[iht.com]

Another form of child abuse and evidence of sheer stupidity??

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flyingspur
http://iht.com/articles/2007/06/14/news/goddess.php

Another form of child abuse and evidence of sheer stupidity??

I read this article earlier today and didn't think it abusive or any more stupid than most things. I'm interested in what you thought abusive about this situation? It seems to me the girl has a pretty great childhood, and perhaps the only downfall is when she hits puberty and is no longer treated so special.

What makes this abuse? Apart from taking a child away from their family when they may be as young as two years old and treating them as an object?

I can remember reading a magazine article about the girls who grew up and went on to live very difficult lives, not suprisingly not being able to adjust to the real world that they now have to live in. I cant seem to find any articles like this online but I did find this one :

[news.bbc.co.uk]

In 2006 the Supreme Court in Nepal ordered an inquiry into whether the tradition of worshipping a "living goddess" has led to the exploitation of girls.

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Family members of retired Kumaris say they find it difficult to get married because of a misconception among locals that a retired Kumari brings bad luck - which could ultimately lead to the untimely death of her husband.

Incumbents are cut off from normal life, and have limited contact with their families. They are not allowed to attend regular schools.

Some human rights activists argue that this can cause long-term psychological damage.

A researcher on Newar culture, Chunda Bajracharya, told the BBC that the tradition has not affected Kumaris' individual rights.

Ms Bajracharya argues that it has elevated their status in society as "someone divine, someone who's above the rest".

"But I think some reform measures need to be put in place to ensure their right to education, sports and all-round social development as a child," she said.

This may be interesting :

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Whitaker’s documentary Living Goddesses was filmed during a dramatic moment in Nepalese history. Against the backdrop of a civil war that has taken 13,000 lives, demonstrators stormed the streets, protesting the king and debating the Kumaris’ relevance.

The documentary follows Sajani as she blesses devoted passers-by and performs rituals at a yearly festival. Her perks include being worshipped by her parents and receiving offerings of chocolate. But life as a goddess isn’t always bliss, apparently. “Sometimes I don’t feel like going on my throne when mommy asks me,” Sajani said through an interpreter. “I’ve got to get up so early.”

[shadmia.wordpress.com]

Thanks for the replies. First off that was a question not a statement :)and I did not mean abuse as in physical violence or ill treatment.

But making a minor believe that he or she is divine and treating her as such, like in this case is a great childhood? Sorry, I don't see it like that. She is going to have to live the lie all her life don't you think? Also there are plenty self serving adults that profit ( in cash or kind) from such children. Btw, I live in India and there are many cases of 'divine' children with 'special powers' and always some less than divine adult taking advantage of the 'status'.

From the abovementioned report:

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..."The potency of the cult diminishes," she said.

Sajani knows she has only a few years left before she must retire. She says she would like to be a teacher someday, but she cries with her mother over the loss of her life as a goddess.

"When I'm not a goddess anymore," she said, "no one will treat me as well as they treat me now."

Sad, very sad. I think it is a kind of child abuse. A bit like spoiling your child, except this is spoiling by the masses. Psychological damage? I think it's pretty obvious already. So sad that the only way some poor children can get the same priviledges as Western children is creating a fantasy paradigm. I think this material is ripe for a well made documentary...

I don't know... if we start calling anything that harms a child's mind abuse, then every child has been abused. Children are fragile. I don't see how this goddess thing is as bas as verbally tormenting a child. Lots of children are spoiled and then hit life's harsh realities and they all turn out okay. Notice that the girl is happy right now, and not the fake "abused-happy."

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skippypb
I don't know... if we start calling anything that harms a child's mind abuse, then every child has been abused. Children are fragile. I don't see how this goddess thing is as bas as verbally tormenting a child. Lots of children are spoiled and then hit life's harsh realities and they all turn out okay. Notice that the girl is happy right now, and not the fake "abused-happy."

I think getting hung up on semantics is to miss the larger issue that this is one more ridiculous practice from around the world. Maybe not as bad as child sacrifice, but that still does not make this right.

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flyingspur

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skippypb
I don't know... if we start calling anything that harms a child's mind abuse, then every child has been abused. Children are fragile. I don't see how this goddess thing is as bas as verbally tormenting a child. Lots of children are spoiled and then hit life's harsh realities and they all turn out okay. Notice that the girl is happy right now, and not the fake "abused-happy."

