While wandering around YouTube, I stumbled on this uncomfortable video from the 1980s. In 1988, a 10 year-old boy named Duffey Strode was suspended from school after he refused to stop proselytizing and attend class, according to the Associated Press. Reports from the time stated that his preaching involved screaming about hell, "whoremongers", "fornicators", and "queers". Definitely not age-appropriate subject matter for a 10 year-old.
Duffey and his father appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show later that year. When audience members asked Duffy to explain what passages in the Bible meant to him, it became clear that he did not understand what he was preaching.
Remember this video whenever you see young children preaching and proselytizing. Chances are, they've been taught by adults to parrot certain lines. Adults who manipulate children into performing their dirty work should make us angry.
There a fascinating Finnish band, Mansion, that purports to channel an obscure early 20th century cult in eastern Finland that used child preachers
ReplyDeleteBrian -- Huh! That does sound fascinating. I'll have to listen to some of their songs on iTunes.
DeleteWhen someone on social media says something like "my beliefs aren't hurting anyone" I shall post this video. This is disgusting!
ReplyDeleteThe longer I'm away from religion, the less tolerant I am of this stuff. Especially when it comes to kids.
Heather -- Disgusting is right. Brainwashing children and using them to do one's dirty work is vile. I hope that boy came to his senses later in life and got away from whatever religious subculture trained him.
DeleteWow, just wow. First time I have ever seen this and I was shocked. I mean the words the kid was spouting, they could really just have asked him what some of them meant never mind the whole verse. Shocking.
ReplyDeleteChristian -- I immediately thought of Marjoe Gorner and the child preachers of Brazil when I watched this video. They're being used by the adults in their lives, and it's wrong.
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