Eh. So My Lady of the Faithful Smiles likes to tell this story about how back in the 20th Century, when I was preparing for some Catholic Rite of Passage or other, I gave the sistren instructing me some grief. They were nice brides of Christ, from Mother Teresa's order: none of that crazy Catholic, pinchy, child-(expletive deleted) psychosis going on here. Apparently I asked them why I had never seen the Big Guy, Mister Number One, even though I used to watch out for Him whenever I took a plane ride.They warned M'lady that her child might be trouble.
Kids are awesome that way. They are natural scientists, which is why so many traditionalists believe in beating the thought out of them. Oh wait, I mean beating the obedience into them. Whatever. So to my delight my nieces have been secure enough to show intellect and doubt. The one asked me on a long ago busride why she hadn't seen God when flying. Another recently quizzed her daddy about how much water it would take to extinguish the sun? Ha! The clarity of the problem statement, the tentative hypothesis, the sheer amount of thought behind these queries!
So now, this kid in Tanzania a couple days ago was in an argument with his mate. Mate said: if you piss on this holy book, you're going to turn into a snake or something slimy and cold. Kid's like: no way. Mate: way. Kid: no, dude. Mate: try it. Kid:... alright. Result?:
"FFU water trucks were called out onto the streets in a bid to disperse a furious mob. Churches were burned. My goodness, we went there."
I don't know how folks are raising their kids these days, but peeing on books is simply unacceptable. More importantly, thinking that a 14 year old boy intended to insult the religion of Islam by accepting his Muslim friend's dare is ridiculous. Did I mention: Muslim friend, dare, 14 year old boys? Because it has to be said that there were two idiots involved in this crime. Let's not forget the one minor was arrested and taken for questioning- questioning!- after the incident. What are we putting in Mbagala's drinking water, heavy metals? For * sake, people. Show some sense. At least more than those dick-witted children.
It is interesting to see that the teachings speak of the innocence of a child as one that should be respected and revered. The attacks are just strange and the response not entirely satisfactory if you ask me.
ReplyDeletejust wanted to like this post. so there 'liked'
ReplyDeleteHah! Love the wit here. But seriously, don't you think the two kids were driven to play this daring game out of the lack of conversation they could have elsewhere? As in, what if their teachers, parents or guardians entertained such questions like "will I turn into a slimey creature if I cause some ruckus on this book?"
ReplyDelete@Gaure the plot thickens every day.
ReplyDelete@ Nonny Mouse: thanks :)
@AK: Yes. One of the more frustrating things about conservatives is their belief that there are two lists of questions- appropriate and inappropriate. kids have to figure out which list their questions belong to via a brutal process of trial and error. which is why by the time kids here are about seven or eight, they've given up on their natural curiosity at least in front of adults. the cost is too high.