I think getting hung up on semantics is to miss the larger issue that this is one more ridiculous practice from around the world. Maybe not as bad as child sacrifice, but that still does not make this right.

Hung up on semantics? Did you even read what I wrote? This child is not being treated any worse than any other child, it's just a different format. It's also very ethnocentric to call it a ridiculous practice. 90+ percent of Americans think a dead guy came back to life before floating off into the clouds. It's really the pot calling the kettle black to call these practices "ridiculous." I find it much more abusive for a child to be raised by parents who work 9-5. The bottom line is that this child is happy and will not be any more adversely affected by her situation than any other child growing up in this world. Is it ideal? No, but name one child who has ever had the ideal upbringing. I swear, some people on this board refuse to allow any religion or any practice. Last time I checked this board was for helping people out of or helping people avoid dangerous situations, not for atheists to trash people.

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skippypb

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flyingspur

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skippypb
I don't know... if we start calling anything that harms a child's mind abuse, then every child has been abused. Children are fragile. I don't see how this goddess thing is as bas as verbally tormenting a child. Lots of children are spoiled and then hit life's harsh realities and they all turn out okay. Notice that the girl is happy right now, and not the fake "abused-happy."

I think getting hung up on semantics is to miss the larger issue that this is one more ridiculous practice from around the world. Maybe not as bad as child sacrifice, but that still does not make this right.

Hung up on semantics? Did you even read what I wrote? This child is not being treated any worse than any other child, it's just a different format. It's also very ethnocentric to call it a ridiculous practice. 90+ percent of Americans think a dead guy came back to life before floating off into the clouds. It's really the pot calling the kettle black to call these practices "ridiculous." I find it much more abusive for a child to be raised by parents who work 9-5. The bottom line is that this child is happy and will not be any more adversely affected by her situation than any other child growing up in this world. Is it ideal? No, but name one child who has ever had the ideal upbringing. I swear, some people on this board refuse to allow any religion or any practice. Last time I checked this board was for helping people out of or helping people avoid dangerous situations, not for atheists to trash people.

This is not about an ideal upbringing. So according to you its okay to treat kids badly in different formats? And you have a problem with atheists? Why? I was not trashing anybody here. New religion, religion, practice, sects, cults etc. or whatever you want to call it is based on blind faith and it does not work for people like me.

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flyingspur

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skippypb

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flyingspur

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skippypb
I don't know... if we start calling anything that harms a child's mind abuse, then every child has been abused. Children are fragile. I don't see how this goddess thing is as bas as verbally tormenting a child. Lots of children are spoiled and then hit life's harsh realities and they all turn out okay. Notice that the girl is happy right now, and not the fake "abused-happy."

I think getting hung up on semantics is to miss the larger issue that this is one more ridiculous practice from around the world. Maybe not as bad as child sacrifice, but that still does not make this right.

Hung up on semantics? Did you even read what I wrote? This child is not being treated any worse than any other child, it's just a different format. It's also very ethnocentric to call it a ridiculous practice. 90+ percent of Americans think a dead guy came back to life before floating off into the clouds. It's really the pot calling the kettle black to call these practices "ridiculous." I find it much more abusive for a child to be raised by parents who work 9-5. The bottom line is that this child is happy and will not be any more adversely affected by her situation than any other child growing up in this world. Is it ideal? No, but name one child who has ever had the ideal upbringing. I swear, some people on this board refuse to allow any religion or any practice. Last time I checked this board was for helping people out of or helping people avoid dangerous situations, not for atheists to trash people.

This is not about an ideal upbringing. So according to you its okay to treat kids badly in different formats? And you have a problem with atheists? Why? I was not trashing anybody here. New religion, religion, practice, sects, cults etc. or whatever you want to call it is based on blind faith and it does not work for people like me.

You can try to twist my words as much as you want, but I'm too intelligent to let you get away with it. I never said it's okay to treat [i:5cead8efa9]anyone[/i:5cead8efa9] poorly, but the bottom line is that everyone will be treated poorly until the end of time. Do you deny that? How is this any worse than the way Americans raise their children? If you have children, how is it any worse than how you raised your children? The bottom line is that any negative brought about by this practice is counterbalanced by so much more positive that it's not bad in the end. It's not really an argument for us to have either way, because neither one of us has gone through it. With cults, you have plenty of people who speak out against the practices. With this practice, who's complaining? Even the child is happier as a goddess, so who are you trying to stand up for?