thomas malloy wrote:
Harry Veeder wrote:
Did Dawkins say exactly that?
It was reported on one of the Salem Radio Network talk shows. They
are normally reliable, but not inerrorant.
Dawkins did say exactly that: teaching religion is a form of child
abuse. He said that in the book and elsewhere. However, taken out of
context it sounds worse than it is.
Actually, I think everyone would agree with Dawkins about some
extreme forms of religious belief. In particular, people who strongly
believe in one religion often feel that indoctrination in any other
religion causes harm. In other words, many Christians don't like to
see children being indoctrinated in the Muslim religion, and vice
versa. Very few people outside of the extreme Muslim cults think it
is a good idea to dress small children in "martyr" outfits with fake
bombs on them. That seems like child abuse to me. Dawkins gives some
other examples. He described a woman who, when she was a small child,
had her best friend killed in an automobile accident. The parents
told her that her dead friend was in hell because she was not
Catholic. The thought terrified her for years, and caused long-term
psychiatric damage. That is child abuse, by any reasonable standard.
- Jed
