End Hereditary Religion http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com Information clearinghouse for research and information about child religious freedom rights. Mon, 16 Jan 2012 22:53:52 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 EndHereditaryReligionhttp://feedburner.google.com Brad Pitt walked away from religion of his childhood http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/EndHereditaryReligion/~3/Y87SIQBtJ28/ http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/2012/01/brad-pitt-walked-away-from-religion-of-his-childhood/#comments Mon, 16 Jan 2012 21:09:42 +0000 Richard Collins http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/?p=1618

Brad Pitt Turns His Back On Religion: 

‘Didn’t Work For Me’

 Posted on Sep 16, 2011 @ 06:00PM

English: Brad Pitt at the Burn After Reading p...

Image via Wikipedia

By Radar Staff

Brad Pitt may have been brought up as a good Christian boy in Springfield, Missouri but he has since turned his back on the religion, which is sure to have his devout parents disappointed.

The Hollywood actor has slammed his Godly upbringing saying he didn’t agree with it. “I grew up Baptist, and then the family switched over to more of an evangelical movement, probably right around the time I was in late high school,” he told Parade magazine.

“There’s a point where you’re un-tethered from the beliefs of your childhood. That point came for me when it was finally clear my religion didn’t work for me.

PHOTOS: Brad and Angie Take The Kids To See The Smurfs

“I had questions about Christianity that I could not get answered to my satisfaction, questions that I’d been asking since I was in kindergarten. I realized it didn’t feel right to me, that one question just led to another.  It was like going down a rabbit hole, each answer provoking another question. There were things I didn’t agree with.”

But Brad says that although he has a totally different belief system and point of view to his parents, Jane and William, they respect each other’s opinions.

“My family is all devout Christians. Yes, absolutely.  We don’t see eye to eye on this one, yet at the end of the day we love each other, we’re still family,” he shared.

PHOTOS: Brad Arrives At Moneyball Press Conference

The father of six is raising his own brood now with Angelina Jolie, and as the couple is not married, it is of no surprise that he does not believe on the orthodox Biblical ban on pre-marital sex.

“My religion was telling me what not to do – what not to even think about doing. Those are the things I would try, because that was my nature,” he said of his rebellious tendencies. “I had to experience things to know what would work for me – say, something as simple as premarital sex. I can figure out what works or doesn’t work.

“I will know. You say that something is wrong for me to do? Well, I know it’s not wrong because I just did it.

PHOTOS: Brad & The Kids Go To The Movies

“I don’t mind a world with religion in it. There are some beautiful tenets within all religions.  What I get hot about is when they start dictating how other people must live,” Brad said about the ban in most states on gay marriage. “You grow up in a religion like that and you try to pray the gay away. I feel sadness for people like that.”

Parade hits newsstands Sunday; Brad’s new movieMoneyball hits theaters on Friday, September 23.
Source:
Finding celebrities like Brad Pitt and Katy Perry (read our article, http://bit.ly/wGDwX5) who publicly share their experience of religion as children is putting a face on the problem of hereditary religion. Brad relates how as a small child he had questions he could not get answered. This is a common experience with children. The adults indoctrinating them believe they are too young to deserve a full and complete explanation and they would not understand it if given to them. But generally the problem is that children can spot great holes in the dogma and they ask questions that the most educated theists have trouble explaining. For example, “if god created everything, who created god?” Why does god permit tornadoes to destroy people’s houses? Children have the innocence to not feel reticent about asking hard questions, because they don’t know they are asking hard questions.
http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/2011/03/children-discuss-jesus-with-the-vicar/ for an example of innocent children posing pointed questions to the vicar.
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]]> http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/2012/01/brad-pitt-walked-away-from-religion-of-his-childhood/feed/ 0 http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/2012/01/brad-pitt-walked-away-from-religion-of-his-childhood/ The Hitting Stops Here! A campaign for teaching kindness and respect in schools everywhere. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/EndHereditaryReligion/~3/4K66S_ej-Uk/ http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/2011/11/1594/#comments Thu, 17 Nov 2011 12:41:50 +0000 Richard Collins http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/?p=1594
  • End all physical punishment of children A  raging argument has been going on for years over...
    • ]]>
    Legality of corporal punishment in the United ...

    Image via Wikipedia Corporal Punishment in USA schools are coded red.

    The Hitting Stops Here! A campaign for teaching kindness and respect in schools everywhere.

     info@thehittingstopshere.com, 408.509.6835
    September 29, 2011
    New York Representative Carolyn McCarthy’s federal bill for banning USA school corporal punishment, HR 3027, news reports and PSA:
    REP CAROLYN McCARTHY’S PETITION
    For Banning USA School Corporal Punishment: http://DontHitStudents.com/
    American Civil Liberties Union Petition
    Tell Congress to Support The Ending Corporal Punishment in Schools Act:

    What American Schoolchildren Can Do For Gaining Their
    14th Amendment “protective” and “due process” rights :
    By clicking on the following link and completing the simple form, an automated letter will be
    sent to your Representatives in Congress urging them to Support H.R. 3027, “The Ending
    Corporal Punishment in Schools Act,” which can be sent daily:

    https://secure.aclu.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=3669&s_sbsrc=110925_CorpPunishSchools_bor


