“To Such as These, the Kingdom of Heaven Belongs”: Religious Faith as a Foundation for Children’s Rights

Chapter
First Online:
Part of the The Loyola University Symposium on the Human Rights of Children book series (LUSY, volume 1)

Abstract

When the topic of religion enters discourse on children’s rights, all too often it is to lament the influence of certain religions on the status and well-being of children. At worst, there is concern that participation in religious life may directly place children at risk of harm. As is well known to the general public, some religious denominations have accrued huge liabilities as a result of sexual abuse of children by clergy and others in religious occupations (Associated Press, 2005). At the time of the symposium from which this book developed, cable news cameras were focused nearly around the clock on the compound of a polygamist sect in Texas from which hundreds of children were placed in emergency custody of the state. The Texas case was a variation on long-standing concerns about religious communities with unconventional sexual mores and child-rearing practices (Lilliston, 1997) or even satanic rituals (Goodman et al., 1997).

Keywords

Child Abuse Human Dignity Corporal Punishment Religious Community Golden Rule 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2010

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Institute on Family and Neighborhood LifeClemson University, University CenterGreenvilleUSA

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