Kid you not! This Indian man is planning to take his parents to court for bringing him to this world, despite having an “amazing life" and a "great relationship" with his folks.
"Yes, I am taking them to the court. But I'm not doing this for money. It's just to make a point that children don't owe anything to their parents and it's, in fact, the parents who owe their children," Mumbai-based Raphael Samuels told SBS Punjabi.
27-year-old Mr Samuel is a committed antinatalist who believes it’s wrong for parents to bring a child into the world full of suffering and says his parents shouldn't have given him birth without his consent.
However, there may be one difficulty. Both his parents are lawyers and Mr Samuels hasn't so far found a lawyer who is willing to represent him in the court.
"I have met five lawyers so far - two of them said it was a ridiculous idea and the other three gave a very tepid response.. they were very flimsy in their response," he said.
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The 27-year-old disguised in a fake beard and sunglasses, likens his birth without consent to “kidnap and slavery”.
"What I'd really like to do is to see if I can get the Indian law changed... The law reflects the society and society expects the children to take care of their parents [when they grow up]," Mr Samuel said.
"I understand that it's not possible to take consent from a child that's not born. If you don't have the consent, don't have the child. If you have the child, take care of them for as long as it's possible and understand that the child owes you nothing.
"A lot of parents blackmail their children into doing things that they don't want to, saying 'I have taken care of you.. whatever.. whatever..' That is wrong. Because if you have the child, you better take care of him," he said.
Mr Samuel's parents at the moment don't seem much concerned by this impending legal action against them. His mother, on the contrary, says she is proud of her son.
She sai Mrs Samuel said she will be happy to accept her fault if her son Raphael is able to come up with a "rational explanation" as to how they could have sought his consent prior to his birth.
“I'm very happy that my son has grown up into a fearless, independent thinking young man. He is sure to find his path to happiness,” she added. Her response was posted by Mr Samuel on his Facebook wall.
Mr Samuel is part of the 'antinatalist’ school of thought which encourages people worldwide to stop procreating because it believes that having children puts a strain on the earth’s already depleting resources - so, one should avoid reproducing for environmental reasons.
The movement though largely unknown in India has gained some amount of momentum through social media groups.
Mr Samuel too runs a similar Facebook page called Nihilanand where he actively posts antinatalist material and for hundreds of his followers.
In one of the posts on his page, Mr Samuel says “Parents are hypocrites.”
While in another, he writes: “I want to tell all Indian kids that they don't owe their parents anything.”
But while many have slammed him for his “selfish” and “ridiculous beliefs”, Mr Samuel continues to promote his ideology of a ‘child-free’ world to those who are ready to listen.
Though Mr Samuels is not sure about marriage yet, one thing he is sure about it not having kids.
"I will get married if I find a woman I really like but there will be no children."
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