    Additionally, it is important to know:
    Where Does Governmental Power Exist For Ending USA “School Corporal Punishment”
    “The Umbrella of U.S. Power,” p. 52, by Dr. Norm Chomsky, reveals that the US SenateHolds the Power to End All USA School Beatings and Other Forms of School Corporal Punishment:
    “The U.S.A. accepted the U.N. Convention Against Torture and Other forms of Cruel andInhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, BUT THE SENATE IMPOSED RESTRICTIONS, USING ITS POWER TO AMEND AND RATIFY TREATIES UNDER THE U.S. CONSTITUTION, to protect in part, the Supreme Court’s ruling ALLOWING CORPORAL PUNISHMENT IN SCHOOLS.”
    Dr. Chomsky is an esteemed lecturer and professor of Government and International Politics at Harvard University.
    Therefore, US Senator Education Committee Chairman Tom Harkin has the MOST influential power for ending USA school corporal punishment. While American schoolchildren of color, disadvantaged and special needs, primarily, face all
    kinds of abusive punishment in USA schools, Tom Harkin has focused his attention on the following:
    “…Tom is working to insure that the Middle Class has a bright future…” He has fought to
    improve education in Iowa and across the country. He has worked to reduce class size, give
    students better computer and Internet access, expand school counseling and safety programs and
    improve teacher training. He has also led the effort to modernize America’s school infrastructure.
    Each year he secures funding to help school districts in Iowa update and repair their facilities.
    Please note: Iowa Senator Harkins resides in the top-performing state for education in America.
    Do schoolchildren in US “paddling” states fit anywhere in his agenda?
    Tom Harkin is the Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee that funds the USA Education school
    system. These funds are those referred to in NY Rep Carolyn McCarthy’s bill. See news report, Bill for
    Banning US School Corporal Punishment Introduced To Congress:
    Senator Tom Harkin’s biography:
    Sen. Tom Harkin

    Image via Wikipedia

    Senator Harkin has a, “Tell Tom how you Feel About a Bill” link at: http://harkin.senate.gov/contact.cfm
    ALL U.S. SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE MEMBER names and contact information, to
    be posted here soon.
    The following link is to their main website containing their contacts:
    __________
    US House of Representative Education and Work force Committee Chairman John Kline was reelected to represent suburbs and rural Minnesota counties in the House of Representatives a fourth term in 2008. He has established himself as one of Congress’s foremost experts on defenseand veterans issues, a conservative voice on tax and budget policy, an advocate for education,and a champion for helping America become more energy independent. But ending US school beatings of disadvantaged American schoolchildren under his jurisdiction,
    being targeted at them by American Educators who are under his command, appears to be for him, a daunting task. Fall 2011, the House of Representatives is expected to consider proposals to roll back FEDERAL INTRUSION in classrooms, eliminate wasteful education spending, improve accountability, support more effective teachers, and provide more flexibility to state and local education leaders.
    Rep. John Kline’s contact information: MN Ofc: 952.808.1213, Wash. DC Ofc: 201.225.2271, email address for MN residents: http://kline.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=233
    ALL U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVE EDUCATION COMMITTEE MEMBER names and contact information, to be posted here soon. The federal bill for banning USA school corporal punishment was introduced to the House by Representative Carolyn McCarthy on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2011.

    See news report, Paddling is Bullying, Outlaw It, Says U.S. Congresswoman:

    PLEASE POST!
    REP CAROLYN McCARTHY’S PETITION FOR BANNING USA SCHOOL
    CORPORAL PUNISHMENT:
    PSA ON BANNING USA SCHOOL CORPORAL PUNISHMENT:
    Other links worthy of attention:

    “Forced medication” in American schools: http://psychrights.org/kids/pizzuroforceddrugging.pdf

     

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    ]]>     http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/2011/11/1594/feed/ 2 http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/2011/11/1594/     Robert Kunzman: The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child vs. the Parental Rights Movement http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/EndHereditaryReligion/~3/Gu8MkhP9gc4/ http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/2011/10/robert-kunzman-the-un-convention-on-the-rights-of-the-child-vs-the-parental-rights-movement/#comments Wed, 26 Oct 2011 20:23:28 +0000 Richard Collins http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/?p=1582
  • Children’s Rights and the Parental Authority to Instill a Specific Value System Essays in Philosophy Volume 7 Issue 1 Liberalism, Feminism, Multiculturalism...
    • ]]>

    Today’s post is from Robert Kunzman, author of Write These Laws on Your Children: Inside the World of Conservative Christian Homeschooling. Kunzman spent ten years as a high school teacher, coach, and administrator and is currently an associate professor in the Indiana University School of Education. He is also the author of Grappling with the Good: Talking about Religion and Morality in Public Schools.

    Book Cover for Write These Laws on Your ChildrenQuick—who are the only two nations who haven’t ratified the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child?

    Somalia is one of them—no bonus points for that guess. Who else stands against the 193 nations who’ve ratified the treaty? None other than the United States of America. This may change under the Obama administration; U.N. ambassador Susan Rice recently proclaimed the situation a disgrace and indicated that U.S. ratification of the treaty was under active discussion.

