If this doesn't make you hate religion, nothing will

[Ian David]

What's the harm in being a child?

This is the saddest page on this site. Most of these children were not hurt by their own action, but by those of their parent or guardian. Some of them never had a chance.

Here are 18,910 people who were harmed by someone not thinking critically.



S.M. Abbott
Age: 5
Benton County, Minnesota
Abused, tortured
August 1994
After her mother was killed in an accident, she behaved abnormally. Her parents used "holding therapy" (aka attachment therapy) to treat her. She was hospitalized for weeks. Custody of the girl was eventually awarded to her maternal grandmother. Read more http://www.childrenintherapy.org/victims/abbott.html



Woyah Andressohn
Age: 5 months
Miami, Florida
Died (malnutrition)
May 15, 2003
Her parents follow a strict diet of uncooked organic foods for religious reasons. She weighed a fraction of what she should at her age. Her parents were cleared of manslaughter charges, but were convicted of neglect of their other children. Read more & more http://www.childrenintherapy.org/victims/abbott.html http://www.courttv.com/trials/andressohn/110705_ctv.html



Saundra Arnold
Age: 13
Sacramento, California
Died (untreated intenstinal blockage)
1964
Saundra was ill for 18 days with an intestinal blockage before she died. Her mother, a member of the Church of the First Born, was convicted of manslaughter. Read more http://www.ncahf.org/nl/1990/7-8.html#atikian


Karen Avery
Age: 7
Kirtland, Ohio
Murdered
April 17, 1989
The Avery family joined a Mormon splinter group led by a self-declared prophet when they moved to Kirtland in 1987. They were brutally murdered by the leader of this cult. Read more http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/mass/lundgren/index_1.html



More:
http://whatstheharm.net/children.html

Hat-tip to: http://twitter.com/ThinkAtheist/status/36797679224754176

[laconicsax]

1. What does the first one have to do with religion?

:shrug:

[MrModerate]

2. Because I remember Jim Jones and David Koresh . . .

This doesn't make me hate religion. It just makes me hate pigdog morons who use religion as an excuse to abuse, maim, and kill their kids. And makes me wish that their sacraments involved swallowing Drano *before* they tortured the children.