Wholesome Upbringing or Child Abuse?

I don't see where it was that strong. I didn't see anything in that clip that would tell a child:

"You're stupid & will never amount to anything," or "you're a royal pain & I'm wasting my life taking care of you;"

That appeared to be some sort of childrens event at that church. They looked like they were having a lot of fun except for the preaching part. That women really wasn't very good. We also didn't get to hear the whole talk. Taking things out of context is a good way to stir up emotions but the don't always present an accurate picture of what takes place. I doubt that church was hard core fundamentalist. Nothing wrong with trying to make church fun for kids.

 

Maybe I didn't make myself clear. I didn't mean that those were the messages in the clip. I meant that to tell a child that the devil is after them specifically--especially in the way this woman presented it--is just as psychologically cruel & potentially damaging as to give them other negative messages, such as the ones I mentioned.

 

Her kind crack me up when they say "the Devil goes after the young." Clearly, it's the other way around.

 

I agree with you about her presentation. What we saw sucked. The tone was wrong. The woman was ugly and mean.

The stuff about satan is biblical though. A verse comparing him to a roaring lion looking for someone to devour comes to mind. My point is we only saw part of the presentation. She may have finished telling the kids that they are safe from Satan because of what Christ did on the cross. We don't know.

 

I wouldn't agree that it's biblically sound to say he especially targets the young, though. My understanding is that Satan goes after everybody.

The way this woman presented it was like "the boogeyman's gonna get you--he eats children."

Instilling terror is not just mean, it's a poor idea. Anyone who adopts a set of beliefs out of fear alone isn't making a true choice. You can only make a choice by learning what your choices are & coming to a decision.

 

I think you make a mistake when you go so strong against harmless stuff like Harry Potter. When you give the same speech about drugs or sleeping around you place both things on an equal footing. Some kids are going to conclude that you blew everything out of proportion and it is ok to do anything you want. I heard it said by one preacher "Major in the majors and minor in the minors" which is a good way to put it I think.

 

Billy Graham comes to mind. Right from wrong. Doesn't get off on ONE particular thing. Even children know what's wrong if they have Christ in them. Those guys who go on and on and on about some "Boggy man" that's popular drive me nuts.

 

Excellent point. The whole Harry Potter thing, & similar stuff, is just ridiculous. Any organization that discourages imagination & flights of fancy in children is making a huge mistake. For one thing, it's FICTION. Stories are culturally important, & they're even necessary to growing kids. Children need imagination & flights of fancy. Adults do too, for that matter. I'm always very suspicious of groups that discourage exploration, education, free thinking, & imagination. It's pretty much saying that if people learn too much or are too creative in their thinking, they're afraid that those people will see all the holes in their philosophies.

 

How is Harry Potter so different from when I was a kid and watched "The Wizard of Oz." And how wild was all that?
Or worse, went to Disneyland and rode on "Mr Toads Wildride".

 

I guess one could make the argument that it is an introduction to the occult and desensitizes people to it. I think that things more subtle than the occult are a bigger danger to kids than anything that blatant. I used to hear it from my parents when I was a kid about playing dungeons and dragons. D&D is probably a really good thing for kids though because it keeps you from getting laid almost as well as a klingon uniform does.