Monday, November 26, 2007
Doubting It...
This article on doubt comes via Oense's blog. The article is titled "affirming doubt", something I don't believe comes naturally for many Christ-followers, in particular those with a Calvinist bent. As I read this article, I wondered who affirmed and reassured me in my doubt. Actually, that last tense shouldn't be past tense, maybe it should read "affirms me and reassures me", simply because my doubts and questions continue to reshape themselves as I grow older. One thing (of many) that I absolutely love about teaching is that teenagers have no fear to voice their doubts, fears, and questions, and quite often they do it for me.
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Interesting article. The church has a very strange relationship with doubt, and hasn't done a very good job to address it. You'd think that there would be a new emphasis on critical thinking, but too many times a pastor or even denomination will pull the trump card that reads "because I said so". Sometimes they even misplay the card that reads "because the Bible says so". Usually those are just code for "I have no idea..." or perhaps "I'm tired of talking about this!"
When a Christian youth (especially an MK or a PK) goes off the rails, they really go off! There isn't much talk of consequences to immoral behaviour, or the logic behind the rules. After all, that would take honest engagement with all those distasteful topics. Instead when discussions are had, all the buzzwords come out and get batted around frantically. ("'Cause you'll get pregnant, get AIDS and die, that's why!")
When a kid in that environment starts to rebel, they are susceptible to colossal, catastrophic failure. They don't know the meaning or implications of their actions, but they sure know all the "that shalt nots" to try out!
Once the house of "because I said so" cards starts to go, it probably won't stop 'til the whole thing's flat. And then there's lots of cleaning up and rebuilding to do. I was spared that, but I know several that weren't.
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