"Protectionism" guest editorial by friend, Jeremy Carter |
There's something strange going on with Christian parents. And the strangeness doesn't appear to be limited to a particular "type" of Christian, a particular denomination, or socio-economic standing. The strangeness appears to come from the most well intentioned folks. If I had to give it a word, I would say it is "protectionism." And I don't mean the kind of sound judgment, level headed safety-conscious protection that we enthusiastically expect of all parents. Instead, I mean the knee-jerk, alarmist, isolationist, sky-is-falling kind of attitude that typifies the word "protectionism." I mean the kind of parenting that believes protecting their kids requires a relentless offense, rather than a well-schemed defense. Allow me to illustrate. A few months ago, I overheard someone saying that they wouldn't be bringing their kids to Sunday School class anymore because it was "obvious" that the teachers weren't "screened" or "qualified" enough. It turns out that they were upset because a certain Sunday School helper was going through a divorce. Now you and I know that divorce is one of the saddest and most painful things anyone can go through. But the fact that the person who said this did not investigate the facts in the slightest really bothers me. In this particular instance, that Sunday School helper was at a time in their life where they really needed the support, prayers, and accountability of other Christ followers. And rest assured, I also know that they had absolutely no reason to question the teaching or the example of this particular teacher. On another occasion, in a church service, a video was shown entitled, Famous Friends. It was a benign piece that included shots of Andy and Barney of "The Andy Griffith Show", Lieutenants Riggs and Murtaw of "Lethal Weapon", Shrek and Donkey of "Shrek", and Dr. Evil and Mini-Me of "Austin Powers." The next day, we received a couple of complaints from parents who felt that our showing of those images were endorsements of those movies, and the images of Dr. Evil and Mini-Me were especially upsetting. They went on to say that our use of these images undermined their ability to teach their kids what was appropriate to watch in their home. Never mind the fact that those two characters have been used in every sort of commercial, news program, product endorsement, and parody the world over. They are well-known cultural icons. But it goes beyond a couple of localized examples. I'm also talking about the parent that threatens to pull their kid out of school because of a suspected gay teacher. The parents who sue school systems over the teaching of evolution or sex education. It's time to ask ourselves as Christian parents what we're teaching our kids by these actions! Am I a supporter of homosexuality? No way. Do I support Darwinism? Negative. Do I advocate showing inappropriate images to young children? Certainly not. But I do believe in teaching our kids to discern for themselves, not building an isolationist fence around them. We need our Christian kids to know how to function around dysfunction. We must face the fact that we live in a fallen and broken world - and so do our kids. Our world IS going to hell, and there is nothing we can do about that except teach our kids how to function in it and in spite of it. The Bible says we are to be salt and light in a dark world. Shouldn't we be training our kids to understand and practice what that means? I hope that the public education system is not the only place my kids get educated. I hope they get a firm moral and spiritual foundation from my home. I know they get a solid biblical foundation from our church's children's ministry. Should I be worried that they may encounter sex, evolution, or homosexuality at school? Well, If I have done my job as a christian parent, I say no. Because they will be able to discern (with my help) what these things mean, and what a Christ followers response should be. I wonder if the kids who were removed from that Sunday school classroom learned that people who go through a divorce need arms of support and grace or if instead they learned that divorced people are "bad" and shouldn't even be in church, let alone be serving in a ministry. |
There's something strange going on with Christian parents. And the strangeness doesn't appear to be limited to a particular "type" of Christian, a particular denomination, or socio-economic standing. The strangeness appears to come from the most well intentioned folks. If I had to give it a word, I would say it is "protectionism." And I don't mean the kind of sound judgment, level headed safety-conscious protection that we enthusiastically expect of all parents. Instead, I mean the knee-jerk, alarmist, isolationist, sky-is-falling kind of attitude that typifies the word "protectionism." I mean the kind of parenting that believes protecting their kids requires a relentless offense, rather than a well-schemed defense. Allow me to illustrate. A few months ago, I overheard someone saying that they wouldn't be bringing their kids to Sunday School class anymore because it was "obvious" that the teachers weren't "screened" or "qualified" enough. It turns out that they were upset because a certain Sunday School helper was going through a divorce. Now you and I know that divorce is one of the saddest and most painful things anyone can go through. But the fact that the person who said this did not investigate the facts in the slightest really bothers me. In this particular instance, that Sunday School helper was at a time in their life where they really needed the support, prayers, and accountability of other Christ followers. And rest assured, I also know that they had absolutely no reason to question the teaching or the example of this particular teacher. On another occasion, in a church service, a video was shown entitled, Famous Friends. It was a benign piece that included shots of Andy and Barney of "The Andy Griffith Show", Lieutenants Riggs and Murtaw of "Lethal Weapon", Shrek and Donkey of "Shrek", and Dr. Evil and Mini-Me of "Austin Powers." The next day, we received a couple of complaints from parents who felt that our showing of those images were endorsements of those movies, and the images of Dr. Evil and Mini-Me were especially upsetting. They went on to say that our use of these images undermined their ability to teach their kids what was appropriate to watch in their home. Never mind the fact that those two characters have been used in every sort of commercial, news program, product endorsement, and parody the world over. They are well-known cultural icons. But it goes beyond a couple of localized examples. I'm also talking about the parent that threatens to pull their kid out of school because of a suspected gay teacher. The parents who sue school systems over the teaching of evolution or sex education. It's time to ask ourselves as Christian parents what we're teaching our kids by these actions! Am I a supporter of homosexuality? No way. Do I support Darwinism? Negative. Do I advocate showing inappropriate images to young children? Certainly not. But I do believe in teaching our kids to discern for themselves, not building an isolationist fence around them. We need our Christian kids to know how to function around dysfunction. We must face the fact that we live in a fallen and broken world - and so do our kids. Our world IS going to hell, and there is nothing we can do about that except teach our kids how to function in it and in spite of it. The Bible says we are to be salt and light in a dark world. Shouldn't we be training our kids to understand and practice what that means? I hope that the public education system is not the only place my kids get educated. I hope they get a firm moral and spiritual foundation from my home. I know they get a solid biblical foundation from our church's children's ministry. Should I be worried that they may encounter sex, evolution, or homosexuality at school? Well, If I have done my job as a christian parent, I say no. Because they will be able to discern (with my help) what these things mean, and what a Christ followers response should be. I wonder if the kids who were removed from that Sunday school classroom learned that people who go through a divorce need arms of support and grace or if instead they learned that divorced people are "bad" and shouldn't even be in church, let alone be serving in a ministry. |
"Protectionism" guest editorial by friend, Jeremy Carter |
