Government Agencies in New Zealand are turning a blind-eye to Religious Child Abuse.

Child abuse means, means the harming (whether physically, emotionally or sexually), ill treatment, abuse, neglect or deprivation of any child or young person. [definition of abuse under The Children, Young Persons and their Families Act of 1989]

Here are six scenarios.

Some involve physical or sexual abuse of a child, others psychological.

Using your own scale - kindly, rank-them from the worst (#1) to the least worst (#6).

1.) A toddler attempts to run across a busy road in front of traffic, in the heat of the moment the mother restraints the youngster & adrenaline still pumping smacks the her child’s bottom and tells him “You are never to do that again, you naughty boy”.
2.) The father of a ten year old girl, starts molesting her.
3.) A mother tells her 5 year old, his father is ‘evil’ and he can never see him.
4.) Parents tell their children they are ‘chosen ones’ and Satan & Demons exist – that unless they live in a certain way they will burn in hell.
5.) In a drunken, rage a father takes his belt to his 10 year old son
6.) Parents deny their children access to higher education, as it involves mixing with outsiders.

Would it surprise you to learn that 3, 4 and 6 are practiced by members of The Exclusive Brethren & Jehovah’s Witness Churches, here in New Zealand?

This very day, somewhere in our country, children from an Exclusive Brethren families, will be falsely told their ostracised parent is either dead, or hate them so much they don’t want to see them.

Everyday young Kiwi minds, from The Jehovah’s Witness Church are feed a diet of demons, the impending end of the world & that they are persecuted by society.

And these two religious bodies are one of many who practice similar and harmful psychological abuse on young minds.

I could give you a whole page of other examples, but it’s fair to say most people reading this, could do so as well.

Unlike the widely publicised cases of physical abuse we see in the media, psychological abuse of children, such as which I’ve described – escapes scrutiny altogether.

Take one moment to think about the last time you saw a media report about a case of where psychological abuse alone, by parents on a child, resulted in them facing charges?

The Government body that is there to protect children is the much maligned, woefully understaffed, Department Child Youth and Family (CYP’s for short).

‘Emotional abuse includes constant yelling, threatening, scaring a child, belittling them or playing games with their emotions’ (CYP’s web site)

To assist you and me to detect ‘emotional abuse’ CYP’s tell us all, we need to look for children, that….

-tend to believe they are bad and worthless
-have problems getting on with others, or be hard to live with
-'shut off’ or become too good
-have difficulty controlling anger.

Frankly, based on what we know goes-on in thousands of households, up and down this country every day of the week, it’s impossible to take seriously CYP’s statements they take direct an interest in protecting children, from what they call “emotional abuse’.

Devoted Christians, who call themselves loving, tell easily-influenced children, they are born wicked sinners.

Theists traumatise small children with tales of hell’s flames, and do so with impunity.

After-all they know religion is the ultimate ‘get out of jail free card’.

CYP’s acknowledge the harmful impacts of this form of abuse, but seemingly never actually bother protecting a child from parents/individuals who practice it.

For all intents and purposes it appears there is a hierarchy, or scale, of abuse in New Zealand, with sexual & physical at the top and ‘emotional’, so distant at the bottom, as not to even warrant investigation, when a case is reported.

CYP’s is shielded from scrutiny into why they rarely prosecute those guilty of emotional abuse of children, sheltered behind the public’s wide-held perception that a child that is physically abused, is worse off in the long-run, than one who is psychologically abused.

Kiwis relate physical & sexual abuse, to the brown-skinned, under-class and ‘call for blood’ every-time a case reached the media.

Since, emotional abuse largely happens in ‘nice white middle-class’ homes, it is some how less threatening to society, and swept under the carpet.

‘If a crime has been committed, for example, sexual abuse or a serious assault. The Police may decide to prosecute the offender’ [CYP's site]

So let’s imagine what would happen if the head of CYP’s encountered a rough-looking Maori in the Supermarket who barked at his child in a loud threatening fashion “you are a piece of shit and you’ll never be anything in life”.

Then the CYP’s head attended a Sunday School, where the a pastor forth-rightly tells the children sitting on the floor in front of him, that “sinners will burn in hell when the world ends” and then puts-on this quaint ‘purpose-made’ approved religious video for the children to watch, and learn.



One guess, who would face admonishment, come Monday morning when the CYP’s head got to work and made their report.