Is the Catholic church more child-friendly or child-hostile? Setting aside the problem with child sexual abuse and pedophilia, the case can be made that the Catholic Church is not merely hostile to childhood, but in fact depends on that hostility in order to perpetuate itself. After all, without the ability to encourage guilt while discouraging doubt, where would the Catholic Church be today?
Ex-Catholic Girl writes (via Barefoot Bum):
Although I left Catholicism fifteen years ago, on occasion I still catch myself wondering what I need to do in order to rid myself of the guilt, shame, and feeling of dirtiness that, in one form or another, is almost always my companion. I sometimes find myself feeling frustrated: why, I wonder, can't someone just tell me what penance to do? I obviously no longer think in terms of sin or feel the need to go to the confessional, but the desire for absolution remains, like an itch that cannot be scratched.
Who can deny that this is a form of child abuse? The mere act of writing this is making my hands shake and my stomach churn with anxiety. Fifteen years ago, I made the choice to leave Catholicism, something that, among the family and community I grew up in, just isn't done. This choice was, without a doubt, the best and most liberating choice that I have ever made. However, I do not have a choice when it comes to the ever-present guilt, shame, and anxiety that resulted from my childhood religious indoctrination, and which, to varying degrees of intensity, will always be with me.
The Catholic Church loathes children. Loathes them. To the Church, children are Catholics first and humans second, and the lifelong trauma caused by childhood indoctrination is mere collateral damage in the Church's battle against the outside world. As is so often the case, the Church unashamedly places their own interests above all other concerns, including the welfare (physical, emotional, and mental) of children. And an organization that despises and preys upon its weakest and most vulnerable members (who haven't even chosen to be members) is undoubtably a force of great evil in the world.
All ideologies depend on at least some indoctrination to survive, but some ideologies depend on indoctrination far more than others -- and you can tell by the fact that they require extensive teaching throughout childhood and extensive reinforcement throughout life.
If believing in "god" were so natural and obvious, there's be no need for churches. Instead, what we actually find is the Catholic Church being imposed on young, impressionable minds in ways that are arguably abusive. Or is there a better description for teaching children that their friends will burn in hell for all eternity?
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