(no subject)
When I came home today, I was leafing through some of Ben's art and papers from school (practicing the letter A, tracing hands, that sort of thing) when I saw the sheet his teacher sent home to let parents know what was going on in his class. Listed were the verses they were supposed to memorize for the week. If you don't know already, my mom and stepdad send Ben to a small private school that is based out of the Methodist Church that they go to. There are many good things about the school- smaller classes, more dedicated teachers, trusted relationships between the school and family, but I have and always will have a huge problem with religious private schooling, especially for kids that aren't even in kindergarten yet. These kids are learning their ABCs, how to count to 20, and to pronounce "Deuteronomy" at the same time. Come on, people. My mom tries to justify it by saying that by sending Ben to the school, he will be provided with a good foundation...foundation, eh. Foundation is what supports buildings. Foundation is what girls put all up on they grills. No, I believe the word she was searching for is "brainwashing." That's what every kid needs in their education: blind reverence for something they don't remotely understand. It's the same thing as me teaching him lyrics to "Frankly Mr. Shankly"- do you think he has any idea what "corrode my soul" means? Why the hell would he need to be spewing things back at me like, "only god knows everything, Adrienne," and "when I am afraid, I will trust in you." You know, I don't really need that from my little brother. I understand that it's my mom and Bob's choice to send him to the school (If I ever have kids, I would probably send them to private school too), but I just don't see why people can't understand why it is inherently wrong to feed children information and ideas without the kids being able to think for themselves.
I'm not denouncing Christianity. I know many genuinely good Christians who actually live according to their religion's ethics and standards. I also know many misinformed Christians who would balk at the prospect of small children being raised as Islamic fundamentalists, or any other religion. The point is that it's not right to saturate very young children in religious dogma. You're shaping their entire world within their minds, which leads me to ask how they are supposed to develop a true faith in God if they are only spouting the same things they've heard all their lives? If these teachers were giving the kids morals or stories from the Bible, that would be one thing. Christian ethics are nothing to sneeze at; Ben could use a little more of that to calm his beast within. I guess there's nothing to do about it, and although my mom has warned me about attempting to undermine her plan to raise the perfect Christian child, when he is old enough to decide for himself I'm going to help him sort his thoughts out. I figure when he is in 5th or 6th grade would be good, being that that was when I examined my beliefs. If he sees things my way, great, but if he chooses to continue to build on his Christian foundation, that's fine, too.
That's enough of that. I went to see Keely's play tonight, Pippen, in which she played the whory stepmom and excelled at it. But now, some people need to curl up in bed and read American Psycho. Adrienne needs to curl up in bed and read American Psycho.
I'm not denouncing Christianity. I know many genuinely good Christians who actually live according to their religion's ethics and standards. I also know many misinformed Christians who would balk at the prospect of small children being raised as Islamic fundamentalists, or any other religion. The point is that it's not right to saturate very young children in religious dogma. You're shaping their entire world within their minds, which leads me to ask how they are supposed to develop a true faith in God if they are only spouting the same things they've heard all their lives? If these teachers were giving the kids morals or stories from the Bible, that would be one thing. Christian ethics are nothing to sneeze at; Ben could use a little more of that to calm his beast within. I guess there's nothing to do about it, and although my mom has warned me about attempting to undermine her plan to raise the perfect Christian child, when he is old enough to decide for himself I'm going to help him sort his thoughts out. I figure when he is in 5th or 6th grade would be good, being that that was when I examined my beliefs. If he sees things my way, great, but if he chooses to continue to build on his Christian foundation, that's fine, too.
That's enough of that. I went to see Keely's play tonight, Pippen, in which she played the whory stepmom and excelled at it. But now, some people need to curl up in bed and read American Psycho. Adrienne needs to curl up in bed and read American Psycho.