Some ways of living are better than others. Some basic constituents of a good life are fresh air, freedom of movement, access to the wider world. Ways of living that provide more of those basic constituents are generally better than those that don’t.
Living underground, for instance. Not ideal.
MOSCOW – A self-proclaimed prophet had a vision from God: He would build an Islamic caliphate under the earth.
The digging began about a decade ago, and 70 followers moved into an eight-level subterranean honeycomb of cramped cells with no light, heat or ventilation.
Children were born. They, too, lived in the cold underground cells for many years — until authorities raided the compound last week and freed 27 sons and daughters of the sect.
Ages 1 to 17, the children rarely saw the light of day and had never left the property, attended school or been seen by a doctor, officials said Wednesday.
Human moles, in other words. Not ideal. Not one of the better ways of living. Not responsible parenthood.
8 comments
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Kausik Datta
August 9, 2012 at 10:38 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Not responsible parenthood.
I’d like to use stronger language. This is creepy; this is child abuse. This is, alas, all too normal for religion and religious fanatics and fundamentalists.
Ophelia Benson
August 9, 2012 at 11:16 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Kausik – My understatement was deliberate. I hope that’s obvious! I think this is horrible.
Shaker Srinivasan
August 9, 2012 at 11:37 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Plato’s Cave!
Ophelia Benson
August 9, 2012 at 12:34 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Ha! So it is. I hadn’t thought of that.
It’s a thought experiment!
Chakolate
August 9, 2012 at 3:37 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I wonder how many children were born there. The one-year-old was born to a mother who hadn’t seen daylight in a decade – that can’t have been a healthy person. No medical personnel means no prenatal care. What did they eat? I’ll bet there were lots who simply didn’t survive.
Ah, but why not let people believe what they want? What’s the harm?
Samantha Vimes
August 10, 2012 at 6:37 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Sounds like the premise for a creepy sci fi movie.
rogiriverstone
August 11, 2012 at 7:17 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I wish I could study follow-up reports on the impact this has had on the children’s brain development, etc.
LykeX
August 11, 2012 at 11:28 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I admit, the sci-fi freak in me got a little giddy at the thought of underground dwellers. Way cool.
Then I remembered that this isn’t fiction, but real people being tricked into living under inhuman conditions by a zealot and keeping their children from even seeing sunlight.
Now I just feel sad.