Are Christian Kids Indoctrinated?

This is part 2 of the video of Richard Dawkins, an avowed atheist speaking about why he thinks children should not be indoctrinated in religion.

The atheists accuse Christians of keeping their children cloistered away from other views and indoctrinating these young and impressionable minds as opposed to presenting them with a range of choices. Which they say is unfair to the children.

According to dictionary.com, the word ‘indoctrination’ means to instruct in a doctrine, principle, ideology etc. especially to imbue with a specific partisan or biased belief or point of view. It goes on to say that indoctrination involves teaching someone to accept doctrine uncritically and that a synonym for the word is brainwashing.

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Does God Send Disaster

According to Wikipedia ‘Act of God’ is a legal term for events outside of human control, such as sudden floods or other natural disasters, for which no one can be held responsible. In other words, if we don’t understand it and/or we can’t find any humans to blame for it, then God must have done it.

Although the logic is highly flawed, the truth is when we hear that yet another disaster has happened, most of us wonder what part, if any, God had in it. Did he do it? Did he allow it? Why didn’t he prevent it? People in the media know that we wonder. Ever notice that when disaster strikes and some preacher somewhere seems to say, “God did it” it becomes front page news.

If we wonder, then what do we say to our children when they sit with us and see the TV images of rescue workers pulling damaged or dead humans from the aftermath? What do we say when they hear the report that Reverend so-and-so said God sent the killing blow? Read more

Wazzup? Moments

Have you noticed that over the last decade family homes have become larger? It seems that over a period of many years, generally speaking, families have been retreating from the community and tending to spend more time at home. So the home, needing to be a place where you can spend a lot of time, has become bigger. However, when homes grow bigger, separation and seclusion within a family can happen. Family members can all be home and never be together. They’re all in different rooms.

The home that I raised my kids in had many rooms, and sometimes I literally had to become a mini search party of one in order to find out where everyone was. I would be between tasks and hear the glorious but telltale sound of complete household silence; always glorious because there’s no noise, but telltale because the level of silence is a meter that gauges individual seclusion. Complete household silence usually indicates complete individual seclusion.

That’s when I would go on my one-man search party. As I found each child, I’d sit for a short time and engage him or her in a little “wazzup” talk. It takes only a few minutes, but it reconnects everyone to the family collective. The best part is that it doesn’t take long. You just need to take advantage of the minutes you have between tasks to personally connect with each of your children.

Another thing I did and still do to counteract individual seclusion and get in some quality family moments is to get some or all of us to seclude ourselves in the same room. If my wife and I are reading in the evening, sometimes we’ll grab our books and sit in the living room. Then we let the other family members know what we’re doing and they’ll sometimes grab their books and join us. I really love doing this because we end up laughing and talking and taking breaks together.

It takes only minutes to battle seclusion, but it’s worth it.

Parent’s Timeout

Much of the time reading email forwards is just a waste of time. I find that my inbox fills up with them until I have to take an hour or  two to scan through them. The reason that I eventually put in the time is, because every once in awhile, I find a few that are hilarious and/or inspiring and worth sharing with others. Here’s one such email forward that I’d like to share with you:

The Neighbor’s Dog

An older, tired-looking dog wandered into my yard; I could tell from his collar and well-fed belly that he had a home and was well taken care of.

He calmly came over to me, I gave him a few pats on his head; he then followed me into my house, slowly walked down the hall, curled up in the corner and fell asleep.

An hour later, he went to the door, and I let him out.

The next day he was back, greeted me in my yard, walked inside and resumed his spot in the hall and again slept for about an hour. This continued off and on for several weeks.

Curious, I pinned a note to his collar:  ’I would like to find out who the owner of this wonderful sweet dog is and ask if you are aware that almost every afternoon your dog comes to my house for a nap.’

The next day he arrived for his nap, with a different note pinned to his collar: ‘He lives in a home with 6 children, 2 under the age of 3 – he’s trying to catch up on his sleep. Can I come with him tomorrow?’

Unfortunately, as with most email forwards, this came to me with no links or author credits so I don’t know where it came from or even if it actually happened. However, it’s hilarious, and most of us can see it happening and can identify with it.

Some families give their kids ‘timeouts’ when they’re misbehaving. Many times the misbehaving comes at times when the child is tired, hungry, frustrated, etc. and the time-out really just serves to settle them down so that they can be talked to and dealt with rationally.