    But not if the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) has their way. Calling the UNCRC “anti-family” and “anti-American,” they have urged their 80,000 members—as well as those who’ve joined ParentalRights.org, a “grassroots” organization founded by HSLDA—to voice their opposition. To further their cause, they have been a driving force in promoting a Parental Rights Amendment, which now has more than 110 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives.

    Why does the most powerful and prominent homeschool advocacy organization in the world see the UNCRC as such a threat? Ultimately, it’s an argument about who should have a say in the raising and educating of children.

    I’ve spent the past five years exploring the world of homeschooling from a variety of angles, traveling the country and visiting with families in their homes, observing their homeschooling practices and talking with them about what they’re doing and why they’re doing it. I quickly discovered that the range of philosophies, methods, and outcomes is vast indeed. But one fundamental conviction among homeschool parents emerges again and again: the state has no business telling them how to raise or educate their children.

    This conviction is especially strong among conservative Christian homeschoolers, who most observers agree constitute the largest subset of the likely two million homeschoolers in the United States (HSLDA describes itself as a Christian organization). Not infrequently, parents pointed to the biblical passage of Deuteronomy 6:6-9 when explaining to me their motivation to homeschool. The Message, a popular Bible paraphrase, puts it this way: “Write these commandments that I’ve given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night.”

    This orientation toward parenting and education helps explain why homeschool parents are particularly resistant toward any government role or authority in the education of their children. Good parents (whether homeschoolers or not) see education, broadly construed, as part of their job description: raising a child involves constant teaching, and the most important lessons in life generally occur outside of school walls. But most homeschoolers take this a step further. They don’t see any real distinction between this broader notion of education and formal schooling itself—which makes sense, if homeschooling is just woven into the fabric of everyday family life. And if homeschooling is seen as simply part of parenting, then it becomes easier to understand why many homeschool parents view government oversight of education as an unjustifiable intrusion into their sacred domain.

    For conservative Christian homeschoolers, educating their children is a God-given right and responsibility, and one they can delegate only at great moral and spiritual peril. Like many in the broader homeschool population, conservative Christians see homeschooling as a twenty-four-hour-a-day, all-encompassing endeavor. For them, perhaps more explicitly than other homeschoolers, homeschooling is a shaping not only of intellect but—even more crucially—character. This means more than just moral choices of right and wrong; character is developed through the inculcation of an overarching Christian worldview that guides those moral choices. These parents share a fierce determination to instill Christian character in their children, a process that entails protecting them from the corrupting influences of broader society. To accomplish this, the family becomes the defensive bulwark and sanctuary wherein children are prepared for eventual engagement with the world.

    Parental interests aren’t the only ones at stake in the educational process, of course. A democracy depends upon the cultivation of informed citizens who can deliberate respectfully about the best ways to live together. And while most parents naturally believe that their efforts are dedicated to what’s best for their children, in reality this isn’t always the case; as the UNCRC asserts, children have their own educational interests at stake as well. But in the context of homeschooling—the ultimate in educational privatization—how to define and protect these various interests remains a complicated and contested question indeed.
    Conservative Christian homeschoolers are creating an unnatural “bubble” to raise their children in, shielded from the larger society, which conservatives have learned they cannot control. They do a great disservice to their children by handicapping them from every living comfortably outside the bible. They are outcast from normal society and cannot flourish once they leave their bubble. They develop backward attitudes that make them unpopular among their peers. Those that suffer the most are the ones that attend a college that is not specifically religious.

     

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    ]]>     http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/2011/10/robert-kunzman-the-un-convention-on-the-rights-of-the-child-vs-the-parental-rights-movement/feed/ 3 http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/2011/10/robert-kunzman-the-un-convention-on-the-rights-of-the-child-vs-the-parental-rights-movement/     Rationalists make a grave error thinking logical arguments will sway believers http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/EndHereditaryReligion/~3/99cw_0OdkDY/ http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/2011/10/rationalists-make-a-grave-error-thinking-logical-arguments-will-sway-believers/#comments Sat, 22 Oct 2011 23:05:50 +0000 Richard Collins http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/?p=1574

    In the context of discussing religion with believers, rationalists are making a grave error when they think they can simply present logical arguments to believers and have them accepted. The people who claim to “know” god are reacting to a visceral feeling which Dr R. A. Burton, MD says is an emotion we don’t control. The feeling we get that we know something for certain is a feature provided by evolution. Nonetheless, mystical experiences divorced from reality have utility, because for many people believing in God is like a placebo. In fact Burton draws this very analogy. The benefit of such a placebo should be recognized and respected, because for billions of people “knowing” their life has purpose is all that gets them through the day.

    On the other hand rationalists can deal with the existential abyss of not knowing all the answers. Indeed science is comfortable with the concept that all knowledge is provisional, subject to constant challenge and revision when new facts warrant. Burton advises us to teach children there are no absolutes. He says our genes set us apart from one another, and certainty is biologically impossible to attain.

    Burton writes: “The message at the heart of this book is that the feelings of knowing, correctness, conviction, and certainty aren’t deliberate conclusions and conscious choices. They are mental sensations that happen to us.” He says that somehow we must incorporate what neuroscience is telling us about the limits of knowing into our everyday lives. The book is On Being Certain Believing You Are Right Even When You’re Not, St Martins Press

    We all must learn to live within our biological constraints. No religious or scientific knowledge can be certain. But, getting people to go along with the cold hard facts is not easy. For scientists this maxim will be easier to accommodate than for believers.

