hi kathryn... i am on break at work and found your question...

i may be getting off track, i do not think so tho... it may take time to develop the hypothesis i have into words...

for a minute toss aside the question of baptism and visions and apparitions...

society accepts that certain events can and do have deep impact upon a childs fragile state of being...

some examples are divorce,trauma, abuse, and even frightening stories...

what is the story of the crucifixtion if not traumatic?

what child can concieve of heven or hell?

what might the inner questioning of death, hell, crusifiction and the like actually play on a young persons mind?

even if one does not attend church personally, our society if flatulant with the ideas and whether parents or media or peers first present the topic, what do you suppose a child might do with such information?

he/she has no background experience to relate to or to guide.. only well meaning adults... should we ask if all parishioners or 'holy' others have the childs best interest in mind at the time they are approached by the young neophyte? what are these 'others' motivations in reality? do we really know? have we really examined the question, or, have we simply carried on as before, repeating what our parents and their parents were told? where and when are these questions asked in any adults life, much less a childs?

is the story of the crucifictoin, or even 'the dark night of the soul' a story you would have your chiuld read at bedtime unsupervised? are any of us capable of of total supervision of our childs lifes'? who then, does supervise the many 'spiritual' influences of our world when our children are alone? what is a 'typical' response to a childs questions? that 'ghosts are unreal?

i do not ask these questions from a high place of authority or to represent that i have 'secret' knowledge...

i ask these questions as a person who shares this planet with many who have many diverse belief systems and as one who has shared in their suffering on a personal level...

as a cosmic humanist i can see the connection between opposites and sames.... both....

and so.... where does this all lead us? to war? to 'mental illness'? ...

when one faction of the self, or one fragment of the whole race is isolated and made to feel unwell and despised and ridiculed, what outcome should be expected?

i am self protecting at this time.. i have exposed myself in many ways in these forums... i have fought a peaceful battle to represent people such as coral, myself, and trm and all the 'rhiannons' of the world and all time... and there are a great many of us who have been silenced... but we are not dead.....