Child abuse is universal. It has no national, regional or local boundaries. It is recognised as a crime. Recruiting children for wars, using kids for sex and trafficking, mutilation of female genitals in young girls, making children work as labourers and similar issues are declared as violations of the rights of the child by the UN. There are acts to prohibit child marriage.

The right place for children is school. Several countries have passed legislation to implement this right. However, the world has yet to recognise one major form of child abuse.

Preaching religion, brainwashing with holy books, forcing kids to memorise religious doctrine in madrassas (Islamic schools), Sunday schools, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu religious training classes, all these activities are systematically abusing kids. This is a major abuse of the rights of the child that is not generally recognised.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted by General Assembly resolution UN (44/25 of 20 November 1989). A few relevant articles are quoted below.

Article 7: The child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have the right from birth to a name, the right to acquire a nationality and, as far as possible, the right to know and be cared for by his or her parents.

States Parties shall ensure the implementation of these rights in accordance with their national law and their obligations under the relevant international instruments in this field, in particular where the child would otherwise be stateless.

Article 8: States Parties undertake to respect the right of the child to preserve his or her identity, including nationality, name and family relations as recognised by law without unlawful interference.

Where a child is illegally deprived of some or all of the elements of his or her identity, States Parties shall provide appropriate assistance and protection, with a view to reestablishing speedily his or her identity.

Why do we call religion as child abuse? Children are taken for granted by parents. They entrust the kids to religious priests (mullahs). In the religious schools children are brainwashed with superstitions, blind beliefs, fear of God, Satan, hell and so forth. All these preachings are based on religious scriptures. The holy books cannot be questioned. The cause and effect process is not applied to superstitions. The blind beliefs are repeated until children internalise them. What happens to a child when she is taught about superstitious practices repeatedly? Her senses receive superstitions. Then the thalamus puts them in the sensory cortex. The analysis takes place at that level. If superstitions are repeated, they reach the amygdalae. They generate the response. Amygdalae, which are located in the temporal lobe, are central to guiding the individual.

If the superstition is not repeated the child is likely to ignore and later forget it. But religious priests and parents, as well as religious schoolteachers, repeat the superstitions. These then make deep roots in the brain.

What they abuse in Madrassas and Sunday Schools

The teachers not only repeat the superstitions but compel the students to memorise them even though the latter cannot understand the meaning at that level. The amygdalae send instructions to the hypothalamus and again the manipulation occurs. That is how all religions inculcate blind belief in God, the soul, reincarnation, heaven, Satan and hell.

Mental abuse

Fear and anxiety are systematically etched on children’s minds. Fear is the bedrock of the Koran’s teachings. While Allah is portrayed as kind and compassionate, children are taught about the killing of adversaries and experiences in hell if one goes against Islam. If God has predetermined everything, children cannot comprehend why some are condemned to hell. Does God decide a priori on sending people to hell? How can such a God be a personification of compassion and love? Children are bound to raise such questions.

The punishments mentioned in the Koran run counter to modern civilisation. According to Sura 5:38, the punishment for the first offence of theft is amputation of hands and for the second, amputation of legs. The offender is then jailed. Sura 5:33 lists beating, amputation, killing, and deportation among the punishments for opponents of God and his messengers. Sura 4:15 says that women found guilty of adultery on the basis of four witnesses have to be kept under lifelong house arrest. Sura 24:2-4 prescribes one hundred whiplashes for prostitution.

One finds two sets of suras with contradictory views. In the earlier version there is religious tolerance. Faith and rituals are left to individuals with no element of compulsion. “Wish peace of mind to those who do not believe in your religion or God”, say some suras. Suras 10:9, 50:45, 2:256 and 2:62 exemplify these thoughts. In contrast, suras like 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 22, and 47 exemplify religious intolerance, cruel punishments, and killings. Suras 22:9 and 47:4 make it plain that the Koran does not show tolerance toward nonbelievers.

The Koran calls for waging a religious war called jihad until the entire world is brought under Islam. Worshippers of other religions have to be eliminated (see suras 2:256, 4:74, 4:76, 8:12, 8:15, 8:39-42, 9:5-6, 9:39 and 16). Those who surrender in Muslim campaigns are called Thimmas or slaves, and they do not enjoy any rights. Taxes like “kharab” and “jijia” are extracted from them. Islam does not agree that all are equal in the eyes of law.