    Some research by The Cultural Cognition Project scientists reveals that arguing with people who are culturally disposed to disbelieve your point of view is actually counter productive and only serves to harden the resistance of believers to examine evidence objectively. This is an involuntary reaction and it happens instantly, the moment a threat against their world view is detected.

    Cognition scientists are learning that once a belief is accepted as truth the belief is indelibly wired into the neural network of the brain. Certainty is a common state of mind and difficult to shake but there are ways to bypass resistance.

    To be smart about engaging believers we need the help of the scientists at Frameworks Institute. There is more than one way to tell a story—making research understandable to the public is the expertise at Frame Analysis.

    About Strategic Frame Analysis™
    Since 1999, a rare collaboration between communications scholars and practitioners at FrameWorks Institute has worked to develop a new approach to explaining social issues to the public.

    Strategic Frame Analysis™ is a proprietary approach to communications research and practice that pays attention to the public’s deeply held worldviews and widely held assumptions. This approach was developed at the FrameWorks Institute using a multi-disciplinary approach to evaluate the effects of various frame elements on support for social policies. Recognizing that there is more than one way to tell a story, Strategic Frame Analysis™ taps into decades of research on how people think and communicate. The result is an empirically-driven communications process that makes academic research understandable, interesting, and usable to help people solve social problems.

    Quite simply, framing refers to the subtle selection of certain aspects of an issue in order to cue a specific response; as researchers have shown, the way an issue is framed explains who is responsible, and suggests potential solutions conveyed by images, stereotypes, messengers, and metaphors. The advantage of strategic frame analysis™ is that it allows the research to document and deconstruct the frames currently in the public consciousness and to understand their impact on public policy preferences. Additionally, it allows us to test and validate, through different disciplines, both the negative frames and the potential positive reframes that can further an issue’s salience. Finally, the effectiveness of the recommendations we make can be demonstrated; while we hope we are “creative” in our approach to communications, our findings are rooted in the social and cognitive sciences. We can explain what works and why it works, and demonstrate this across the research.

    For more about framing and FrameWorks’ approach, read our Frequently Asked Questions.

    How can you learn more about strategic frame analysis™? Click on the links below to read more about strategic frame analysis™ and how it can be applied to non-profit communications and advocacy.

    * Strategic Frame Analysis E-Workshop
    * The FrameWorks Perspective
    * Seven Stages
    * Research Methods
    * Resources on Strategic Frame Analysis
    See our Products and Tools section to review descriptions of our various research efforts and acquaint yourself with the variety of products produced by FrameWorks.

    Read More here:
    http://www.frameworksinstitute.org/sfa.html

    Groups like Project Reason, FFRF, and the Richard Dawkins foundation have the financial resources to hire Frameworks to design a scientifically sound way to approach communication of the atheist perspective. It should be painfully obvious to every atheist who ever tried to reason with a believer how frustrating and fruitless the effort can be. Even the brilliant (and often witty) efforts of Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins,  and our best debaters fail to get through. We need a better plan to engage in dialogue with believers—one that takes advantage of all we have learned about human communication. Plus one that does not simply harden their views.

    [ Edited: 22 October 2011 07:35 AM by Librehombre ]


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    ]]>     http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/2011/10/rationalists-make-a-grave-error-thinking-logical-arguments-will-sway-believers/feed/ 1 http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/2011/10/rationalists-make-a-grave-error-thinking-logical-arguments-will-sway-believers/     Bridging the science-religion gap is possible — some stunning new insights http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/EndHereditaryReligion/~3/1gVQkXaaSxA/ http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/2011/10/bridging-the-science-religion-gap-is-possible-some-stunning-new-insights/#comments Sun, 16 Oct 2011 19:10:53 +0000 Richard Collins http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/?p=1568 Robert A. Burton, M. D. has advanced compelling arguments for radically rethinking the age old science versus religion fight. Burton in the closing chapter of his book, On Being Certain Believing you Are Right Even When You Are Not fingers the glaring error both sides make. Recently gained scientific knowledge shows how humans are biologically constrained to ever know certainty, yet our evolution sets us up to want, nay crave, certainty.
    On the science side, Burton argues that evolution must only be granted provisional assent to certainty. Perhaps one day new facts will radically revise what we now think is certain. On the other side, the visceral feelings of the religious that gives them a sense of purpose and meaning must not be lightly negated. Burton says the visceral sensation, often noted by mystics, has real adaptive benefits and equals the power of rationality with respect to benefiting humans. Placebos have power.
    Burton writes, “Objectivity and reason must be seen within a larger picture of our biological needs and constraints.”
    “The goal of this dialogue should be to maximize personal hope and a sense of meaning while minimizing the untoward effects of unjustifiable personal attitudes and social policies. We should force ourselves to distinguish between separate physiological categories of faith — the basic visceral drive for meaning that has real purpose versus the unsubstantiated cognitive acceptance of an idea. Compassion, empathy and humility can only arise out of recognizing that out common desires are differently expressed.”
    “If possible, both science and religion should try to adopt and stick with the idea of provisional facts. Once all facts become works-in-progress, absolutism would be dethroned. No matter how great the “evidence” the literal interpretation of the Bible or Koran would no longer be the only possibility. By exploring and making common knowledge of how the brain balances off contradictory aspects of its biology we might gradually turn absolutism into an untenable stance of ignorance.”
    “Imagine how different dialogue might be with future generations raised on the idea that there are biological constraints on our ability to know what we know. To me, that is our only hope.”
    Science has a leg up in this respect because scientists and rationalists fundamentally accept that all knowledge is susceptible to change and all knowledge must be rigorously challenged. Religion is just the opposite, because their foundational beliefs are asserted to come directly from a supreme being who is all powerful and created the universe and everything in the entire universe. Yet, clear headed humans not swayed by indoctrination can easily spot the giant cracks in this belief. Burton says in as much as belief in god is a placebo for billions of people, we need to recognize that it has power. He does not defend all the ramifications that flow from belief in the supernatural.
    Open mindedness is a key component of critical thinking, which is something freethinkers have accepted for centuries. The trick is getting our social systems firmly behind this concept so that our schools, homes, and institutions start turning out people that can think independently and live their lives autonomously  as they personally choose to live them and not the way others demand they live.
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    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuyUz2XLp1E The four horseman have a discussion.

