Children, Nazis and the Government

I have written earlier about how I don't understand why some people totally denounce parents hitting their children occasionally to teach them a lesson or two. I don't buy the 'it leaves the child scarred for life' argument, since the scarring can only happen for two reasons. One, the parents simply abused the violence, thwacking the kid around as and when for no reason whatsoever. Two, the public opinion (not necessarily the public's opinion, just the opinion displayed in public) that creates an environment where a child will feel scarred if its parents hit it.

Either way, where does the government come in to this? When does the government start telling people what they can or cannot do with their children's upbringing? There are laws in many countries where the state can take children away from their parents, presumably for their own safety. Foster homes can be a god-sent for some, but I am sure that they are also hell-holes for others.

But leaving aside this matter of beating your children, which I am a supporter of, I want to talk about other parenting type affairs the government meddles in.

Heath and Deborah Campbell, US citizens, over the years, have named their four children Adolf Hitler, JoyceLynn Aryan Nation, Honszlynn Hinler, and the latest, Hons. Hons was taken away by officials from child welfare services from the hospital he was born only a few hours after arriving on the planet. The others were taken away in 2009, soon after Adolf's third birthday when they had a tough time finding a cake shop that would write "Happy Birthday Adolf Hitler" on the kid's cake.

Like Moon Unit or Diva Thin Muffin Pigeen, they are not the most regular names, at least not in the US. They are probably not very popular too, ever since the Germans got their arses trampled upon in World War II. But what does any of it have to do with the couple as parents? Should those children really be in foster care instead of being at home with their own parents, just because of their names?

This pisses me off doubly because of the Nazi association that is made by default. There is a senior politician from Tamil Nadu called Stalin. Were he in the US, would he have never been allowed to contest elections because of his name? What about the thousands of Saddam Husseins in the world? And the Austria-Germany region is littered with variations of the spelling of Hitler. It is only a fucking name, not a declaration of intent to gas Jews.

Roses and shit, by any other names, would still smell the way they do.