Performing my annual bout of charity for the seasonal period, yesterday I trotted over rather naively to the local outpost of the Salvation Army, and found myself in the company of a stout little woman (very pleasant) and a burly bloke with a handlebar moustache (very sinister). Both addressed each other as “captain”. They were, I assume, volunteers. This branch was solely concerned with the fostering of unfortunate children in the area, providing them with a play room, complete with games consoles, and ping-pong and pool tables, along with a decent sports hall. Apparently, the attendees are taught music, maths, and reading and writing. You will acknowledge my concern, therefore, to see the following words emblazoned in huge black lettering against the white walls of the sports hall, and below an ominously centered crucifix:
Blessed is the man who fears the Lord.And, arguably worse:
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.“The fear” sounds especially threatening, implying that fear itself is not adequate, but rather “the fear” that derives only from encounters of the divine sort will suffice. Both quotations are from Psalms. Next door to the sports hall and games room is a Chapel, and it was only after I noted the religious iconography that I spotted shelves of the Holy Bible lining the walls of the games room. I hope you’d agree that the nervousness I felt was understandable.
After a brief introduction to the kids, aged between about 5 and 15, in which they sang a splendid rendition of Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer in sign-language, my cohorts and I played a brief game of dodgeball with our new friends. One small boy did get gratuitously flattened by a ball to the face, but even so I think the game was cut suspiciously short by the handlebar man. The remaining hour was spent handing out Christmas gifts to the kids that had been donated by generous members of the community, to which we had contributed a few baseball gloves and footballs and so on. Somewhat disconcertingly, the gifts were amazing. Every message to Santa had been answered. Girls were receiving huge boxes of craft supplies, jewelry sets, and cosmetics. The guys were adorned with all kinds of action figures, board games, sports sets, K’nex and Mechano: all of it brand new. I quickly stifled my untoward sense of envy. For a moment, upon seeing the luminous faces of drooling and expectant children, I though a better name for the center might be the Salivation Army. My sense of pride, on the other hand, was impossible to stifle. Although we were brief in our visit, and somewhat detached in our manufactured friendliness, watching the children sing, applaud as we walked in, and take off like a kicked kitten when we played dodgeball was absolutely wonderful.
Meanwhile, the black words stared lingeringly back at the children, reminding them of the price they pay for their tight-trope walk of fortune and misfortune. What encouraged the owner-operators of this outpost to think that those words of scripture were appropriate for a place of learning, optimism, but, ultimately, poverty? Both quotations employ the word “fear”, surreptitiously and under-handedly tarnishing the joys and innocence of youth. Like a father baying after his daughter at a high school disco, the “fear of the Lord” preys on the unconscious mind of the kids. Not only do they find themselves on the lowest rungs of society, but also they must be inculcated into the most horrid, base, and sinister elements of religious ideology. Why? Where do these people, volunteers, carers, “captains” get off on terrifying those children? The more I ponder it, the more sickened I feel, and the more I regret not having confronted one of those responsible.
Should we be surprised, however? Was I ignorant to this sort of mass religious inculcation? Is it more widespread than I imagined? Does it, indeed, spread beyond Mormon and Catholic Missions to the impoverished of the planet and into our back yard? Is Christianity synonymous with the Salvation Army? So it seems.
While I type, these children are being handed gifts, amazing gifts, charitable gifts with one hand, and fed lies, threats, and horror stories with the other, all in the name of religion.
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