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    ]]>     http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/2011/10/bridging-the-science-religion-gap-is-possible-some-stunning-new-insights/feed/ 1 http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/2011/10/bridging-the-science-religion-gap-is-possible-some-stunning-new-insights/     Why Government Becomes the Scapegoat http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/EndHereditaryReligion/~3/JHf4OwTsJow/ http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/2011/09/1551/#comments Fri, 30 Sep 2011 22:05:43 +0000 Richard Collins http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/?p=1551 Print this Article Tell a Friend Share on Facebook Tweet this

    “The biggest problem with scapegoating government is that it makes it much harder to solve our pressing social and economic problems.”

    Conservatives and business like to blame government for most of the problems in society. They must scapegoat government in order to distract public attention from the real causes of many of our social and economic problems.

    In the summer of 2011, the U.S. economy was still suffering from the lingering effects of the Great Recession that  began in 2008.  Economic growth was anemic, a double dip recession was a very real possibility, and unemployment remained disturbingly high.  While serious analysts debated about how to best revive the economy, Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives came up with a novel approach to this problem: they passed a bill that curtailed thirty-nine environmental regulations. As Rep. Mike Simpson explained:  “Many of us believe that overregulation by the EPA is at the heart of our stalled economy.”1  Not be be outdone, Rep. Michelle Bachmann came up with her own pet theory about how the government had to be the cause of our economic woes.  She announced that health care reform was the reason we had such high unemployment.  She seemed to forget that the major components of that bill were not scheduled to take effect for several years.

    These examples of bizarre reasoning should really have surprised no one.  They are typical of what has become an ongoing and central political strategy of anti-government conservatives: to blame the government for just about every problem we have as a society. This idea has always been popular in conservative circles, but it received a major boost from Ronald Reagan’s first inaugural addressed in which he famously quipped that “Government is not the solution to our problem. Government is the problem.” It was an argument that resonated deeply with most conservatives, and they have engaged in a continuous campaign to make the government the scapegoat for virtually all of society’s ills.

    This article will reveal exactly what is wrong with this effort to use government as a scapegoat.  It will first show that government policy is usually not the cause of our country’s problems. Second, it will answer an intriguing question: why do conservatives and the business community continually insist on blaming government even when their arguments make very little sense? The answer, it turns out, has to do with the way that this scapegoating serves to distract Americans from the real causes of their problems.

     

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    ]]>     http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/2011/09/1551/feed/ 0 http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/2011/09/1551/     Logically, morally, humanely and scientifically, the debate on spanking is dead http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/EndHereditaryReligion/~3/Zf_7WzTmGtE/ http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/2011/09/logically-morally-humanely-and-scientifically-the-debate-on-spanking-is-dead/#comments Tue, 13 Sep 2011 05:37:07 +0000 Richard Collins http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/?p=1541
  • End all physical punishment of children A  raging argument has been going on for years over...
    • ]]>

    10 Saturday Sep 2011

    Posted by  in Child Abuse

    ≈ 2 Comments

    IN PUBLIC FORUMS on the internet, we have lively debates over whether Hitler was a hero or whether or not the holocaust ever occurred. We could also probably find a debate over whether slavery ever existed in the United States. We might even get an argument that the Earth is flat and always has been. And, given what has also yet to become common knowledge, we can still find arguments in favor of hitting young children as a form of punishment.

    For example, those who developed through their formative years having adopted as a part of their belief system that adults hit children as an acceptable practice will take on this treatment of children as a belief not dissimilar to the religious beliefs they’ve adopted during this same stage of development. And, these are beliefs that tend to become deeply ingrained.

    Those who happen to overcome and evolve beyond such irrational belief systems seem to be the exception to the rule. Sadly, it would seem that few children are able to avoid early childhood brainwashing to a particular religion or orientation. Typically, our little ones will buy into what we feed them lock, stock and barrel.