Children are taught these things in religious seminaries called madrassas. Thus the seeds of hatred toward other religions, and belief in Islam are instilled in children at an early age. They are unable to shed the early influence even though they might study science and technology later in their life. Some of the Islamist terrorists are well- educated but that does not prevent them from undertaking terrorist activities.

The suras in the Koran are a sure sign of how indoctrination of children stunts their growth.

How do the Christians abuse children ?

The Bible preaches love, compassion, forgiveness, and other values. Yet when it comes to children, it changes its tune. Proverbs in the Bible talk about the need for corporal punishment in the interest of the child. Refraining from beating is tantamount to hating, says one proverb. The cane rescues the soul from hell, says another (Proverbs 13:24, 23:13-14). Devout Christians who believe that the Bible contains the ultimate truth do not find anything wrong in punishing children. Teachers thrash children in the name of driving Satan out from them.

There is a constant conflict between science and the Bible, both of which children study. Where there is a conflict, children are advised to ignore science and blindly believe the scripture. Their curiosity is stifled as they are prevented from questioning. If the miracles in the Bible are narrated as fiction, nobody has any objection. Children can read, enjoy, and forget the stories. No harm befalls them. The trouble only arises when they are advised to believe and practise what they are taught as facts.

Christians, who condemned Galileo for centuries, today confess that they were wrong. The Pope has officially declared this. As per the Bible, the earth is flat and is the center of the universe, and the sun revolves round the earth. Science established that the Bible version was a cock and bull story.

Christians question Darwin’s theory of evolution and want the story of God’s creation to be taught, citing the Bible as proof. They forget that there are two theories of creation in the initial chapters of the Bible. Children should not question which of them is correct.

Even if a child later becomes a scientist or computer engineer or doctor, it would be difficult to erase her early beliefs. The scientific method that they apply in their discipline, they hardly apply in other walks of life. That is the problem.

Terrorists, suicide bombers and extremists are the products of these early religious schools. Mutual hatred of religions and gods and rituals are inculcated in those religious schools. Child abuse has its deep roots in religious superstitions. That must be recognised. Future generations should be saved by addressing this major abuse.

Examples of Religious Influence

There are many glaring examples of child abuse by religion and its impact in later life. One is the case of Dr. Madhavana Nair, the retired head of the space research center at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, India. When the space center was ready to launch a rocket Dr. Nair took the replica of the rocket and placed it at the feet of Lord Venkateswara, a local god in Tirumala Temple in South India. After receiving the blessings of the Lord he declared the launch of the rocket. Rationally he knows that there is no established causal relationship between launching a rocket and God. But Nair is a religious believer from childhood and he brought his personal belief into the scientific realm. This action of such an eminent space scientist influences others, and sets a bad example.

Similarly Dr. Abdul Kalam, former President of India, was a space scientist. He visited a cult guru, Satya Sai Baba, in his ashram and received his blessings after touching his feet. This again sets a bad example to the people of India. Had the visit been personal, it would have been different. But he visited in his capacity as president of the country. The Constitution of India specifies observing scientific temper as a duty of all citizens. However, the President, who is supposed to lead the nation, did not perform this duty. He narrated in his autobiography how religion had a deep impact on him when he was a child. He could not get rid of those influences even though he became president and earlier worked in space technology centers.

An inquiry-based curriculum is woefully lacking in religious schools as well as in many private schools. Dogma is passed on from generation to generation. Parents find it difficult to free their children from religious indoctrination imbibed in school.

If a child seeks evidence for various phenomena, that should be encouraged. That is the antidote for blind belief. It is very difficult to convince parents that they should not pass on their religious beliefs to their children. They consider it as their right. They also view it as justified behavior.

It took centuries to convince parents that child marriages are wrong. Similarly it may take a long time to convince them about religion. But it is necessary to save children from the clutches of superstitions and priests. Children are indoctrinated with religion from birth. They should be free to develop critical thinking and a scientific temper to learn about the world. They have a natural curiosity to question, to know. This curiosity should be encouraged right from the beginning. When children are taken to churches and mosques, blind belief commences. Parents have to guide children into sifting out the real from the mythic. This is an uphill task, but given enough time, not impossible.

Dr Narisetti Innaiah is PhD in Philosophy of Science. He was professor in Osmania University, Hyderabad, India and journalist in several Telugu dailies. He is an active Humanist and has published several books in English and Telugu as well as translated several authors like Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, M N Roy, V B Karnik, Sibnarayan Ray, V R Narla, Agehananda Bharati, Hamid Dalwai, Lakshman Sastri Joshi into Telugu. He lives in Hyderabad, India.