POPULAR EVANGELIST for Atheism, Richard Dawkins, once famously suggested that religious education was a form of child abuse. He argued that indoctrinating children with religious ideas did psychological harm on par with or worse than physical or sexual abuse.
In support of this argument, he referenced a letter received from a fan who said that she was fondled by her Catholic priest when she was a child. Though she felt “icky” at the time, she says she soon got over it. However, it took her far longer to get over the death of a friend around the same time, because she was taught that he would suffer in Hell because he was Anglican.
Many Bajan’s would want to know if Dawkins mad.
Minister of Social Care Steve Blackett may have reminded some of Dawkins recently. Blackett took issue with a 13-year-old child being placed on the frontlines of the political charge against his Government. He called it exploitation and threatened to call the Child Care Board, implying that it was some kind of child abuse.
It’s worth mentioning that the Child Care Board has taken some heat recently for a too hands-off approach in some legitimate cases of child abuse and a too heavy-handed approach with regards to the home schooling Rastafarian family. It would be interesting to see how the Board would handle this one.
The irony is that in his zeal, presumably to protect the child from becoming a target in a political environment full of snipers, Blackett is accused of taking the first shot. The questionably worded criticism was not aimed at Khaleel Kothdiwala but at the Opposition Barbados Labour Party. However, it ricocheted off the BLP onto Kothdiwala and his parents. Such is politics when anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of public opinion.
If we judge by the public response, the Minister’s charges seem to have been a shot in the dark. Khaleel Kothdiwala’s dynamic and non-partisan presentation was a hit with the public. The criticisms of his participation were a miss. But did Blackett have a point that we are missing? Maybe he does and Dawkins as well.
Religion and politics are powerful and complex forces. They’ve both been tools of great advancement and great destruction. They have a tendency to take control of the mind as easily as the most powerful narcotic, because they give a sense of power. And we know how power can corrupt.
One of my most concerning moments as a Barbadian citizen was during the 2008 elections. I had never seen so many young people enthused by politics before. The energy that surrounded the Democratic Labour Party campaign was electric. To me it was shocking.
I was disturbed by the sight of young children and teenagers on the backs of trucks chanting party slogans. I am a political agnostic. The truth of a political party is always in doubt. My fear was that this early passion for politics would turn into the kind of madness we see in other territories.
I have had several conversations with Jamaicans whose devotion to party is religious. No matter how good a job the other party is doing, or how bad their own is doing, they will never forsake the party of their forefathers. It is as though if you train up a youth in the political path you want it to follow it will be hard to depart from it.
This is a problem. Both religion and politics evolve. We don’t want that old-time religion where we stoned adulterers any more than we want that old-time politics where only certain classes were enfranchised.
God knows our politics need to evolve. The political culture that exists today is not one that I would want any young person to be indoctrinated into or get comfortable with. It has to change. It is young people that will have to change it.
Disgust should not only be towards the politicians in power but the politics in general. I have accepted that not enough Barbadians are disgusted enough with the political culture, to demand any fundamental changes, even though there may be some politicians who are ready to evolve. Hopefully, the stimulus to change will not have to be “us hitting rock bottom”.
So I get concerned when people tell me they love politics. Politics ain’t nutten to love. We have too many politicians who seem to love politics but have little love for people. Religion ain’t nutten to love neither. We have too many religious people who love their religion but have little love for their neighbour.
But on the other hand, too many people tell me they have no interest in politics or religion. I ain’t saying yuh gotta love them but you should at least be interested. Whether or not you are interested in them, they are interested in you.
There must be ways to expose children to religion and politics so as not to turn them into mindless zealots unable to see beyond dogma and programming, unwilling to evolve and make needed changes.
I do know that despite the mind-confining tendencies of religions and politics many people are able to escape and see beyond. I wish this for all Barbadians young and old. I wish this for Khaleel Kothdiwala. We need young people with an interest in politics and a mind free enough to change it.
Adrian Green is a creative communications specialist. Email: Adriangreen14@gmail.com