| Summary: |
"High-profile cases such as the child sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic Church and 'faith healing' deaths in certain fundamentalist Christian congregations have made the public aware that religion can sometimes mask deviant and harmful behavior. But the extent of the problem is far greater than most people realize. In this revealing, disturbing, and thoroughly researched book, award-winning journalist Janet Heimlich exposes a dark side of faith that most Americans do not know exists or have ignored for a long time{u2014}religious child maltreatment. After speaking with dozens of victims, perpetrators, and experts, and reviewing a myriad of court cases and studies, Heimlich explains how religious child maltreatment happens. She then takes an in-depth look at the many forms of child maltreatment found in religious contexts, including biblically-prescribed corporal punishment and beliefs about the necessity of 'breaking the wills' of children; scaring kids into faith and other types of emotional maltreatment such as spurning, isolating, and exploiting; pedophilic abuse by religious authorities and the failure of religious organizations to support the victims and punish the perpetrators; and religiously-motivated medical neglect in cases of serious health problems ..."--Publisher's description.
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| Contents: |
What is religious child maltreatment? : Religion as harmful ; Child maltreatment ; Religious child maltreatment ; How prevalent? ; A psychological and spiritual cost ; My story ; Critics speak out ; First steps -- A country in denial : A religious America ; Not in my place of worship ; Too faithful to faith -- When religion becomes harmful : Authoritarianism and religion ; Religious authoritarian cultures ; Religious authoritarianism and children ; Right-wing authoritarians ; Remembering Jonestown ; Parents as "middle managers" ; Big demands ; Unquestioned obedience to authority ; Patriarchy and weakened mothers ; Separatism ; Parents' regrets -- Child maltreatment and the Bible : The good news ; Where are the children? ; Children as victims of violence ; Sacrificing sons and daughters ; A need for scrutiny -- The pain of chastisement: religious child physical abuse : Introduction: Child physical abuse, The corporal punishment controversy ; rod of correction": Sometimes it is about corporal punishment, The rod and physical abuse ; An obsession with child obedience: Jumping on the bandwagon, Spanking too much and too hard, The fear factor, A deadly dictum, No comfort for abuse victims ; Child sinfulness: a Christian problem: Behold the child sinner, Child sinfulness and abuse, Purifying children, Saving souls, Breaking wills ; The perils of mixing faith and corporal punishment: Poisonous preaching, A spanking advocate's dangerous advice, No Greater Joy Ministries, The Remnant Fellowship Church -- Harm without hitting: religious child emotional abuse : Introduction: Child emotional or psychological maltreatment, Harm to victims ; Is religion good or bad for a child's psyche?: Negative effects, Religion and the mental health of children ; Sinful, disobedient, evil, and depraved: religious spurning ; Scaring them into faith: religious terrorizing: Child targets of fear, Terrorized parents, terrorized children, A scary God, The next life, Devils and demons, Instiling fear to control and dominate ; In the world, not of the world: religious isolating and exploiting: Living two lives, Spreading the faith, Not being good enough, Sabotaging intellectual autonomy -- Violating a sacred trust: religious child sexual abuse : Introduction: Child sexual abuse, Harm to victims, Religion and child sexual abuse ; Murdered souls: Lesser-known cases, Religiously sanctioned child sexual abuse, The Family of Love, The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ; Religious power and child sexual abuse: Using religious messages, The enabling parent ; Failing victims: Faith communities turn their backs ; Secrecy and silence at the top: Failure to report abuse, Conducting internal "investigations", Rebuffing victims, The Catholic Church, Jehovah's Witnesses, Orthodox Jewish communities -- Sin of denial: religious child medical neglect : Introduction: Religion and child neglect ; Why no one calls it neglect: Religious exemptions, The role of politics ; The hazards of blind faith : "We wanted to believe", Social pressures, Illness is not a biological problem, Waiting on divine intervention, "God's will", Resurrecting children, Untrustworthy doctors, A Christian issue? ; Fatal prayers: The Christian Science Church, Jehovah's Witnesses, The Followers of Christ ; Sorting out the demons of child ritual abuse: The satanic panic, Child ritual abuse in America, Exorcism: a popular rite, Harm to victims ; Is male or female circumcision religious child maltreatment?: Male circumcision and religion, Female circumcision and religion, Is female circumcision abusive?, Female genital cutting in America: a secret history, Is male circumcision abusive?, A need to know more, Are we hypocritical? ; Train up the church and everybody else: Repeal faith healing: related religious exemptions, Require clergy to report child abuse and neglect, Extend or eliminate child sexual abuse statutes of limitations, Secular agencies should reach out to religious communities, What parents can do, Faith communities making a difference ; Acknowledging children's rights : Spreading the faith, Fearing a loss of religious freedom, Putting on a good face, The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, Viewing children in a different way.
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