    Herein lies the problem of change in the face of overwhelming evidence. Let’s liken this change to telling a grown man that his name is actually Archibald instead of Joe. Lot’s of luck. It’s going to take awhile, no doubt, and repeated efforts are in order.

    So, once again, let’s try driving home the facts that carry with them the hope of breaking through just a few more of those bigoted obstacles still standing in the way of social progress.

    To begin with, I feel it’s most important to make it very clearly known to any and all concerned that the debate on spanking within the scientific and academic communities is dead and has been for a number of years. The most substantial indicator of this development is evidenced by the fact that virtually every professional organization in the U.S. and Canada concerned with the care and treatment of children has taken a public stance against the practice of spanking.

    Based on the overwhelming accumulation of research conducted over the past 50 plus years linking spanking to a number of risk factors, the professional consensus against this practice has grown to world-wide proportions … even to the extent that Sweden, Finland, Austria, Norway, Croatia, Denmark, Hungary, Israel, Cyprus, Netherlands, Bulgaria, Germany, Latvia, Iceland, Romania, Greece, New Zealand, Venezuela, Spain, Portugal, Chile, Uruguay, and Ukraine have all legislated total bans on spanking … with Italy, South Africa, Scotland, Canada, and Ireland apparently in the process of following suit. It should also be noted that every industrialized country in the world has banned spanking in schools. The evidence is in, and the evidence has found against the practice of spanking in a compellingly conclusive manner.

    Just as one might find supportive views toward spanking being promoted (typically) on web sites sponsored by fundamentalist Christian sects, so can one find supportive views promoting Homophobia, Racism, Misogyny, and other “hate group” propaganda. Because the actual agendas of these sites are often deceptively disguised by organizational titles such as “Family Council”, “People’s Choice”, “Rights and Freedoms”, etc., people are forced to exercise a highly judicious discernment of the information being made available on the Internet. Some web surfers have had to learn the hard way that the Internet abounds with persuasive presentations of “facts and figures” that can prove to represent nothing more than religious, political, or philosophical attempts to spread self-serving misinformation.

    Having spent over 30 years examining and evaluating the research on spanking children, I am able to state with a high degree of confidence that there has never been a peer-reviewed study that has been able to establish the efficacy of spanking as a means of long-term behavior modification; as an effective teaching modality; as an effective punishment or as a means of instilling self-discipline. Nor has there been published research findings in peer-reviewed professional journals that served to refute previous research. This previous research found spanking to be associated with a risk for undesirable emotional consequences; a risk for physical injury; a risk of counter-productive behavioral outcomes; a risk for the onset of dependence on external controls and a proclivity toward authority-directed behavior. Moreover, there has never been research data finding that spanking carries no risk to the quality of the parent-child relationship (and I should add that conservative editorial reviews of previous research findings do not constitute actual research, as is sometimes claimed to be the case).

    Nevertheless, there are some spankers who will find reasons to dismiss, ignore, or discount the research findings of field conducted experimental studies related to the Social Sciences. It is especially these folks that I’d like to address concerning alarming new research findings which represent the most severe consequences of physical punishment yet discovered … while doing so in the form of documented scientific proof.*

    These revelations have come through studies in brain research having provided Cat Scan images showing an abnormal lack of brain development (within the portion of the brain responsible for emotional functioning) in children who had been subject to spankings as a punitive measure. For the sake of sample homogeneity, the researchers chose subjects for their study that had been categorized as “abused” children. Common sense tells us that this does not eliminate the possibility of a lesser degree of brain damage occurring to spanked children who are subjected to a lesser degree of non-injurious violence. In other words, it would be ludicrous to assume that a child must first suffer bruises, cuts, or welts (or other injuries), before brain damage can take place as a result of the physical punishments. Rather, it is much more logical to deduce that acts of physical aggression toward young children can disrupt or prevent the optimal conditions necessary to facilitate a normal process of healthy brain development.

    As far as I’m concerned, this new area of research (apparently not yet freely available on the Internet) represents the most compelling, undeniable reason that has yet been discovered to persuade parents to stop (or never start) striking their children as a punitive measure. And I hope any pro-spankers reading this feel the same way. It’s difficult to imagine any parent who would be willing to treat their child in a way that might carry even a remote risk of causing a measure of brain damage to their child.

    In spite of having said all of that, we should not need research to end the practice of striking children any more than we needed research to end the practice of striking wives. As a society, there was no need for research findings to convince us of the harmful effects associated with the practice of wives being physically punished.

    Instead, when society reached the point of being no longer willing to grant social tolerance to the tradition of husbands physically disciplining their wives, our decision to do so was based on our having progressed socially into the higher morality of a greater humanity. Perhaps, the next step in forward progress should come by way of reaching a decision to begin recognizing children as also being deserving of those same protections against being struck.

    No longer do we see any adult members of our society remaining outside the jurisdiction of the protective laws once enjoyed by only the more privileged and “deserving” (namely white males who made the laws), regardless of race, gender, religion, ethnic group or sexual orientation. None of our adult citizens remain legally unprotected from being violated through harassment, threats, defamation, discrimination or being victimized by violence to any degree or form. So, given our heritage of bestowing a greater humanity upon those of a lower social status by welcoming them as our equals in the eyes of the law (in terms of violent treatment), would it be so out of character for us to also shelter the younger, weaker members of our society by allowing them to join those of us already sharing in the security and comfort of safety that is provided under the umbrella of legal protections from violence?

