Philosophical Vegan Forum

Hello. I am a 'normal' ex-Muslim kid living in a religious country. I need some help, but first I'll give you some context. Both my mum, dad and dad are very religious. when I was 8 or so years old my step dad bought me my first computer. That introduced me to the internet. I read blogs, watched Youtube, so the internet basically raised me. Once, on youtube I 'accidentally' posted a youtube comment a MrRepzion video about how I had left religion. My mum saw it and she got pissed. 1 school year after that she announced that I was going to our home country (Senegal, where I am now) and that I need to learn the Koran. Another year later, because all the flights were full the previous year.(2015 now) she sent me to what is called a 'Daara'. A Daara is basically the worst place for a liberal, agnostic, American kid like me to be. The teachers there yell the Koran at you over and over, and if you don't say what they did, they whip you. Not to mention the beds have worms in them, and the food is horrifying. I stayed there for 1 month. I was nearly successfully brainwashed. Until my sceptic side started getting active again. With all the beatings, I thought 'Would the All-Powerful God really want this?'
I started watch Neil DeGrasse Tyson again. Armoured Skeptic, MrRepzion, Cult of Dusty, etc. I guess you could call me a 'Born-Again Agnostic'. Here's my dilemma. My mum constantly monitors my Youtube history (She's in America and I'm in Africa). Not only do I constantly have to pray, I have to listen to te country's propaganda of Islam, combined with racism towards anyone who isn't black. And I'm only 13 as well. I have to stay here for a whole year without seeing my friends... And if I 'come out' as a non-believer I will surely get banished to the Daara for years to come, possibly ruining my education and my future. What do I do?

That's a pretty awful story. You are obviously a smart person and I don't think they will ever be able to change the way you think.

Where did you live before you ended up in Senegal?

My advice to you know would be to pretend to be a devout Muslim until you are in a situation where you can speak out without risking violence. Keep focusing on your education as I believe this will be the ticket out of your miserable situation.

At least they allow you to use the Internet. That's one thing you can be happy about.

If I were you, this is what I would do:

1. Always clear your internet history, and use a proxy.

2. Get sick. Get very sick. So sick they have to send you back to the USA to figure out what's wrong with you.

3. When you get back, run away from home, and never look back. There are organizations that can help you, given the abuse you're suffering at your parents hands.

You're 13, that's not too bad. To be safe, I would suggest you save as much money as you can, and get to another state. Contact the police and child services there, and try to get placed with a foster home. Don't trust anybody with your name or home address, or you might get sent back to this hell. The farther you get, the harder it will be for your parents to find you, or the police to identify you based on missing persons reports.

Tell the authorities in whatever far away state you get to that you're local if they press you (a small fib to save your life), and give them a fake name.
Tell them honestly that your parents are abusive, but you don't need to give them too many details.

Like I said, there are systems in place in the U.S. Use them. You'll never have to see your parents again if you can get out of this hellhole first.

Here's some pretty good advice on running away:
http://www.wikihow.com/Run-Away-from-Home-As-a-Teen

To anybody else reading this who is in a bad situation: This isn't just bad, this is extreme. Running away should never be your first option. The chief problem here is that he has been sent out of the country, somewhere child abuse (and possibly even murder) is reasonably option to indoctrinate him, and beyond the reach of US law (or the law of any civilized nation).

I've heard of Muslim parents in the UK kidnapping and forcibly marrying off their kids to guys back at home. So try your best to do what it takes so that your stay isn't permanent and consider the running away bit once your back on American land. This kidnapping to another country and forcing their beliefs on someone is inhumane.

How is she tracking your YouTube history? You can try the incognito modes on browsers like Firefox/chrome for atheistic stuff so that your viewing history doesn't get recorded though it would have to be done very diligently considering the situation you're in and maybe not show a complete lull in other activities from your usual account too.

Idk Could the getting sick idea backfire and ground you/prevent you from getting back?

brimstoneSalad wrote:If I were you, this is what I would do:

1. Always clear your internet history, and use a proxy.

2. Get sick. Get very sick. So sick they have to send you back to the USA to figure out what's wrong with you.

3. When you get back, run away from home, and never look back. There are organizations that can help you, given the abuse you're suffering at your parents hands.

You're 13, that's not too bad. To be safe, I would suggest you save as much money as you can, and get to another state. Contact the police and child services there, and try to get placed with a foster home. Don't trust anybody with your name or home address, or you might get sent back to this hell. The farther you get, the harder it will be for your parents to find you, or the police to identify you based on missing persons reports.

Tell the authorities in whatever far away state you get to that you're local if they press you (a small fib to save your life), and give them a fake name.
Tell them honestly that your parents are abusive, but you don't need to give them too many details.

Like I said, there are systems in place in the U.S. Use them. You'll never have to see your parents again if you can get out of this hellhole first.

Here's some pretty good advice on running away:
http://www.wikihow.com/Run-Away-from-Home-As-a-Teen

To anybody else reading this who is in a bad situation: This isn't just bad, this is extreme. Running away should never be your first option. The chief problem here is that he has been sent out of the country, somewhere child abuse (and possibly even murder) is reasonably option to indoctrinate him, and beyond the reach of US law (or the law of any civilized nation).

