Cult Leader Kills Four-Year-Old Boy. So Why are Theists Not Throwing a Parade?
In case you didn’t get it from the title, I’m going to talk here about killing children. And I’m going to attempt to show how, under a pretty widely-held Christian worldview, killing children should not only be accepted, but encouraged.
So, while it may seem counterproductive for a writer to tell an audience to stop reading–if you think you might be prone to missing the point here, you may want to go find something else to do.
When we hear stories like this one about the four-year-old boy, Jaden Higganbothan, who was shot and killed by cult leader Peter Lucas Moses for possibly “being gay,” atheists and theists typically react two different ways.
“How terrible,” atheists will say. “This just shows the pain and horror caused by religion.”
“How terrible,” theists will say. “But religion has nothing to do with this. Disturbed people pop up in all walks of life.”
To be fair to theists, it does sound as though Moses was a sick and disturbed individual. Apparently he lived with a group of women who called him “lord,” and he was also guilty of killing 28-year-old Antoinetta Yvonne McKoy as she tried to escape from him. So this wasn’t exactly a fine, upstanding individual who just so happened to be religious. With or without religion, he’d likely still be a sick and disturbed individual. We get that.
But to say religion–even true, mainstream religion–has no impact on situations like these ever is to bissfully ignore the obvious.
Let’s take a moment to examine Moses’ actions under the lens of a more familiar form of Christianity. Suppose that Moses believes, as many Christians do, that homosexuality is a sin, and that anyone who practices said sin will be sentencing themselves to hell.
Suppose that Moses comes across a four-year-old boy who exhibits “suspicious” behavior, such as slapping other boys’ behinds, dressing up in girls’ clothes, and/or playing with barbies. Suppose, also, that Moses subscribes to the mainstream Christian belief that babies and young children have not yet reached the age of accountability, and therefore cannot go to hell when they die.
According to Moses’ worldview, this precious child, if he does grow to be an adult who succumbs to homosexual tendencies, is headed straight for hell. But, if Moses shoots the four-year-old boy before he is old enough to knowingly sin, the child is all but guaranteed a spot in heaven.
Now, I’m not claiming that Moses actually thought the situation through in this way. Regardless of his motivations, though, under the above belief system (which is held by many, many American Christians) this cult leader did Jaden Higganbothan a huge favor. The best favor anyone could do for a child, in fact.
But wait, a theist might say. Not every Christian person believes that homosexuality is a sin.
No, of course not. But many do. And from the point of view of one who does, killing a child before he can commit the sin makes perfect sense.
But, but, the theist will say. That cult leader would have no way of knowing for sure that the boy was actually gay. It was wrong for him to take such an extreme action without more proof, at the very least.
Was it really? Even if he was wrong and the boy was not homosexual, thanks to the “age of accountability” Moses is still guaranteeing the boy a place in heaven. Yes, he’s robbing the child of a possible 80-90 years on earth, but that’s a drop in the bucket when traded for an eternity in paradise, is it not? Take homosexuality off the table for a moment; as children grow, they are in danger of committing all kinds of sin. What if Jaden Higganbothan had decided, as an adult, not to accept Jesus as his lord and savior? Many Christians would agree that the boy would have gone to hell in that case, homosexual or not.
In fact, every child on earth is in a similar predicament. Even the most dedicated Christian parents can’t guarantee that their children will grow up to be Christians themselves. In a universe where non-Christians spend an eternity languishing in hell, isn’t it better for every child to die young, therefore landing securely in heaven before he or she can knowingly reject Jesus? Maybe all Christians should kill their children!
That’s a terrible thing to say, the theist will sputter.
Sure, it sounds bad–especially to us atheists, who tend to believe that this is the only life any of us will get. But if you believe in eternal reward or punishment after death, what’s a few years on earth compared to heaven or hell? It’s a no-brainer, when you think about it.
But humans aren’t supposed to make choices like that, the theist will cry. That would be playing God. We are told that we “shall not kill.” Any parent or adult who murders a child, even with the best of intentions, will probably end up in hell themselves.
Maybe they will. We’re certainly not advocating that god in this scenario would want parents to kill their children. No. This is more of a loophole, admittedly.
But parents are typically very willing to put themselves in harm’s way for their children–and isn’t the above scenario the ultimate sacrifice that any parent can make? If you truly believe that a child could be tortured in hell for an eternity after death, isn’t the greatest act of love and selflessness to guarantee that that won’t happen, even if it means taking a place in hell yourself?
Seriously, Christian parents, would you be willing to go to hell if it meant your kids wouldn’t have to? Would you be willing to make such an unbelievable sacrifice for your children’s eternal happiness?
Peter Lucas Moses actions make sense not just under a perverted form of Christianity, as many will claim, but also under a modern, popular version of the faith. Of course, most Christians will not emulate his actions. Religions in general, and Christianity in particular, may tend to twist and distort our perceptions of reality in bizarre and disturbing ways, but most Christians are, luckily, grounded and logical enough to ignore large portions of the belief system they claim rules their lives. Unfortunately, this logic and reason is not only not encouraged by a basic understanding of Christianity; it’s in direct opposition to it.
If we’re wrong, theists are welcome to explain how, under a fairly common interpretation of Christianity, we shouldn’t be throwing a parade for cult leader Moses.
Luckily, the rest of us are free to call him out for the monster he was.
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