Will There Be A Backlash Among The Younger Generation Raised By Ultra Right WIng Christian Parents?

Question

As a child of the 60s, I know EVERY generation rebels against the one before. The more repressed, the more violent the rebellion.

Now of course as a parent you want to protect your child from the evils of the world and pass on your values, ethics and traditions. But among "certain" groups there seems to be a fearful, desperation and isolation about it all. I am talking about the Jesus Camp people and those who home-school not to fix academic gaps but because they do not want their kids mixing with anyone or learning ANYTHING different.

Curiosity, doubt and a hunger to experience life are overwhelming urges and that is why those measures can only work for so long. Eventually, kids begin to understand that the world is far more complex and WILL ask “Why did you keep me ignorant in order to keep me obedient? What ARE you so afraid of?"

Isn't it going to create MORE atheists in the long run? Or when they rebel they might rebel against GOOD things as well as the bad?

Adam S, I did not say MY generation's rebellion was good or bad just that it is a FACT of human existence that generations break free from the ones before. So perhaps we should LEARN our lesson from this and raise our children with MODERATION and instead of ignorance, repression and fear, teach them how to exist in this world among a diverse set of people and we need to equip our kids to be able to handle all the complexities of life, be tolerant, non-judgemental and develop their intellectual ability to discern things on their own and still make wise choices.

And you can thank MY generation for the Civil Rights Movement, the internet and some of the greatest most talented minds of the past 20 to 30 years in EVERY field. So respect your elders son!

And keep in mind that while on the SURFACE, the 40s and 50s may look picture perfect, there was a LOT of ugliness, ignorance and discrimination going on just beneath the surface.

Answer 1

good question, but my thinking is that the brainwashing going on is so intense they may not recover.

Answer 2

I would certainly worry about that, but those Jesus Camp people are so flamin whacko, who knows what they think? I know some people who homeschool, and some that have gone on to college, and seem to be doing very well. That acutally surprises me as I thought they would have gone a bit nuts just like some of the kids who weren't overprotected from the world do. Rebellion is a birthright, we all did it, our children will do it. Only time will tell how it will end with these kids. As a christian, I really feel for these kids, the Jesus Camp kids and the kids homeschooled to keep them from the world. Someday, they're gonna have to live in the world, and they won't have the necessary training to do it.

Answer 3

We have a youth group with emos and all we can do is pray and seek Gods wisdom as we work with them one at a time on their level. We are seeing some become solid in their faith and becoming aware of the fact that God wants to use them and they slowly begin a transformation, and then there are those who are not quite sure who they are and drag along for the attention, but that's okay, we have the time and love to wait it out and we'll be there for them when they are ready. The sad thing is the majority of what we see is no parental involvement which leads to experimentation and major identity crisis. Parents reading this....LOVE YOUR CHILDREN WITH YOUR TIME, they need YOU more than fancy clothes and cell phones!

Answer 4

Bravo!

These Christians need to remember that Jesus also said,

“I came not to take them out of the world.” and Paul also had words of wisdom when he said, “Above all things live peaceably with all men”.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to protect your kids or instilling good values in them. I do that with my kids. But they will NEVER see me condemning other religions or groups. They will NEVER hear me telling them, "You CANNOT read about a different opinion".

Hey Adam S, if you think the 40s and 50s were so idyllic, why don't you go back there, let me pick a place for you..........Mississippi.

Answer 5

As a Wiccan and mother of a teen, I'm watching it happen. Friends of my son's raised in fundie homes are some of the WORST kids out there. They approach me and ask me to teach them wacky stuff they think I do as a Wiccan, and I turn them away.

I actually had to insist my son break up with a Catholic girl after I overheard her discuss the sex acts that would let her still be a virgin and that she thought COULD NOT LEAD to STDs.

Ignorance is scary.

Answer 6

Atheism is taking over, whether there are rebellious kids or not. The truth is the truth. But I think the result of "Jesus Camp" will be that those poor kids that have been subjected to it, will turn out to be pretty damn angry when they do grow up.

