Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Religion
Related: About this forumAbuse in the Name of Christianity
http://www.advocate.com/politics/religion/2013/10/10/abuse-name-christianityThe horrors suffered by LGBT kids and others at a 'therapeutic' school are at the center of the new documentary Kidnapped for Christ and the experience of making the film changed its director's mind about religion.
BY TRUDY RING
OCTOBER 10 2013 6:00 AM ET
Needing permission to use the bathroom, go from one room to another, or even cross to the other side of a room. Being disciplined by solitary confinement in a tiny space with a thin pad to sleep on and a bucket in which to relieve yourself. Or, perhaps, receiving punishment by having your bottom whipped with a leather strap by an adult staff member.
These are among the conditions endured by young people sent to Escuela Caribe, an evangelical Christian reform school in the Dominican Republic for LGBT and other problem teens. The school is the subject of a new feature-length documentary film, Kidnapped for Christ, which is being test-screened Saturday at the Sacramento International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival.
The film, directed by Kate Logan, focuses on David, a straight-A student from Colorado who was sent to Escuela Caribe in May 2006 after he told his parents he was gay. It features interviews with other former Escuela Caribe students as well, including Julia Scheeres, whose 2005 memoir Jesus Land details the abuse she suffered in the 1980s at the school, which Scheeres calls a dumping ground for the children of wealthy evangelicals.
Kidnapped for Christ is a far cry from the film Logan originally intended to make. The first-time director, who describes herself as a former evangelical Christian, first heard of Escuela Caribe when she went on a missionary trip to the Dominican Republic in 2004. The staff told her it was a school for young people with problems runaways, juvenile delinquents, drug addicts. A couple of years later, when she was a film student at Biola University, a Christian school near Los Angeles, she decided Escuela Caribe would make a good subject for a short documentary. She received access to film at the school for seven weeks in the summer of 2006.
more at link
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
6 replies, 902 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (9)
ReplyReply to this post
6 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Abuse in the Name of Christianity (Original Post)
cbayer
Oct 2013
OP
I have friends who survived these types of places. Their stories are heartbbreaking.
hrmjustin
Oct 2013
#1
hrmjustin
(71,265 posts)1. I have friends who survived these types of places. Their stories are heartbbreaking.
It turned most of to religion.
cbayer
(146,218 posts)2. And I can't say that I blame them.
It's unspeakably cruel and when done in the name of religion, it is poison.
hrmjustin
(71,265 posts)3. Agreed. I am thankful that my parents took my being gay just fine.
cbayer
(146,218 posts)4. Me, too.
I have seen a broad range of families. Some have been 100% affirming and embracing. However the mother of my best friend from college went to her death bed never even acknowledging that her daughter had been married to another woman for 25 years. Absolutely tragic.
hrmjustin
(71,265 posts)5. We can educate, hope, and pray that minds change.
Manifestor_of_Light
(21,046 posts)6. Christian doctrine is abusive from square one.
Just because you're breathing, you're a worthless piece of shit.
Abusing LGBT kids is just one particular flavor of Christian abuse. All those forms of abuse are evil, even the socially acceptable ones.
However, the Catholics have produced some amazing music, art and architecture over the centuries, which I can appreciate.