It's about "13-year-old Deborah Drapper, who, unlike other British teens has never heard of Britney Spears or Victoria Beckham. She has been brought up in a deeply Christian family and her parents have tried to make sure she and her ten brothers and sisters have grown up protected from the sins of the outside world" from the blurb at documentary heaven.
I know nothing at all about any of these people except what I saw in the video. Their home is modest but clean and nice; on a farm, no one is being deprived of any physical necessities; there is food, your own bed, plenty of family time, etc. They don't have TV but they do have computers. I personally agree with some of the values espoused. Though it had nothing to do with religion, I always thought parties were goofy and I certainly wanted no part of being in bars and clubs, flailing about like a dysfunctional octopus. The parents, from what I see are very normal and very loving and caring parents, and I have no doubt they, including the kids and especially dad, would react very badly to anyone suggesting there is child abuse in this home. Looks to me like her dad is a good guy, a great dad. The abuse that is going on is not at all recognized by anyone in the family or household.
The kids have no idea who Britney Spears or Victoria Beckham is, which seems a little odd since they do have a computer. I certainly wouldn't suggest to anyone that it is of any major importance to know about Victoria or Britney except that these people and many like them are very large parts of the popular culture. Without any judgment on the relative value, it does seem rather sad to me that that they seem almost totally culturally illiterate. Do you really have to a "politico" kind of person to at least know who your major elected leaders are? If you don't know zip about mechanics, shouldn't you be able to change a tire if you really need to?
All the kids are home schooled up to the time they can go to university. That's not a bad thing in itself, but how can any person properly educate a child if they don't have the mental wherewithall to do so? In this house, it's Bible study first. But even that is weird. Dad says not a single word of the Bible is "open to interpretation". How strange that he cannot see that this is precisely what he himself is doing, never mind the various "councils" like Nicea.
Deborah knows something about science but she feels so sorry for those misguided people who have ridiculous "theories" like evolution, etc. Deborah definitely has a preoccupation, some might say bordering on obsession, with Hell and trying to get people to not go there. She goes with her older brother, who's in university, and talks to his friends about the Bible and Hell. Dad places little value on things of the world, since this life is short and its primary purpose is to prepare for the life to come. How could dad and the rest of the family be made to understand that there is no such thing as "the life to come"? How indeed. Most of the population at least claims to believe there will be one.
But, despite what most believers and non-believers alike think, this is not a matter of education or intelligence. It is rather a brain disorder of some kind. I remind of my favorite example, Francis Collins. The man was the head of the Human Genome Project and currently runs the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He is genuinely a world class scientist. Who would honestly call him uneducated or not very bright? Yet he believes in the Christian God. How? Why? People with Capgras Syndrome believe that a family member is missing and that the person in front of them claiming to be their (father, mother, sibling, spouse, etc.) is actually an imposter. Who thinks it at least plausible that some similar brain dysfunction is causing or enabling bright, intelligent, educated people to believe in God and Satan and demons and angels, etc.?
Deborah 13: Servant of God full documentary
The video on Richard Dawkins site
Deborah even has (or had) her own blog, though nothing has been posted in nearly a year.
Deborah's Blog
So, do parents have a right to teach their children as they see fit? If you had the social and political power to intervene in such a situation, would you do so? How so, would you remove the children from the home, would you mandate real education....what?
TRB
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