There is an epidemic of obesity in our society and religion is to blame. Diseases associated with obesity are on the rise. These include heart disease, arthritis, hardening of the arteries, rotten knees, and rotten hips. The root cause for people to eat too much of the wrong things is religion.
Every person has three personalities, Child, Parent and Adult. These three personalities must develop together and speak to each other if children are to mature into healthy sane people who have their Adult in control of their Parent and their Child. Anthropologists refer to grownups who have their Child in control as being paedomorphic or child-like; they have never learned logic nor how to reason and, like a child, they tend to accept whatever someone who appears to have authority tells them. They believe Tony the Tiger when he states that Sugar Frosted Flakes are GR-R-R-R-R-R-R-R-R-EAT! The truth is these sugar-coated flakes are 90% sugars and starches with 0% fibre and almost no protein. Plain oatmeal contains no sugar, over 13% protein, and lots of fibre. This is a good alternative for the candy which parents give their children for breakfast. Eggs are a better alternative. They have natural vitamins, and a lot of protein which children need to grow strong and healthy bodies. Besides this, eggs have no sugar.
It is not unusual to see paedomorphic parents giving their two-month-old child Coca-Cola or Pepsi-Cola, even though the phosphoric acid in these drinks will rot teeth and bones. Plus, the sugar overload in these drinks will lead to obesity and diabetes. Children raised on sugar, crave sugar, because their taste buds never fully develop.
Religion forces children to develop their Child and suppress their Adult as well as their Parent. Fathers and mothers allow religious organization to have complete power and control over their children who are taught to follow dogmatic rules. Religion teaches not to bother ourselves with thinking, they will do the thinking for us. Religion teaches children to lie, to state they believe what they do not believe. A mature Adult can think rationally and scientifically, but if the child’s Adult is not allowed to think and mature, these children will never develop the skills needed to live an independent adult life. Religion instills fear in children, telling them they will burn in Hell if they dare try to think and if they try to develop their Adult and Parent. Fear rules their lives.
Paedomorphic parents seldom read labels, and if they do, they do not bother to find out what these often-unpronounceable ingredients really are. They do not question the veracity of advertisements about food for their children. With a little research a parent can easily determine what is in, for example, Jello instant pudding, which is basically laundry detergent. The two phosphates in this mix cause milk to thicken and form a pudding like concoction which children would spit out if it wasn’t excessively sweetened with sugar and enhanced with artificial flavourings and colourings. These phosphates are also used as laxatives which have a label, which warns, they should not be administered to children under twelve-years-of-age.
Why don’t governments do something about foods which are destroying our children’s health? Jello instant pudding has been a very big money maker for General Mills which was purchased by the tobacco giant, Phillip Morris, for a record $5.75 billion US. We are being told that large tobacco companies like Phillip Morris have politicians and researchers in their back pocket.
It is the parents’ responsibility to determine exactly what big food companies are feeding us. Besides food giants, Phillip Morris and other tobacco companies have also invested heavily into pharmaceuticals, health care, and funeral homes. They intend to get your money as you come and as you go.
Big companies believe, if they say something loud enough and often enough, it will become the truth. The same television commercials, repeated, again and again, become tattooed in a Paedomorphic parent’s brain, especially if there is a catchy jingle. This is why parents will regularly reach for these advertised items whenever they see them.
Often food giants will disguise ingredients. Cyanide is often referred to as Yellow Prussiate of Soda; monosodium glutamate may be referred to as modified starch, glutamic acid, glutamate, yeast extract, hydrolysed protein, sodium caseinate, yeast nutrient, autolyzed yeast, et cetera, and sugars are often disguised as corn syrup solids, malt extract, concentrated fruit juice, milk ingredients, corn sweetener, honey, cane crystals, evaporated cane juice, et cetera. Often, foods are stated as having no added sugar even though they contain one or more of these disguised sugars.
It's time for everyone to get familiar with what they eat. And that’s food for thought.
Next Month: Is Uncle Sam Spying on You?
Wayne Douglas Weedon is a Manitoba author who writes a combination of fictional and factual stories, essays, and novels.