The problem is that I'm known for being 'sick'. Not only that they'd try to fix me with all sorts of prayers and stuff, that wouldn't work or my grandmother(who I am currently with) will know I am not. Despite all this, I still love my parents. I don't want to run away, even though this is major child abuse. At least my mum is currently not considering sending me to the Daara for a full year, where I wouldn't learn at all. The bad thing is I'm going to an Islamic 'School'. (Website-> http://goo.gl/0j26yQ) It really breaks my heart when this is the nation I am supposed to be proud of. Not only is Senegal 95% Muslim, it's interpretation of Islam is very... radical. People are constantly yelling the Koran from the top of mosques, and the TV is basically the same. At least the internet isn't censored. Yet. And to answer Jebus, question, Georgia.

That sounds like a horrible situation. I agree that you should get back home and run away etc..

brimstone- What do you mean by get very sick? Fake it? Why wouldn't the hospitals there be able to figure it out?

Are there any times when you go home for the holidays or something? Maybe you could run away then if you can't do the sick thing.

I think that when you delete your history that you should only delete stuff that you don't want your mom to see (just make sure you get everything that would upset her), so that she doesn't notice that you're clearing your history and realize that something is up. Also maybe do this not just with YouTube, maybe with all of your Internet stuff, just in-case. Maybe also click on other videos etc. so it doesn't seem like there are significantly less videos you're watching. Seemingly watching less videos might also make her suspicious.

Welcome to the forum, btw.

UltimateGhost wrote:And to answer Jebus, question, Georgia.

I lived in Georgia for a year. I have a good friend in Brunswick who is a successful lawyer who does a lot of free human rights related work. It's a long shot but it might be something. Pm me if ever you need his help.

I assume you are black. Did you experience any racism while in Georgia?

Jebus wrote:

UltimateGhost wrote:And to answer Jebus, question, Georgia.

I lived in Georgia for a year. I have a good friend in Brunswick who is a successful lawyer who does a lot of free human rights related work. It's a long shot but it might be something. Pm me if ever you need his help.

I assume you are black. Did you experience any racism while in Georgia?

Yes, but, ironically, from mostly other black kids. Calling me 'Slave' and stuff, even though there ancestors were the slaves, lol.

Could you get into trouble from internet service providers? Do they monitor the internet? In which case you could use vpns or apparently browsers like tor. https://www.torproject.org/projects/torbrowser.html.en you'd still have to delete your history I think

I don't want to run away, even though this is major child abuse. At least my mum is currently not considering sending me to the Daara for a full year, where I wouldn't learn at all.

Why not? Why put up with such major child abuse?

Reminds me of wives who make excuses for not leaving their wife beating husbands. Why put up with such abuse? You should contemplate more, what future do you anticipate? If they've already forced you to live in another country and to study religious material forcibly that you don't want to at the expense of your education, where do you think they will stop? It seems like they may not allow you to live life on your own terms but will progressively introduce more constraints. How do you know they wouldn't force something else on you next, at what point will you draw a line? Freedom is important, its not sufficient if they mean well for you but are going to such extreme measures already.

Jebus wrote: I lived in Georgia for a year. I have a good friend in Brunswick who is a successful lawyer who does a lot of free human rights related work. It's a long shot but it might be something. Pm me if ever you need his help.

That's brilliant! It is a long shot, but he might be able to get a court order for his parents not to send him back to that hell hole.
Then he'd get to stay with his family like he (inexplicably) wants.

UltimateGhost, I highly recommend you take him up on that and give it a chance.

Aside from that, running away may be your only viable option (once you're back in the states).

EquALLity wrote:brimstone- What do you mean by get very sick? Fake it? Why wouldn't the hospitals there be able to figure it out?

Yes, fake it. Given the state of medical care there? His parents would probably fly him back. But he doesn't seem to think it would work. Maybe he's bad at faking.

UltimateGhost wrote: The problem is that I'm known for being 'sick'. Not only that they'd try to fix me with all sorts of prayers and stuff, that wouldn't work or my grandmother(who I am currently with) will know I am not.

I see, well, you can wait it out.
Or, there are alternatives.

You could run away there and try to get to a US embassy.

Address: B.P. 49, Route des Almadies, Dakar, Senegal
Phone:+221 33 879 40 00

Call them first to find out if there's anything they can do for you. They should know about these Islamic schools and how abusive they are. Make it clear that they're beating you, and see if there's any way they can get you back to the states and to child services in Georgia.

Other options would be more drastic.

UltimateGhost wrote: Despite all this, I still love my parents. I don't want to run away, even though this is major child abuse.

Stockholm syndrome. Battered wives go through the same thing, not wanting to leave their abusive husbands.
It's not rational. You really need to get out of there.

But, it's up to you.

If you did run away, you could see your parents again after you turned 18 if you wanted. If you use a proxy, you could also e-mail them now and then to let them know you're alright.

UltimateGhost wrote: It really breaks my heart when this is the nation I am supposed to be proud of.

Nationalism of any stripe is silly.