Hmm....A pretty scary ministry
Wednesday, December 19, 2007 at 03:35PM I'm done with all my homework and I decided to indulge in HBO on Tuesday evening. I happened upon a documentary about an unordained Catholic minister who is recruiting kids. It is called Hard as Nails Ministry. It is a bit disturbing to say the least. It targets young people and his tactics are rather, shall we say, harsh. While blindfolded, he has kids carry a cross, wear a crown made of braches, has kids whipping the cement, and nails them to the cross (real hammers and nails are used, but they don't nail the kids hands to the cross). All the while, kids around the blindfolded child are saying, "We hate you, King of the Jews." "Jesus you are nothing."
Now, I'm all for experiential learning, and having just gone through an initiation experience of being with my own death and lying in bed for hours, I can appreciate the learning from actually experiencing something. But this just seems wrong. It brought up all sorts of stuff for me. But the scary part is that kids seem to be connecting to it. It is something that kids are able to relate too. It is filling a void in our young people, and, I guess it is better than violent gang behavior. But it just makes me crazy that we don't have other alternatives for young people.
Reader Comments (1)
Scary indeed. For some time, it has been lamented that much of the violence and unhappiness that we see, especially in our young men, may be related to the fact that there are no rites of passage for them. In past generations, unfortunately, I think that lack has been masked by sending them off to war. A very destructive alternative.
There is a lot of wisdom in cultures that guide a youth into his adulthood by experiencing rigorous physical and even spiritual challenges in order to cross that threshold. It may even be necessary, in order to be a fully integrated adult.
Robert Bly and others have written incredibly insightful observations of how this missing element stunts the maturity of our men, and how the patriarchy distorts the power of men just as much as, but obviously differently, that of the women.
But where is the line between victimization, brainwashing, and controlling? Obviously, the church has a long history of destroying personal authority, rather than strengthening it. This is a very sad distortion that plays into a true need that I think young people have.. Disturbing stuff.