I don't think they'll create more atheists, though. The atheists will simply be there. What they will create are ANGRY atheists...

Answer 7

Yes there will be. You can already see it. The generation is seeing the exciting, wild, dangerous God and not the boring, slow singing, wooden pew God that our parents brought us up to beleive. It is an eye opening experience that is showing the younger generations that God is real and relevant to our life.

Answer 8

No i think if the parents serve God genuinely and the kids see no double standards guile or atleast see their parents serve a real God then even if they digress the respect for their parents will remain and i beleive eventually in their own way they find God it happened to me

Answer 9

I have the same cocerns that you do, and unfortnately, no answer for you other than we shall see what comes to pass.

I can tell you that I lived for a while in an area that had many people who were as you described. In fact, I guess you could say I was one of them. ;0 I even homeschooled. I heard the arguments they give. I gave the same arguments to my family in defense of my lifestyle. I thought I was doing the best for my kids.

Long story; short explanation, I decided I no longer wanted to live in an abusive marriage, nor have my children subjected to the abuse and appear to be living Holy when all Hell was breaking lose. I decided to expose the lie. These folks did not know how to handle this or what to do. I was the evil one. I left after all! It got ugly and people got stupid. Several years passed--difficult years.

I got remarried and moved out of state after many years of counseling.:) My kids and I are still adjusting to life on the outside. I've seen how my kids struggle to make sense of things(the drug addict in the neighborhood or the negligent parent, the bully at school, etc) I constantly battle the propaganda crap their dad feeds them--you'll be killed if you go to public school because they hate us! Don't watch that movie because it is evil! Your mother is an adulterer because she got remarried!

I wonder if I really did what was best for them? Or hindered them? Yes, life was much easier when they were ignorant, but wasn't I setting them up for trouble in later life? I mean, isn't my job as a caring parent to help them deal with all the craziness in a constructive way instead of sheltering them and letting them have at it alone when they are out?

True story, my mother was an over-protective soul as well. She taught me to drive, but when I asked her about the windshield wipers and the lights, she told me not to worry about them, I wouldn't need them. HAH! I flunked my test many times because of this. Then, she taught me just enough, to pass the test. Well, you guessed it, one day, I was out driving and it got rainy and turned ugly. I was terrified! I had never driven in rain or used the lights!Wouldn't it have been better for her to take me out in the storm together and let me deal before I had to go at it alone?

Back to today....

I still homeschool 2 of my kids, and run a co-op for homeschoolers. I am amazed at some of the downright funky/over-protective stuff some of these mommies are doing, and I wonder what their kids will be like as adults!

I see that many of the folks in this movement seem to believe that nothing bad will happen to them or their kids if only they live this sheltered life and frankly it's not so! Look at the shooter who shot those Amish kids. Isn't the God they profess to believe in big enough to take care of their kids(I also believe in that God too I might add) and even if bad things happen(as they do) isn't He big enough to work it out for good?

One of the kids murdered at the VA Tech massacre was homeschooled and from our area. The chatter on the online boards was--"Imagine that, she was safe for all those years at home and then, boom the first time she went to PUBLIC school, she got killed" So, she got killed because she went to public school? No--what a funky argument! Now many of those women are figuring out how they can do college at home with their kids.

Back to the answer--will this create more atheists? I don't think so. I believe that yes, there will be a time of rebellion as I had leaving that, but that mostly, it will create fearful, angry adults. Perhaps some might have the gumption to question and seek out the answers(which their parents will readily discount as acts of rebellion), but I really don't believe it will be so for the majority. They will be, sadly, overly compliant, fearful, narrow minded souls, minimally able to function in our modern society till the day they die.

Answer 10

What is a left wing Christian Parent.

Answer 11

There already is. I used to **** the **** out of a hot preacher's daughter. She was totally into pissing off her father by drinking, drugging, and ******* like a banshee.
Kids aren't stupid. They know the bible thumpers are full of ****.