You who are on the road Must have a code that you can live by And so become yourself Because the past is just a good-bye
Don't inflict your belief systems upon their little minds for your own purposes, tho. Mary will accuse you of child abuse. It's something that's been rolling around in my echoing skull, ever since Mary postulated the idea that teaching little kids about Jesus in Sunday School is child abuse. You have to admire the rhetorical effect of such a statement! It's really stayed with me. Mainly because I want to argue with it. But first, I have to come to grips with it and acknowledge the part of the statement that is true. True because the past is, just a goodbye and forcing kids into seats they don't wanna sit in, to listen to crap they've heard a hundred times before, week in, week out.... Well if it's not child abuse, it sure feels like it to the child. Teach your children well Their father's hell Will slowly go by And feed them on your dreams The one they pick The one you'll know by. Now I considered the counter proposition, that forcing them to be atheists before their little minds can even cope with metaphysics, because you've got some agenda or purpose of your own, is also child abuse. I'd say any infliction of a parent's problems upon the next generation, simply for the purpose of ameliorating some life-problem of the parent, is a good starting proposal for this particular defined form of "child abuse" that we're discussing. It's not all about beating them with cords cuz of the poopy diaper screaming. Using them to prop up your own side of a battle with your spouse, would also be child abuse, no? And on those terms, we're all guilty. I mean, I know I am. And I see it all around me. Don't you ever ask them why If they told you, you would cry So just look at them and sigh And know they love you. So here's the ideal I came up with while ruminating on Mother's Day, while doing the dishes. (shout out to Lu, man, I hate doing the dishes and its embarrassing whinging at a task you perform about a hundred times a year) (shout out to George Sessions - You were right, doing dishes is a good time for meditation)( Our children need some sort of structure with which to build a life, a self, a plan. They get that from us first. As a parent, its our task to pay attention and do this the best we can; which is NOT handing them over to some institution, simply because we're lazy and don't wanna face our task. Or even worse, plopping them in front of a tv. Owning a tv IS child abuse. So we give them the best structure we can, but add the caveat that its only relative to our understanding and world. And they are going to have to figure out for themselves one day, how to view the world. To awaken our children early on to taking moral responsibility for themselves, for paying attention to what is out there, not by forcing it upon them in church or school, but honestly and with all sincerity admitting that we don't know everything. Maybe there is a God. Maybe there is not. Such questions seems almost by definition to be way beyond me. All I can say is what works for me right now, in the moment. You, my children, must penetrate such mysteries for yourself. And you, of tender years Can't know the fears That your elders grew by And so please help them with your youth They seek the truth Before they can die. .... And feed them on your dreams Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org/md/archives.html