    Bringing our little ones into the fold really doesn’t seem all that magnanimous if we keep in mind that we’ve already been willing to share the shelter of our umbrella of assault laws with even the most vicious of hardened adult criminals. After all, children are the very last segment of our shared human collective who still remain as fair game for being subjected to acts of physical aggression. We display a strange sense of priorities when we don’t allow the prison guard to break-out a paddle and start whacking away on the disobedient buttocks of a sociopathic death-row inmate who kills for the rush it gives him, yet we find helpless, defenseless young children deserving of such treatment.

    We characterize corporal punishments of prison inmates as Cruel and Unusual Punishment, Guard Brutality and Aggravated Assault. And, should the physical punishments be repeated as a routine punitive measure, such treatment of prisoners would fall under the definition of torture.

    Why would a murderous inmate be less subject to physical discipline than a helpless 3-year-old child?

    Logically, morally, humanely and scientifically, the debate on spanking is dead … save for those who would object to further social progress.

    As we evolve as a society, we have to keep in mind that historically there was a time when it was acceptable to legally own other people; a time when the mentally ill were generally considered to be possessed by evil spirits; a time when men legally shot each other in officiated duels; a time when public hangings were attended as a family outing complete with picnic basket; a time when public floggings were considered acceptable punishment; a time when it was a gentleman’s agreement that husbands should not beat their wives with a switch that was ‘bigger-round than your thumb’ (which later became known as ‘the rule of thumb’); and there was a time when there were no laws against parents severely beating their children (killing children was unacceptable, of course, but an occasional accidental maiming as a result of disciplinary measures was tolerated).

    Obviously, we no longer permit these punishments. The time has come for us to further our level of social sophistication by coming to a general agreement that any degree of physical punishment used against children is as socially unacceptable and repugnant as those past violent behaviors we have chosen to put behind us.

    by James C. Talbot
    Author of The Road To Positive Discipline: A Parent’s Guide
    Visit www.positivedisciplining.com

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    2 thoughts on “The Debate on Spanking is Dead”

    2. A powerful and compelling essay. I forwarded to all my social nets. They know by now how I feel about this issue and I have tried many times to express your ideas, but my prose comes nowhere near yours, James.

      Reply

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    1. End all physical punishment of children A  raging argument has been going on for years over...

    ]]>     http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/2011/09/logically-morally-humanely-and-scientifically-the-debate-on-spanking-is-dead/feed/ 2 http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/2011/09/logically-morally-humanely-and-scientifically-the-debate-on-spanking-is-dead/     For children to be free, mothers must first break free from superstition and dogma http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/EndHereditaryReligion/~3/A0XepE8zfws/ http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/2011/08/for-children-to-be-free-mothers-must-first-break-free-from-superstition-and-dogma/#comments Tue, 23 Aug 2011 21:26:31 +0000 Richard Collins http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/?p=1505

    A major roadblock to elevating children’s rights over parental authority is the conservative refusal to modify their position on gender roles, and to discard worn out family stereotypes. The religious nuclear family with father at the head, an obedient wife trailing behind, and well behaved self controlled children is their ideal. Women in the US, Western Europe and other enlightened countries have managed to pry the grasping hands of backwards patriarchal men loose to some degree, but in places like Africa,
    South Asia, and the Middle East, patriarchal systems are alive, well, and doing great damage to women and children. Consistently, justifications for the status quo reside in religious practices and cultural
    norms, which are held sacrosanct, immutable. Parents free exercise of religion trumps children’s human rights.

    In tracing where religious freedom is cited as a justification to maintain absolute control over childhood religious indoctrination my research has taken many turns. Most recently I have focused on International conventions and treaties such as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (which 147 nations ratified, but Somalia and the United States did not) the CCIPR, (which the United States signed, but added stipulations that essentially make selected provisions worthless within our borders) and the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) I have to research the status of this convention’s adoption by the US, but I suspect it has no status either because of conservative objections. I was led to the UN conventions by the work of Innaiah Narisetti, the CFI/India Chair and a proponent of child rights. His paper is on Dawkins.net.

    How is resistance to child’s rights articulated? Well, there is no better place to discern the thinking of conservatives than their think tanks. I started with The Heritage Foundation and came up with this long critique of the UN approach to bringing women and children out of the dark ages and free of the bondage of religion and tribal oppression.

    http://tinyurl.com/2eg6nm

    The following are brief excerpts to give you a flavor of the paper:

    Yet, on the issue of women’s and children’s rights, the U.N. High Commissioner on Human Rights has permitted committees and agents under the U.N. umbrella to turn these principles on their head as they communicate with the signatories of the CRC and CEDAW treaties. These agents are targeting patterns of behavior and social norms that have had the greatest positive effects on society and the individual: marriage, motherhood and fatherhood, caring for children in the family, chastity, and the special role of religion. They have asked nations to change their domestic laws in ways that ultimately will promote sexual activity among adolescents, increase abortion and legitimize prostitution, and in general alter the
    foundations of society. The sexual norms they promote, moreover, are primarily those sought by radical feminists. They are becoming the tenets of a new “moral” code against which all religions, domestic policies, and cultures would be judged.

