This might come under late-stage invoking of Godwin’s Law, but “emptiness being covered up by the persona” was also the 1942 OSS psych-profile conclusion about Adolf Hitler’s personality. (I have a copy of the OSS report, declassified after the war.) Stripped of its Freudian terminology, the report also hinted how a persona can end up taking over, which reminds me of “The Tragedian” in Lewis’s The Great Divorce.

http://www.documentarytube.com/religion-documentaries/jesus-camp-documentary/

1. The kid talking about asking God into his heart at age 5 and, as a child no less, thinking he needed/wanted MORE from life. Yikes.

2. The screaming of “Righteous Judges! Righteous Judges!” by children. Talk about burdening kids with heavy issues. They aren’t ready for the weight of certain kinds of realities. Let them be kids for God’s sake.

3. The rant about how Harry Potter would deserve to die if he lived under God’s law.

I thank God for my evangelical, PK upbringing. I love the Scriptures, I love and value ongoing conversion, I love the reality of a personal devotional life of love for God in Christ.

That being said, I’m thankful I’m no longer identified with that stream. I can take the good I received from it with me and gladly leave the rest of it behind.

Jesus Camp was just another confirmation of the direction of my spiritual journey.

When I was in the third grade at Phillipsburg Christian Academy, I was nearly expelled because I did a book report on “A Tree Grows In Brooklyn”. I don’t know why, even to this day, that it was such a big deal. I remember being called into the principal’s office, being told how disgraceful I was, how I had disgraced my folks, and how I must not love Jesus (whom I had just accepted as my savior the year before at VBS).

My folks stood behind me, and it got very ugly between the principal (who was also my teacher – lucky me) and my folks for awhile. There was talk of transferring me, but for reasons that are long lost now, that didn’t happen. But my folks continued to encourage me to read all sorts of different types of literature, as from an early age I was an avid and voracious reader. I read “Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee” later that same year, but suspected that would not be a good book to report on in school either.

My husband and I have raised our own children with values, morality, and in the Christian faith. One is an adult now, and the other two will be soon. From a young age, within the dictates of common sense, we have allowed them to make their own choices with regard to literature and music. Of course they could not bring home anything pornographic, but beyond that, we set very few limits. They have read all of the Harry Potter books and seen the movies and none of them have turned into warlocks (just as I didn’t turn into a witch when I read “Bedknobs and Broomsticks as a young child).

As I mentioned, we raised our children to be people of faith and morality, so I don’t really get the whole extreme censorship thing. Our eldest, fully dedicated to the Christ-shaped gospel, is very effective in his youth ministry. He has been exposed to many different types of thought, so he can easily discuss topics that range from A to Z with young people. He has not aligned himself with the anti-intellectual movement that so many right-wing zealots have, which does nothing to further the cause of Christ and just makes them targets of ridicule by society (perhaps well-deserved ridicule – see “Why They Hate Us” by IM).

Stating that proven scientific facts are false doesn’t make you a better Christian except to those on the margin that believe the same thing.

I let my daughter have the run of the library. Sometimes I cringe at the lyrics to the rap music playing in that ever-present iPod but I trust her to discern right from wrong based on what she’s learned and experienced — and her foundation in Christ.

Unfortunately, everyone from slavers to Presidents claims scripture as their authority. And also unfortunately, it doesn’t really cover things like global warming, cloning or Facebook.

I’ve seen bits and pieces of Jesus Camp, but I can’t watch the whole thing. It really disturbs me, and brings up a lot of crap I prefer to remain supressed.

What we need to do is spend our time studying the Word so that we can easily tell the true from the counterfeit.

I do think it is a bit hypocritical for some to be worried that children learn about abortion at a young age, but have no problem with the public schools teaching sex education to the same age groups. As for me, I home educated my daughter so that she was exposed to only age appropriate material. I did not let her read Harry Potter either, nor did we go to the theaters to watch the movies. Last summer she gave a public speech at the Illinois State Fair on “The Myths of Global Warming”. We must be right wing zealots. lol. If I lived in Germany or Massachusetts the state would have attempted to remove her from my custody.

Do you consider it a red flag issue if a student raised in Southern Baptist fundamentalist culture (No moderate use of alcohol, no R-rated movies, no secualr music, etc.) discovers that at a reformed church in an urban area, none of these things are taboo? And the Gospel is style the Gospel?

I don’t like Southern Gospel quartets. I like secular music much more than Christian. The Baptists around here said Harry Potter was of the devil. My kids read all the books. Clothes. Music. Politics. Personal style and culture is flexible. Young people need to make those choices themselves. As a parent of two twenty something pursuing Presbyterianism and Anglicanism, but both committed to Christ, our family is proof that style can change and Christ remain.

The movable foundation is a foundation that can adopt to different places and expressions, but it is still the Gospel foundation. I am not talking about flexible doctrines. I’m talking about taking the Apostle’s Creed/Nicene faith into different places, denominations, churches and cultures without having to abandon it.

A lot of kids leave something they wouldn’t have to leave if their parents had differentiated between Christ and culture.

peace

ms

The only point you made, that I would like to see more clarity on are the following quotes: “reshape the faith into their own style” and “what they need is a movable, flexible foundation that allows them to interact with Christianity in a way that they can shape and own for themselves”. By definition, a foundation is not generally thought of as movable and flexible.

I feel you are getting into “red flag” area when you suggest individual “styles or shapes” of Christianity. I’m not disagreeing with the difference in growth, understanding and even some application. But we DO need to understand our faith and God’s word as solid and unchanging. After all God declares about himself that he is always the same. I think we can have clear communication of our faith and God’s word without the flavor of indoctrination. And, yes, young people HAVE to embrace it for themselves, from their own will and desire to follow Christ. It can’t be scared into them and be genuine.