This email forward reminded me that parents get tired and frustrated from time to time and also need a timeout. It’s when we push ourselves past our own strength and run ahead parenting, even when we’re tired and/or frustrated, that we end up misbehaving towards or in front of our children. Every parent needs an exit strategy. Kind of like a fire escape plan so that you can get a little rest when you feel the need before you reach the end of your rope and parent badly. Here are some ideas:

• If you’re a full time, at home parent, and your spouse has an outside job, arrange for your spouse to take the kids for a hour when they get home to let you escape to what ever relaxes you (a bath, exercise, a prayer walk, etc.).
• If your kids have nap times, coordinate the naps to happen all at once. Even kids who are older can have a ‘quiet time’ in their room while their younger siblings are napping. Take some of this time and do something that relaxes you. Resist the temptation to spend all of this time doing chores. You being rested for your kids is more important.
• If your kids take well to the stroller or riding in the car, get out and take a walk or a drive. Don’t have an agenda, just walk and/or drive to relax and maybe see some nice scenery.
• Make time each evening, after all the kids are bedded down, to do something that relaxes you, reading, praying, chatting with friends online etc. Identify which activities recharge you and spend even a small amount of time recharging.
• Plan a bigger timeout at least once a week. Get a babysitter and get out and about doing something you enjoy.

What do you do to make sure that your batteries are recharged so that you can parent calmly and in control? Leave your comments, they could be helpful to another parent. We may not be able to follow our dog to the neighbor’s house, but with a little bit of planning we can keep ourselves rested and ready to go.

(If you know where the email forward originated, please let me know so that I can give proper credit.)

Atheists Against Christian Parenting

The attached video is of Richard Dawkins, an avowed atheist speaking about why he thinks children should not be indoctrinated in religion. Part two will be attached to my next blog.

Recently, there has been a rash of books written by atheists vilifying religion and blaming it for the woes of this world. One best-selling book generated a wave of controversy because it suggested that efforts be made to eradicate religion. The author also takes aim at parents who teach their children religion, calling it a form of child abuse.

Here’s their logic (as far as I can see it). There is no God. Humankind invented God and created religion. Religion is destructive in that it polarizes people, and therefore, causes wars and all sorts of atrocities. The reason religion continues to thrive is that religious parents indoctrinate their children. Therefore, stop allowing the indoctrination of children and the world will become atheistic and wonderfully peaceful.

First of all, let me touch on the things that I agree with. Humanity has suffered much in the name of religion. Also, there are some religious groups in the world that teach violence to their children. There are also many religious parents worldwide that indoctrinate their children, or in other words, tell them what to think instead of teaching them how to think. I agree that all of these things are inappropriate parental behavior.

However, the author in my estimation, has built a very flimsy argument when it comes to Christianity.

Yes, the history of Christianity gets demerits for violence, but to blame present day Christianity for the mistakes of those in the past who did wrong in the name of Christianity is hardly fair. That would be like calling for the end of today’s German culture because at one point it spawned misguided people who caused wars.

The very word Christian means Christ-like or follower of Christ. Everyone who has read the Gospels even once knows that Jesus promoted love, forgiveness, humility and godliness. He did not promote violence, war and insurrection.

The Body of Christ worldwide has come a long way and is a force for good on our planet. When a catastrophe puts people in harms way anywhere in the world, it’s the Christians and Christian relief organizations that dig the deepest and run to care. Millions of Christians and Christian churches worldwide reach out to help and love their families, neighbors and communities every day. These heartfelt charitable acts are a big part of what it is to live a Christian life.

It’s hard to study the history of Western Civilization without seeing the amazingly wonderful impact that Christianity and individual Christians, compelled by their Faith, have had on the world today.

For a great summary read this link:  http://crossandquill.com/journey/?page_id=267

Furthermore, what is it that Christian parents are teaching their children? If you examine the words in red (Jesus’ teaching), you’ll find that a large percentage of what he taught wasn’t about what we believe, but about who we are and how we behave. We teach our children to love, to be caring, kind, generous and considerate of others, to be involved in their communities, to be team players and to be respectful of others who have contrary opinions or beliefs. How can this be damaging to our planet?

Going back to the general arguments about religion being a planet damaging force, studies show that children raised in religion are happier, more other-focused, and less prone to get involved with crime and high-risk behavior. They even tend to exercise more, eat better, and volunteer more frequently.

(Check one of the studies here:  http://www.youthandreligion.org/news/preliminary.html )

A brief study of history will show even the casual reader that things like political agendas, territorial disputes, racial differences and yes, even atheism (the murder of countless religious people in the name of communism, for the sake of the state) have been behind some of the greatest carnages visited on mankind. Should we forbid the teaching of politics, patriotism, property rights, racial uniqueness and atheism?

If your children are old enough, have a chat with them about what the atheists believe and are saying. Perhaps even let them read this blog and help them think it through. Our children need to know their Faith well enough that they can refute this kind of distorted logic when it’s leveled at them.

(RICK OSBORNE / Christian Author, Speaker & Bible Teacher)