WHO is a child? - Xtianty and Islam please
September 25, 2012 at 2:06 am
(This post was last modified: September 25, 2012 at 2:19 am by Ciel_Rouge.)
Well, I think we are all too familiar with religions discriminating women etc. But I suppose we tend to ommit another issue: discrimination based on AGE.
Let me quote the beginning of a philosophical discussion:
"But then, what is a child? How are their minds different? And what are the moral implications of these differences for how we should treat them?"
Philosophy Talk
Now what concerns me here, is the attitude. We do not even ask WHO, we so often ask WHAT a child is. As if a child was NOT a person. We call them "minors" or "kids". This sort of remotely reminds me of "blacks" or "niggers"
We also usually imply that because of their age they are necessarily somewhat stupid and lack any complex feelings. This particular discussion strikes me as if someone discussed their policy on aliens and not human beings. We seem to forget that the little girl or boy is going to be an adult. We also tend to forget that WE were children.
Let me list some of the basic human rights violations that really strike me:
1) the very common and fundamental one: CHOICE OF RELIGION. Most religions decide it FOR YOU even before you are able to comprehend what religion IS.
2) BODILY INTEGRITY - another favourite of mine, especially regarding Islam - this particular religion seems to be a bit disrespectful of the integrity of human body, both male and female. And once again, the surgery is done and decided without ever asking the PERSON who is later going to become and ADULT who will be INFLUENCED by this decision.
3) PERSONAL FREEDOM - for instance, such things like the time you go to bed, the food you eat - I am not talking about extremes like "kids" who want to stay up and play computer games all night or eat only chips. I am talking about respecting sound, reasonable choices like children who hate a particular kind of food and are still made to it eat even though not eating it would not have any dietary consequences.
Let me quote the beginning of a philosophical discussion:
"But then, what is a child? How are their minds different? And what are the moral implications of these differences for how we should treat them?"
Philosophy Talk
Now what concerns me here, is the attitude. We do not even ask WHO, we so often ask WHAT a child is. As if a child was NOT a person. We call them "minors" or "kids". This sort of remotely reminds me of "blacks" or "niggers"
We also usually imply that because of their age they are necessarily somewhat stupid and lack any complex feelings. This particular discussion strikes me as if someone discussed their policy on aliens and not human beings. We seem to forget that the little girl or boy is going to be an adult. We also tend to forget that WE were children.Let me list some of the basic human rights violations that really strike me:
1) the very common and fundamental one: CHOICE OF RELIGION. Most religions decide it FOR YOU even before you are able to comprehend what religion IS.
2) BODILY INTEGRITY - another favourite of mine, especially regarding Islam - this particular religion seems to be a bit disrespectful of the integrity of human body, both male and female. And once again, the surgery is done and decided without ever asking the PERSON who is later going to become and ADULT who will be INFLUENCED by this decision.
3) PERSONAL FREEDOM - for instance, such things like the time you go to bed, the food you eat - I am not talking about extremes like "kids" who want to stay up and play computer games all night or eat only chips. I am talking about respecting sound, reasonable choices like children who hate a particular kind of food and are still made to it eat even though not eating it would not have any dietary consequences.
