hypocrisy…that religious institutions are praised for doing what I’ve discussed here…while at the same time, the wrath of society against human sexuality [especially us taboo groups], is never thought to be unrestrained enough…
…They’ll outright make up incredulous things to say about us sexual minorities, just so they can attack us…while totally ignoring that giant in the room, which is eating children alive, and doing demonstrable damage to them…
…And commonly, that very exact same giant they refuse to acknowledge, gains power and comes from their own mentality…their own, social psychology…It runs rampant, based on their own mixture of approval an apathy. It’s truly sickening hypocrisy.
…Keep in mind…I’m strictly talking about how they groom you on the basics of life, here…
…I’ve not even gotten into the myriad of issues, of how it devastates you, when growing up part of a sexual minority…trapped in this kind of toxic environment…
…Allowing these institutions to do that to children and teens…is outright demented, cruel, inhumane…and as close to pure evil, as anything can be…It drives many of us to suicide.
People who imagine that children choose, for themselves, these environments to grow up in…they have no clue…
…And to suggest it’s “constitutional protection” to keep them there…or more accurately, force them to remain in such an environment [so long as their parents or guardians wish it]…That is about as psychologically demented, as broken rationality gets.
If the [U.S.] constitution cared about the rights and well being of [U.S.] children…it would never allow these religious institutions, to do all of these deeply destructive and injurious things to [U.S.] children…
…But hey…they’re way to busy worrying about children of the world, getting to much physical intimacy…to ever worry about such real world problems, that inflict real world injury on real world children [who have to live with the aftermath]…
…Some social agendas are more profitable, than others…Some are more politically correct, than others…Some are more easy as ideological tools, to force social engineering…
…Some are just the unlucky, “odd men out”.
…I wish humans would pry their collective head from their collective behind…stop lying to themselves, and figure out which things honestly matter the most…what is most fundamentally important…
…Incase you haven’t figured it out yet…Invisible creatures in the sky, who hate us being sexually kind and intimate with each other [amongst all sorts of other character traits], and who wish us to hate ourselves and/or be killed for such natural inclinations…those should never, ever, ever, ever, be any part of a list…regarding what we need, for a healthy world.
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