Sad case for both the child and her worshippers.
Nepal appoints 3-year-old as new living goddess
"The new "kumari" or living goddess, was carried from her parents' home to an ancient palatial temple in the heart of the Nepali capital, Katmandu, where she will live until she reaches puberty and loses her divine status....Critics say the tradition violates both international and Nepalese laws on child rights. The girls often struggle to readjust to normal lives after they return home.
Nepalese folklore holds that men who marry a former kumari will die young, and so many girls remain unmarried and face a life of hardship."
Article: "The judges...check each one for physical imperfections. The living goddess must have perfect hair, eyes, teeth and skin with no scars, and should not be afraid of the dark."
ReplyDeleteResponse: How about the sin nature, the weaknesses and corruption of the flesh, subject to mortality, etc.?
Article: "As a final test, the living goddess must spend a night alone in a room among the heads of ritually slaughtered goats and buffaloes without showing fear."
Response: If she's a goddess, she shouldn't even be fearful of LIVE goats and buffaloes, and why stop there, why not hungry lions, poisonous snakes, crocodiles, etc.?
Such beliefs are not only worse than mere child's play, they harm the very children they espouse to lift up.