I was interested and shocked to read this article:
http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/newshome/Paganist-protests-as-health-visitor.6010145.jp
It brings up a few points in my view. First, that Pagan beliefs should be kept from children and second, that people with mental health issues should not concurrently hold Pagan beliefs. Both points seem to suggest there's something not entirely 'healthy' about Pagan views. I would be very interested to know how many children have been both emotionally and physically damaged by their parents' staunch Christian views. It would out-weigh those parents espousing some of the more problematic aspects of Paganism I'd suggest. And there's no denying there are problematic aspects of Paganism, as there are of all sets of belief - especially one so wide. But it is a very subjective call and not one, I would argue, that should necessarily be made by someone from outside the home. This article also seemed to say - to me at least - that people of Pagan belief do not entirely know their own minds and can be dictated to as a result. A sense that by following an alternate belief, you are somehow opting out, not a part of the mainstream, not pulling your societal weight and so can be told what to do by those who are. And I would suggest that it's saying much the same thing about those with mental illnesses. What do you think?
PS The title today is a play on a tv show which used to be on here in the 70s - "Mass for you at home".
Okay, my first thought on this is, that this member of the treatment team is as deranged as his/her patient.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what kind of "religious items" the lady had, but unless its some truly extreme stuff, like - I dunno - a real human skull or bleeding, dead chickens, they certainly won't be of any danger for the son. How many kids do grow up in households where wooden sculptures of a suffering, crucified Jesus show them how death-by-torture works?
It is more than obvious to me, that the health team member has heavy prejudices and tried to profit from the fact that her bi-polar patient happens to be a pagan, in order to discredit paganism and to possibly drive away the kid from paganism too, by making the link "your mom is ill, because she's a pagan". That is nothing but vicious.
Hell, as a little kid I was afraid of churches. I thought that they were dark and somber and scary places of evil. But I could take it. Kids are not THAT fragile anyway.
That's exactly how it seemed to me, Diana - that somehow there was an attempt to equate paganism with mental illness and that the prejudices of the health worker were being given the stamp of officialdom because she was within the mainstream, within the system, whereas the patient was not.
ReplyDeleteBy the way: I took the opportunity to discuss the article here: http://www.zentralrat-der-heiden.de/forum/index.php?page=Thread&postID=18075#post18075
ReplyDeleteI believe that you can read German?
Thanks Diana but unfortunately that link didn't work for some reason...!
ReplyDelete