Writing -- Baby Talk: Not a cult!

The following article featured in a weekly column on parenting in the Women on Wednesday supplement of The Evening Echo, one of Ireland's leading regional daily newspapers. It appeared in the 04 August 2004 issue.

Parental warning bells stared to ring as soon as they arrived. Something wasn't quite right about this innocuous looking little group with their matching blue shorts and bright-red logo-emblazoned t-shirts. I couldn't quite put my finger on it at first, but then they started handing out literature that boldly claimed "We are not a cult!" and the penny dropped.

We were spending a few quiet hours unwinding with friends down at the local beach. It was a lovely day, the kids were having a ball playing in the sand and, for once, there was no fighting. Bliss! And then they arrived….

They unpacked their paraphernalia - poles, flags on string, guitars - and set up a sort of mock-stage on the beach in front of us. Then they started to round up children for some "free" entertainment and my parental warning bells went into overdrive. As the children gathered the show began, and it soon became clear that this wasn't free entertainment at all… this was a recruitment drive.

Now before I go any further, a brief qualifier. I have absolutely nothing against anybody of any religious persuasion whatsoever… people are free to believe in and worship whatever they want to. What I do have a very real problem with is people trying to coerce children with pervasive messages that prey on their innocence.

Thankfully my children are too young to understand "the message". They continued to play nearby, amused by all the commotion but not paying too much attention. You could say that they were listening to the music, but not dancing to the tune. Before long the coercive tactics of this group of "do-gooders" had the assembled kids, who obviously thought it was all just a game, chanting their mantra and "The Word of God" rang out across the beach.

A glance through their literature informed me that this team were the front line troops for a group of "Christians" who gather from all over to share the "true message of The Bible" with families on the beaches of Ireland, the UK and France. Oh, and did I mention that they're not a cult!

Bring back the fire and brimstone days I say. At least with priests wielding the wrath of God as a weapon from the pulpit you knew, in no uncertain terms, what you were dealing with. With groups like this it's more subtle, and much more dangerous. They dress their insidious messages in the guise of fun and lure children to participate in their games in the hope of ensnaring new converts. This isn't education, it's indoctrination of the worst kind - an attempt to brainwash young minds into a prescribed way of thinking: a predefined view of the world and their place in it.

Their literature reeks of religious propaganda, and seems to encourage young people to relinquish their goals and their dreams in pursuit of God. One example in their newsletter extols a young British girl who gave up the chance of becoming an Olympic athlete in the name of God. "Sport had become a god, and I couldn't have two gods," she's quoted as saying. Rubbish!

"If you'd like to find out more about what God's like, and how you can come to know Him personally," their newsletter reads, "why not ask a team member?" Thanks, but I think I'll pass!