Kudos to the Howie Luvzus blog for calling attention to the child rearing practices of current Southern Baptist leaders. In his blog "Do Some Baptist Beliefs Promote Violence?" he mentions an essay by Russell D. Moore, Dean of Theology and Senior Vice President for Academic Administration at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, on "Why I'm Raising Violent 4 Year-Olds."
Moore's description of the Bible caught my attention. He reads "the Holy Scriptures" to his boys because it is "the most blessedly violent bedtime stories they hear every day."
I wonder what a person of any other faith living across the street from Southern Seminary thinks when they read an essay like this. Would they find the gospel attractive or threatening?
I also wonder what Southern Baptists would be saying if Moore's essay had been penned by a person of any other faith whose children attended their children's school?
10 comments:
Only one word suffices- sickening. Small wonder the SBC is withering to nothingness. With leaders like this with a mindset like this, it deserves to.
His essay now appears to have been removed. When I attempted to look at it again (I did not save it, why would I) it is gone. Hmmmmm....
Jim,
Moore's essay is up now. Perhaps their server was overloaded.
I consider this child abuse. I have raised two boys and they were not exposed to this violence. Where is the mother in this family? Why would she allow such treatment of her children. Oh, this type of man demands submission from his wife.
I might not have worded this in exactly the way Russ did, but as far as the allegations that to date have been made here against Russ, OH PLEASE!!!!!
For those of you who missed reading comprehension in the 5th grade, you might want to try reading the article again. Dr. Moore is not encouraging literal violence, but is rather using violence in a figurative way to speak of the "real-life" spiritual battle that is part of the Christian life. For example, he says:
"I want them to understand that the Christian life is not a Hallmark Channel version of baptized sentimentality. Instead, it is a cosmic battle between an evil dragon and the child of the woman, an ancient warfare that now includes all who belong to the Child of the Promise (Rev 12). I want them to forgive their enemies, not because they are good boys, but because they understand that vengeance against the Serpent comes not from their hand, but from that of the anointed Warrior-King (Rev 19), whose blood-soaked garments don't often transfer to the imagery of a Precious Moments wall-hanging."
Like it or not, Moore is right when he contends that "Hallmark Channel Christianity" is a myth that dupes people into believing that following Jesus means a life without struggle, without hard choices, and without the messines of everyday troubles.
Anonymous,
I hope Bruce does not delete your comment for posting Jesus propaganda or Joel quote of the passage in question because it is SBC propaganda. It was him that brought it up. Wait a minute . . . that's what happened last time too and he still deleted my post.
Anyway, great point on what Moore was actually saying. It's amazing how someone with a doctorate can't read with understanding what is being communicated. The Bible is a book forged in violence and calls us to be so as well -- only our violence is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers of darkness in the heavenly realms and against ourselves if need be. Finally, didn't Jesus Himself call us to be violent in the same way Moore is teaching his children to be:
Jesus said in Matthew 11:12, "Matthew 11:12 "From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force."
May God bless us with the ability to be violent men so that we too might take the kingdom of God.
Joel, D.R, & anonymous,
Moore's essay only seems harmless to those who have not been identified as one of the enemies that Moore is teaching his children to react with violence.
Mainstream Baptists are very familiar with the kind of spiritual warfare that SBC fundamentalists wage. Their victims are Godly men and women.
Bruce- Lit a fire under some with this one, eh? Glad Moore isn't my kids' sunday school teacher! This, to me, is a question of age-appropriate movie going. Not much FIGURATIVE use of violence in Revenge of the Sith. It's full of blasters, light sabers, beheadings, disfigurements, amputations, and even slaughter of children. My eight year old would be up with nightmares for days. I guess Moore was able to draw analogies with his FOUR YEAR OLDS sufficient to avoid this. Maybe that, too, was explained in 5th grade reading comprehension. Some of the commentors quoted lots of juicy passages (My palm Bible has search functions, too.) If I remember correctly Jesus' audiences during those sermons were adults. Knowledge of scripture goes best when spiced with a little common sense.
Later
BB
anonymous,
It's time for you to put an end to the personal attacks or your comments will be routinely deleted without my reading them.
Here's a link to a second opinion on the propriety of Moore's essay.
Anon,
Why does your rage continue? I got over mine when I let you have it last week. Calm down! So you don't agree with Bruce...fine...that's ok. It's ok. He has let you say your piece. Shalom.
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