    <

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    ]]>     http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/2011/08/for-children-to-be-free-mothers-must-first-break-free-from-superstition-and-dogma/feed/ 0 http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/2011/08/for-children-to-be-free-mothers-must-first-break-free-from-superstition-and-dogma/     Child hatred is so common we never notice it http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/EndHereditaryReligion/~3/nxzLSq5qaVI/ http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/2011/07/child-hatred-is-so-common-we-never-notice-it/#comments Mon, 25 Jul 2011 08:45:51 +0000 Richard Collins http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/?p=1449
    Children dancing, International Peace Day 2009...

    Image via Wikipedia

    It is not that some parents do not know how to love, there is actually an undercurrent of child hate and prejudice in our culture. Looking back at the history of children it is not hard to pick up the threads. Children have been battered, sexually molested and abused horribly in the past. The prejudice and hatred is so widespread I find it curious that we have no word for child hater. We have one for woman hater.

    Here is an interesting critique of one of the leading parenting magazines:

    When a Child-Hater Writes a Parenting Article

    It warmed my heart yesterday to see all the wonderful feedback I got on Ten Ways To Confuse a Child. I am often upset by the hypocrisy and the double standards inflicted by adults on kids. But yesterday was a good day. A lot of people agreed with me. That made me feel good about the world.

    And then my sister-in-law sent me this article, republished from this month’s issue of Parents magazine, called 25 Manners Every Kid Should Know By Age 9. Brace yourselves. I have picked out some of the “manners” that were confusing or otherwise bothered me. And here they are, with my responses:

    Manner #3 Do not interrupt grown-ups who are speaking with each other unless there is an emergency. They will notice you and respond when they are finished talking.
    What makes an emergency? How does a child know when grown-ups are “finished” talking? Will it be like listening for microwave popcorn to be done, 1-2 seconds between responses? And why don’t children deserve this same courtesy? Adults have no problem interrupting children.

    Manner #5 When you have any doubt about doing something, ask permission first. It can save you from many hours of grief later.
    I guess this might be good advice for the child whose parents gives him “hours of grief” about things he has done without permission. I wouldn’t really call this one a manner though. Also, remember, it is usually easier to ask forgiveness than permission. Hours of grief may be a price worth paying if it means the child has already gotten to do what he wants.

    Manner #6 The world is not interested in what you dislike. Keep negative opinions to yourself, or between you and your friends, and out of earshot of adults.
    This is a joke, right? Never complain to adults? How about this one: don’t talk to anyone who isn’t interested enough in you to care about your dislikes. If anything, adults should take their own advice here, and stop complaining about kids so much.

    Manner #7 Do not comment on other people’s physical characteristics unless, of course, it’s to compliment them, which is always welcome.
    Wow, great rule. So as long as it’s a compliment, it’s ok? Is it always welcome to tell a woman she has nice breasts? And I can’t even count the number of times I have heard adults openly insult a child’s physical appearance, laughing at the way the his hair looks, or how his ears or his belly stick out, or anything else. Adults, please check yourselves on this one first.

    Manner #13 Never use foul language in front of adults. Grown-ups already know all those words, and they find them boring and unpleasant.
    Another joke, I’m assuming. If grown-ups find these words so boring and unpleasant, then why do they say them so much? Hey grown-ups, maybe don’t use foul language in front of kids if you don’t like it??

    Continue reading here: http://demandeuphoria.blogspot.com/2011/05/when-child-hater-writes-parenting.html

    There is definitely a double standard when it comes to people interacting with children. Not only are some people free with their hands, but they are also entirely too free with their mouths. At some level, maybe adults fear children because they cannot relate to them and we see from reading comments to this thread that many parents fear losing their authority unless they act aggressively towards their children at all times. Some parents think they must never let the facade drop.

    Parents must learn at a deep level the importance of respecting their children even though children are lacking in all the refinements and knowledge of adults. Hey, they just arrived on the planet, cut them some slack! I suppose we have progressed somewhat. At least we no longer bury children alive in the foundations of our buildings for good luck.

    Use them as soldiers? OK. Use them for sexual gratification? OK. Use them as slave labor? OK.

    I think humans have a very long way to go before we can say we do more than pay lip service to the rights of our children.

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    ]]>     http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/2011/07/child-hatred-is-so-common-we-never-notice-it/feed/ 4 http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/2011/07/child-hatred-is-so-common-we-never-notice-it/     To All Religious Teenagers http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/EndHereditaryReligion/~3/T2vRcocian8/ http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/2011/07/to-all-religious-teenagers/#comments Sun, 10 Jul 2011 21:06:50 +0000 Richard Collins http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/?p=1496

    Reblog from YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RkbDUc9HBA&NR=1

    Hit REPLAY to watch To All Religious Teenagers

    Would you believe in Giraffism if only one person believed in it? Of course not!

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    ]]>     http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/2011/07/to-all-religious-teenagers/feed/ 3 http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/2011/07/to-all-religious-teenagers/