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July 26, 2005

Cruci-Fiction

In response to my post entitled Help Wanted in which I opine the fate of my sister's heavily sheltered children, commentor "Dawn" had some things to say that I feel deserve to be dealt with here, rather than buried in a comment.

Dawn begins:

There is one point missing here: If your sister were an atheist, you wouldn't expect her to send her kids to a Christian school, church activities, etc., on your say-so. Yet for a Christian parent to send their children to government schools is to send them into an environment where any expression of their faith is not only discouraged, but often punished. I know, I've had my children in government schools prior to homeschooling them. And no, public schools do not necessarily offer any programs, including physical education, to homeschoolers. Christian students in government schools can get suspended for so much as wanting to give thanks for their own food. In addition, Christianity seems to be presented in the history textbooks I have read as the root of all evil in the world. No mention is made of the true (religious) meaning of Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving while other religions' holidays are explained and celebrated with great respect.

I didn't articulate an expectation for my sister to send her children to public school. Nor to stop homeschooling, for that matter. I articulated a concern for their lack of exposure to the real world via interaction with children outside their religious sphere as well as media (meaning literature, movies, television, etc) that reflects more than just their singular religious beliefs.

You are mistaken on the issue regarding public schools offering classes to homeschooled children. They most certainly do in the area where my sister lives. She told me herself that the principal of the local public elementary school has offered the classes to homeschooling parents in the area.

As far as Christian students getting into trouble for saying grace..I find that accusation highly suspect. Christian students can meet in public school buildings to hold before and after school Bible studies and clubs all over this nation. Your contention that saying grace is grounds for suspension is unfounded.

In terms of the "true meaning" of Christmas or any other holiday for that matter, it's not the job of the public schools to offer religious instruction to children. That's the job of the parents and family. It doesn't mix with the study of arithmetic or history or reading or spelling. It's also excludes those children whose beliefs differ from the mainstream. Public school is inclusive of all, not just those from one major belief set.

This notion of Christian holiday martyrdom that Dawn proffers is little more than self victimization. The idea that somehow no one wants to awknowledge the poor, disaffected Christians that completely dominate our American society is ludicrous.

There seems to be a general open-season on Christians who try to (Gasp!) raise children in the Christian faith. Try to extend the same tolerance to Christians that you would to Muslims, Buddhists, atheists, or homosexuals trying to raise their families according to their conscience. You wouldn't expect a lesbian to send her children to a school or other activities where they would meet with open ridicule and hostility and have no recourse. I assume also that if you adopted a lesbian lifestyle you would be terribly offended if your sister deliberately gave your children literature that presented a fundamental Christian point of view on homosexuality.

Christians are more than welcome to their faith and to raise their children within it. Perhaps Dawn could offer insight into which individuals in the US are currently speaking out against Christians practicing and raising their children in their faith..?

Christians are subjected to open ridicule in the public school system? Since when? The dominant religion in the US is Christianity. The vast majority of students who attend public school have Christian backgrounds and were raised all or in part in the Christian religion. Are these people just self loathing folks who beat themselves up for being Christians?

Dawn also assume wrongly that I am offended if my sister gives my children openly Christian evangelical literature. She already has and I embrace it. I want my children to learn about the beliefs of others. It's important to me that they understand and respect that not everyone thinks the way they do. In other words I'm attempting to teach them empathy. A skill that more in the world could duly benefit from, in my view.

There is time enough for your niece's and nephews to be exposed to the "real" (non-Christian) world when they are adults and able to make their own choices. Your intolerance is showing by the fact that you consider only non-Christian activities, schools, etc. as "real." Give your sister the same tolerance for her religion and beliefs as you would give anyone else.

This is one of the things that makes debating with so many Christians exasperating. I never once articulated that I want my nephews to be exposed only nonChristian things. I also never articulated that "real world" means "nonChristian".

"Real world" in my view means that there is a diversity of beliefs and ideas in the world. Unless we understand that and deal with it as humans, we put ourselves in a position of fear of the unknown or the misunderstood. And as long as we put our children in the place of knowing nothing about society-at-large, by the time they reach adulthood they are ill equipped to deal with societies problems and issues.

Intolerance is a funny thing. And I'll bet Dawn never saw that log in her own eye....

Posted by Carla at July 26, 2005 09:18 AM