Religion Does Not Excuse Crime

By Presley Sanderson
Patriot Talon
November 18, 2014

http://www.patriottalon.com/opinion/article_d834d42a-6f3a-11e4-bd84-1b4b04dccfe5.html

I find few things more sinister than the segregation of children from society, the withholding of information for purposes of indoctrination, and the spread of hostility toward sexuality.

Many religious communities attempt to segregate themselves from society and exempt themselves from secular law.

You may remember the atrocious attempted cover-ups of child molestation under Pope John Paul II, by Cardinal Bernard Law or by Pope Benedict XVI.

These are terrible offenses committed by the Catholic church – habitual rape and torture of children covered up by simply moving the rapists to different congregations, as documented by the Huffington Post and author Christopher Hitchens.

Now, the Orthodox Jewish community of New York has joined the list of offenders against morality.

The following details may be found in a story done by the New Yorker.

Sam Kellner was once a reputable man in his close-knit Orthodox Jewish community located in Borough Park, Brooklyn.

That is, until his son informed him he was molested by a man from the synagogue.

Kellner wasn’t sure he was justified in his anger at the rape and torture of his son. He wasn’t sure if Scripture condemned it.

So, the place to which Kellner turned for moral guidance on sexuality was the Torah – the Old Testament. His heart and sense told him it was wrong, but he needed to check if his God thought so too.

The root of this problem is the demonization and “awkwardization” of sex.

Kellner never spoke of sex with his children. They would attend classes after their marriages were arranged focusing specifically on procreation.

This is a community where non-procreative sex is considered shameful, and the rape and torture of children is “regarded in roughly the same light as having an affair,” according to the New Yorker.

When a child reports their sufferings, “the council almost never reports to the police. Instead it devises its own punishments for offenders: sometimes they are compelled to apologize, pay restitution, or move to Israel,” according to the New Yorker.

That is disgusting. Not only is it generally seen as a non-issue in their community, there are attempts to cover it up.

Kellner’s son even reported being told by a teacher that he just shouldn’t think about it, and his rapist was a “respected person,” according to the New Yorker.

A committee granted Kellner permission to approach the police so long as he held the approval of a rabbi.

Why? Because the rabbi must make an exception to to the Talmudic injunction against “mesirah.” Mesirah is the act of informing on another Jew if you witness misconduct.

Most of us would consider it a moral obligation to tell the police if we were aware of the rape and torture of a child.

See how morals are corrupted by this community of indoctrinated, sexually awkward, educationally starved zealots?

The accused rapist, Baruch Lebovits, was convicted after pleading guilty; there were multiple accusations. He was released after 38 days.

Of course you are wondering how all these terrible crimes go largely unaddressed.

Well, Hassidim vote in a bloc for the candidate their rabbi tells them. The Orthodox Jews promise their loyalty and votes.

In return they may go on covering up their crimes, indoctrinating their children, preaching shame and guilt, withholding the basic skills required to function in any society other than their own, etc.

Dov Hikind, a radio host, dedicated three shows to the problem of child abuse in the Hassidic community. Afterward, he was contacted by more than a hundred victims, some of which were victims of Lebovits.

Do these things not seem routine now coming from these kinds of people, the religious zealots? The lifestyle forced upon these children is abusive in so many ways.

Most horribly by what is apparently commonplace rape and torture.

One victim reported he simply didn’t know how to function in society.

He knew nothing of sexuality, public interaction or how to communicate with women. Before, he was forbidden to look them in the eye. He simply didn’t know how to react to Lebovits’ advances.

These cultists of Yahweh need to be bound to the very same laws by which the rest of us secularists must abide – like becoming an accessory to a crime by failing to report it.

They are not alone in their crimes.

When are we going to criticize en masse major religions for what they do to children, the immorality they breed, the acts they excuse or condone or the corrupted morals they preach?

This isn’t good for the world.