Do parents have a religious right to abuse their own children?

[Anonymous]

Say a parent has a religious belief that certain things like medicine and therapy are fundamentally wrong. As strange as this sounds, there are many cases of parents holding these exact beliefs and their CHILDREN paying the consequences for it.

Children who had very treatable ailments instead of being brought to a doctor, were prayed over, only to keep suffering indefinitely and even die slow painful deaths before their parents dain to seek proper care. Children who have psychological issues—or even just don't fit the parents idea of an ideal child—being physically tortured into submission, even further trauma, and even murdered by "well meaning" religious parents and exorcists.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/apr/13/followers-of-christ-idaho-religious-sect-child-mortality-refusing-medical-help

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/all/exorcisms-often-claim-most-innocent-our-children-flna6c10245416

I do not think that ANY of those kinds of things are a parent's right. I don't care what religion they are or aren't. I think a child's right to safety, to a life free of abuse, should ALWAYS come before ANY rights of the parents.

Unfortunately not everyone believes this. There are in fact many people who argue that a parent has EVERY right to raise a child however they see fit—especially if it is in line with their religion. That a parents rights include everything from denying a child medical care to physically beating the child at their discretion. Often these people's own parents beat then as a child too. It's a sad cycle, and they have my empathy as I share the experience, but they do not have my support.

[purplepoppy]

In the uk hospitals take religious considerations into account but they can and do get courts to intervene when a child is in danger.

The sad truth is in America when it comes to religious freedoms (or any kind of freedom) its really just a case the authorities don't care if you die.

[Spongebobssocks]

No abuse is never okay. As a Christian myself ofcouse if my future kids need to go to the hospital I'll take them there but that doesn't mean I won't pray for them..

[Hispanic-Cool-Guy]

No. If a parent denies a child medical attention and that child dies or suffers because medical attention was denied by the parents then the parents should go to prison for abuse.

[jahaims]

Raising a child in a cult based on imaginary beings and books rewritten by man over and over is abuse.

[JoeMichael67]

Exactly. Only 10% of the bible is original, probably less. Also, the Jesus Christ that they worship looks nothing like the real man.

[HelpfulWoman]

Any person who puts religion above the medical needs of children should have said children taken off them...

[Anonymous]

Do leftists have the right to mutilate their children, drug them, and permanently destroy their ability to reproduce simply because they play with opposite sex toys?

Both side do this and both sides are evil.

[Asker]

I provided examples of clear cases where religion drove parents to harm their own child to back up my statements. You provided words.

[Opinion Owner]

Your point being? I asked a question, you failed to answer. If what I said was not true, subreddits like detrans wouldn't exist, you wouldn't have people like jazz Jennings being suicidal because of their parents choices. But you have your head too far up your ass to address that.

[Opinion Owner]

I also don't support religious people doing evil things to their children but to call out one side but not the other is hypocritical at best, dishonest at worst. And for the record the VAST majority of religious people in the states are also appalled at such things and condemn it them selves. So your argument, your question is at best dishonest because you assume all religious people do evil things. But you're too stupid to understand that.

[Asker]

Do you not think the vast majority of "leftists" are appaled by the obscure cases of abuse you reference and condemn them? And detrans isn't people who were forced to transition. It's basically impossible to force someone to transition, they have to ask for it. That's literally the biggest part of seeing if it's even a viable option, how the person who would get it says they feel about everything. Religious parents don't ask their kids if they want a doctor. They decide for them. That's the difference here. If a kid wants to transition they need to ask for it. Often they need to fight for it, even from their parents, to be allowed to transition. If they say they don't want it, then parents can't force anyone to make them. Religious parents on the other hand just decide their kids need exorcized or whipped with a belt, and that's that. Nothing else needs to happen. Nobody else needs to OK it. There's nothing the kid can do or say. That's obviously far more common and far more dangerous.

[Opinion Owner]

It's not nearly as common as you believe.. Trust me on this, I'm atheist.. And I have been around a LOT longer than you and I hate religion far more than you do.. But the vast majority of Christians are just regular people. Extremists exist but they are less than 1% of Christians. It's unfortunate your hate blinds you to facts.

[Asker]

You know what, I hope you're right. Maybe I just got unlucky, and most Christians are normal people, like most trans people and leftists are. That would be nice.

[Opinion Owner]

Agreed

[Asker]

I just wish there was better oversight for religious parents. They have so much leniency because people assume they're good parents, it's so easy for them to isolate their kids in a community that often protects its own instead of looking out for the children.

[Opinion Owner]

And as to my history with Christians... I was in foster care most of my youth.. I was in one place where they had church 3 times a day.. Where if you failed to do as they wanted they beat you and drugged you, and they called it therapy in Christ.. Where they isolated you and fed you only once a day mustard and cheese sandwiches, and if you were in isolation you were not permitted a bathroom, you had to live and sleep in your own shit and piss.. I wanted every Christian I saw dead.. Until I met my wife and I found out that what I went through was so incredibly uncommon that I took a step back from my hate.

[Asker]

Thats awful, I'm sorry. I wish I was in a place I could step away from hate in the same way. But even then, don't you want kids in the future not to have to go through the same things you did? As it is now, there's basically no protection against parents doing whatever they want to kids under the shadow of religion. There's not oversight or safety barriers like there is with legitimate medical treatments like transitioning. It's so easy for a religious person to get away with abuse just because they're religious. I know they aren't the only ones, but–aside from cops—they are the ones who seem to get away with it easiest by far. I don't want them to keep going unchecked.

[Opinion Owner]

The problem with that is, remove protections for religions, it starts a process where they take away other protections for others, eventually it completely erodes our freedom. It's the same with people wanting to make laws taking away freedom of speech. Eventually we are in an authoritarian state where no one is free, and thinking the wrong thing = death. I can see both sides of this.. You, unfortunately cannot.

[Asker]

But we already have protections for kids! We just need religious freedom to not overrule children's rights. I'm not saying to get rid of either of them—just make kids be the more important one. Why should any kid just as a human not matter more than religion as an idea/practice? How is it okay to sacrifice children's rights to protect adults' abusive religious practices? Just the abusive ones! I don't see how this could possibly be the wrong priority to have.

[OddBeMe]

They have a lot more rights than they should…

[SmokinAces2000]

Absolutely not