Sexual Abuse in Christian Homes July 3, 2008
Posted by Anita in God is Imaginary.Tags: Atheism, Child Abuse, God, God is Imaginary, Religion, Sexual Abuse
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“A disturbing fact continues to surface in sex abuse research.
The first best predictor of abuse is alcohol or drug addiction in the father.
But the second best predictor is conservative religiosity, accompanied by parental belief in traditional male-female roles.
This means that if you want to know which children are most likely to be sexually abused by their father, the second most significant clue is whether or not the parents belong to a conservative religious group with traditional role beliefs and rigid sexual attitudes.”
–from Sexual Abuse in Christian Homes and Churches by Carolyn Holderread Heggen
It sickens me to think of all the little girls and big girls and boys and even infants trapped in horrendous sexual servitude while the rest of us–those who might be able to help them–stand around smiling benignly at the “goodness” of whatever sect has them in its power and the virtuous traditionalism of their handcrafts.
Not only is Heggen’s thesis borne out endlessly in the secretive sects like Amish, FLDS, and Catholicism, but it is so commonly accepted within the cult that its discovery is treated, even by the victim’s own mother, as a failure of the victim to adequately conceal her abuse. Recall two recent cases in separate Amish communities where girls were raped hundreds of times, starting at age six, and the mothers who didn’t help them were instrumental in throwing them out on the road and never seeing them again–one mother, in fact, pulled all her daughter’s teeth first, as a lesson to any other girl who might think to complain of sexual abuse to an outsider.
In this age of improved communication, books and stories recounting the sexual victimization of individuals are coming out as fast as the presses can print–and, it is true, the greatest common factor in the stories is religious fundamentalism of any kind. It is more and more obvious that the mere existence of darkness and secrecy or the exclusion of outsiders, ESPECIALLY when coupled with the pretense of leaders to “divine right,” must, without more, be considered an enormously powerful indicator of child sexual abuse, and even probable cause to investigate.
mrwjd: What a powerful comment. Thank you for posting it.
[...] less well behaved than those who do not. It is well attested that, besides drug or alcohol abuse, religiosity is the best indicator that a father will abuse his children, that prison populations are more or less entirely composed of believers, that conservative [...]
[...] less well behaved than those who do not. It is well attested that, besides drug or alcohol abuse, religiosity is the best indicator that a father will abuse his children, that prison populations are more or less entirely composed of believers, that conservative [...]