When Christopher and Peter Hitchens debated against each other, Peter (a Christian) stated that one of the most offensive parts of Christopher Hitchens’ God Is Not Great is the section arguing that religion is a form of child abuse. Dawkins makes a similar assertion in his The God Delusion. But is this hyperbole? Is it appropriate to say that metaphysical beliefs should or shouldn’t be “forced” on children?
One child who has been thrust into the middle of this question quite forcefully is Matani Shakya, a Nepalese girl who was recently declared by a panel of judges (with executive approval) to be a god. Is being declared a god child abuse? Probably not. Most parents treat their kids like gods anyway. But, lets see what’s really going on here.
First, Matani had the good fortune of being born into the Shakya clan which, thanks to the gracious Hindu system of theologically-sound racism, means that she is considered to be innately superior to the large majority of her Nepalese brethren (in fact, the Buddha himself was a member of this master race). Between this and an (un?)fortunate coincidence of astrological signs, she was taken from her parents to be tested for goddesshood.
After being inspected, probably in the nude, by a cabal of elderly religious judges for bodily imperfections, she was then taken to her final test: a night in a room filled with the severed heads of farm animals. Really. If she showed any fear, she would be dumped back with her family. But, she didn’t, and she now gets to live a life of complete seclusion in a temple, with virtually no contact with her family, being adored by the devout. This will go on until she hits puberty, at which point she will be unceremoniously deposed by another lucky young Shakya and will spend the rest of her life in probable poverty and cursed with a superstition that keeps bachelors from seeking the hand of young ex-goddesses.
Also, Matani is three years old.
So, the question- is this child abuse? Is being taken from your family due to an unhappy coincidence of your birthday and religiously-imposed racial identity, stripped naked for the inspection of priests, dumped in a dark room alone with the rotting skulls of goats and sheep, then dropped on a lonely throne to continue this The Lottery-esque luck-of-the-draw charade until she’s old enough to be cognizant of her misery, only to be immediately removed from her lofty position for the crime of being an adult woman, child abuse? Nepalese child abuse law thinks so. But what do you think?
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Yes. Goodness, I just want to go save her and protect her from this nonsense
[...] READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY AT “EDGER” [...]
I’ve heard of this before, it’s certainly a bizarre, life changing ritual that the Nepalese have there. Your post reminded me to look up Kumari on Wikipedia, and they have a good article about it. You suggested that part of the selection process is conducted in the nude; this is apparently true, as one of the characteristics of a Kumari is “small and well-recessed sexual organs.”
The article also mentioned a pension for former Kumari, which is “6000 rupees per month ($80). This is around twice the official minimum wage and around four times the average income in this poverty-stricken country.”
Also, out of the previous 13 Kumari, all but the most recent four have married. The most recent unmarried Kumari listed ended her reign in 1984. That’s a long time ago, so maybe they have difficulty finding husbands, but they eventually are able to find one. Maybe the superstition is a recent invention. I can’t find Wikipedia’s source for their information on this subject.
Anyways, I’d like to know more about what has happened to previous Kumaris after they are dethroned. I wonder what these young women eventually do with their lives, and how they adjust to normal life. I suspect they are hindered in life, since they are sheltered from the normal interactions children have with others as they grow up. The childhood years are integral for an appropriate understanding of ordinary, day-to-day human interactions, so women brought up in this way might have great difficulty learning how to function in normal society.
This is ABSOLUTELY HEARTBREAKING! I have a 2 1/2 yr old grandson,and can not IMAGINE the pain I would experience….not to mention his parents and others in extended family! AND,how HORRIBLE for the child! This honestly BREAKS MY HEART……I am at a loss for words…This is just wayyyy too sad!
She isn’t completely secluded. She can go to school. Her family can visit her. She can act like a normal child. She is just special. Her parents are sad to see their daughter go, but they are also proud.
From the article:
“Having passed all the tests, the child will stay in almost complete isolation at the temple, and will be allowed to return to her family only at the onset of menstruation when a new goddess will be named to replace her.”
“She is just special,” you say. Would you like your daughter in a room full of slaughtered animals just to see if she gets scared or not on the whim of the benefactors of a primitive polytheism? If yes, then you are sadistic. If no, then you and I are in complete agreement.
‘Almost’ complete isolation. Almost. She can have visits from her family.
That is one article. Look at more articles to compare.
I find your argument very one-sided, as you are looking at this from a western point of view. We in western society may not find it ‘civilized,’ but they might find it honorable. They do find it honorable.
At 3 years of age, she hasn’t figured out that she needs to be scared because of a dead animal.
By the way, the Shakya ‘caste’ is very impoverished, so ‘good fortune’? Also, which Buddha are you talking about? There are many.
May I please know your source?
“‘Almost’ complete isolation. Almost. She can have visits from her family.”
How nice. What a pleasure it must be to get to see your family on occasion.
“I find your argument very one-sided, as you are looking at this from a western point of view.”
If I were looking at it from a Nepalese point of view, I would say that one of my countrymen has been kidnapped by theocrats. Looking at it from an American point of view, I am saying that a Nepalese child has been kidnapped by theocrats.
“They do find it honorable.”
Please produce reliable survey data showing that all (”they”) Nepalese people relish the placing of children in dark rooms with dead animals.
“At 3 years of age, she hasn’t figured out that she needs to be scared because of a dead animal.”
Then why do they need to do the test if none of the children would be frightened? They do it because most children flunk out at this point. You don’t need to be a rational actor in order to be creeped out by the severed head of a dead animal.
“By the way, the Shakya ‘caste’ is very impoverished, so ‘good fortune’?”
“Good fortune” was used in sarcasm here.
“Also, which Buddha are you talking about? There are many.”
Siddhattha Gotama.
“May I please know your source?”
For what? The original news story is linked in the article.
Boarding students get to see their family on occasion.
It would depend on which part of the Nepalese people you were looking from. If you were very religious, then you would be glad to see a new goddess.
I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have made it so generalized.
It is part of tradition. It is part of the 32 signs of a goddess.
Siddhartha Gotama was a Brahmin.
Have you looked a little into the previous Kumari?
“Boarding students get to see their family on occasion.”
With or without the dead animals?
“It would depend on which part of the Nepalese people you were looking from. If you were very religious, then you would be glad to see a new goddess.”
And if you were not a religious extremist, what would you feel about it?
“Siddhartha Gotama was a Brahmin.”
You’re right, I should have said Shakya clan (of which Buddha was a member). The correction has been made.
“Have you looked a little into the previous Kumari?”
Yes. The previous four have never been married.
The reason the previous four have never been married is because most are still teenagers. There is one in her early-ish twenties, and one that is thirty. There is still a chance for them to be married.
Anita Shakya is probably about 33 by now. Rashmila Shakya is probably about 27. Amita Shakya is probably about 20. [assuming they were three years old when they began their incarceration]
The name of current Kumari is “Matina Shakya” NOT “Matani Shakya”.
For those who do not know about what actually happens during kumari selection and what kind of life they live after being kumari, please visit Nepal and see for yourself instead of relying on news/books/internet, things are lot different than what you read on those materials.