Overview

This is where Dante has put The Grafters, who must ever swim in boiling pitch and endure the claws and hooks of demons that patiently wait for them to break the surface in an attempt to find relief from the heat.





















There are striking images from Dante here that resonated strongly with me, and I utilize them in both the Fifth and Sixth trenches of Malebolgia. The first image is that of ultimate blackness and absence of light, and this is the key theme here. (The second image, which occurs in the Sixth trench, is of the damned condemned to dwell in a horrible liquid, harried by demonic monsters. )
 
In my Fifth Bolgia are kept the Destroyers of Young Minds, and they must endure total and utter darkness, just as they robbed future generations of light, by poisoning the minds of their children.

Comments

A vivid introduction to the debilitating effects of religious indoctrination on children can be found in the recent documentary Jesus Camp. The fact that the Fundamentalists that are the stars of this production were happy to have all of their atrocious behavior committed to film speaks volumes about just how little they understand what they are doing.

Circle VIII - Bolgia V

The woman at the center of the film is a preacher named Becky Fischer that specializes in children. In her own words: 

"I can go into a playground of kids that don't know anything about Christianity, lead them to the Lord in a matter of, just no time at all, and just moments later they can be seeing visions and hearing the voice of God, because they're so open. They are so usable in Christianity."

So open. So usable. It is a crime to sell them drugs that will damage their brains, but not to allow the likes of Becky Fischer to warp their minds no less effectively.