Breaking Their Will: Shedding Light on Religious Child Maltreatment

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As soon as I began to read Janet's book, I knew I wouldn't be getting much else done in my life. I was taken in and blown away. If you are a fundamentalist, then I don't think you're going to like what she says. If you are open to learning about what it's like to be a child raised in an environment where your caregivers withhold medical treatment, inflict corporal punishment, or refuse to protect you against sexual abuse from those in authority, this book *is* for you.

We're talking exorcisms! The casting out of alleged demons. Malnourishment. Beating the devil out of them since corporal punishment will drive away evil spirits! There is a difference between gathering and listing data in topical categories and writing a work of non-fiction. The latter requires that the author be a storyteller - not a research paper writer or a legal brief collator. Here is where this book fails.

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As mentioned earlier, the main message of Breaking Their Will is not to turn people against all faith. Rather, this book aims to expose child abuse and neglect enabled by certain kinds of religious belief. By raising awareness of this issue, the book aims to initiate a discussion about religious child maltreatment in hopes of someday eradicating it. Which is ultimately what she calls all of us to do in the final chapters. How can we create positive, child-friendly faith environments where the developmental needs of our children are being honoured within a positive faith environment? Recognising children's rights and parenting children with compassion, according to their developmental needs, and accepting that certain doctrine is harmful, are good ways to raise children with healthy faith.

Breaking Their Will is heartbreaking, as she tells the stories of victims who have suffered at the hands of the pious. The chapter on male & female circumcision is especially heartbreaking, as Jan reveals the ugly Christian history of cutting girls because of attitudes about sexual purity. Even as recently as the 1970's.

One thing that surprised me while reading this book was learning how much has been written on various aspects of this topic. This book is very well researched, and cites numerous sources. It kind of made me wonder how this kind of stuff can still be going on, given the fact that it's obviously not a secret that it's happening . Of course, there's also plenty written to support the views of the nut jobs who perform and/or condone these horrific acts against children, so I guess it balances out. children may be susceptible to abuse resulting from parental religious beliefs about discipline and corporal punishment, or from some religious therapies. Adolescents who come out as gay or lesbian may encounter their religious communities' censure, and/or violence from peers who have been taught that homosexuality is a sin. Adolescents may also suffer psychological and emotional harm resulting from involvement in a group that proves to be a cult. Mishori, R., et al. (2019). The little tissue that couldn't — dispelling myths about the hymen's role in determining sexual history and assault. The hymen is a thin piece of tissue located at the vaginal opening. The shape can vary. Also, not everyone with a vagina has one.

Medical neglect on the part of JWs, Seventh Day Adventists, and the Amish are covered. We learn of women whose babies died in childbirth yet are trapped in the womb for days because no one has taken them to the hospital. It turns out the right to refuse medical treatment for your child actually began, not with a grass roots movement, but with heavy lobbying by the Christian Scientists.Rather than honoring children as important members of society, theology has largely given children short shrift. As Marcia J. Bunge writes in The Child in Christian Thought, The term religious child maltreatment did not exist before I began writing this book. At least, Google had never heard of it. I found its absence indicative of just how little has been said about religion’s potential to harm children. Very few books look at this problem in a comprehensive way. I have learned, too, that the topic makes many people uncomfortable, even defensive. Considering all this, it seems ludicrous—perhaps even blasphemous—to conclude that religion can be harmful for children. But the fact is, faith can both help and hurt. A swift reading of Ms. Heimich's latest, `Breaking Their Will: Shedding Light on Religious Child Maltreatment,' brings to mind the old quote from Alexander Pope, about `Breaking a Butterfly Upon a Wheel." (Torturing a tiny insect with a medieval device meant for religious apostates, i.e., so easy as not to be a sporting endeavor.)

The half-moon or crescentic hymen is another common type. It forms a crescent shape, covering part of the vaginal opening. These vary in size. Septate Ms. Heimlich discusses the story of Abraham and Isaac, and asks us to consider what Isaac's POV might have been, when his father takes him to the top of a hill to sacrifice him to an unseen, metaphysical being, and how there is very little in the Bible itself concerning the place of children. Children are commanded to respect & honour their parents, even if their parents are wrong (something that actually has been used to sanction and permit sexual abuse) without any reciprocity. Children are required to obey & honour w/o question, but adults have no responsibility to honour & respect children's autonomy or rights. Fat embolism syndrome. Fat enters your bloodstream. Symptoms include losing consciousness or being short of breath. While Breaking Their Will largely focusses on the United States, the recent killing in London of a young child accused of witchcraft reminds us that there is no cause for complacency here. As our government seeks to give faith groups a greater role in our education system, and churches press for more legal exemptions from equalities legislation, this book is a timely reminder of the harm that can be done when the power of religious institutions goes unchallenged and under-scrutinised.

Now there’s a book that exposes this dark side of faith. Breaking Their Will: Shedding Light on Religious Child Maltreatment (Rowman & Littlefield) is authored by award-winning journalist and Child-Friendly Faith Project founder Janet Heimlich. It explains what religious child maltreatment is, how to identify its risk factors, and how to prevent it, whether problems are enabled by Christian, Jewish, or Muslim belief systems. Just as many adults have discussed with me how much they adored their religious upbringings, many others have contrasting stories. For example, one man who wanted to go by the name Matt explained how his Catholic mother regularly physically abused him in her attempt to "beat the devil" out of her son. When Russell was ten, he was placed in a Church of Christ orphanage after his alcoholic mother was no longer fit to take care of him. The orphanage staff seemed more invested in indoctrinating Russell than in offering emotional support; Russell said he was made to kneel in prayer, even though he did not believe in the faith's dogma, and was baptized against his will. Be careful not to fall as you could reinjure your femur. Take the following precautions to decrease your risk of falling: