tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post8006093290417497308..comments2024-03-19T07:48:54.021-06:00Comments on Gus Van Horn: Ju-eez-uss-uh CampGus Van Hornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-5733630012961426202007-09-10T23:07:00.000-06:002007-09-10T23:07:00.000-06:00I like the way you think, but haven't any good ide...I like the way you think, but haven't any good ideas at the moment. <BR/><BR/>These certainly won't be the kids who will rush out to convert you -- although I certainly don't think one should humor <I>them</I> in any way by pretending that what they are doing is good. <BR/><BR/>If one can help these children in any way, it is by exposing them to the idea that there are decent people out there who do <B>not</B> agree that what they are being taught is necessarily good.<BR/><BR/>Of course, most of them will grow up to become the type who will say, "I like you, but you're going to hell," but you can't win every time....Gus Van Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-9417427558878237922007-09-10T20:59:00.000-06:002007-09-10T20:59:00.000-06:00I wonder if there is a creative and effective way ...I wonder if there is a creative and effective way to reach the best and most curious of these kids, before it's too late.SNhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03953992447839442060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-73682069402735474102007-09-10T13:38:00.000-06:002007-09-10T13:38:00.000-06:00"I suspect that many of these families are heavily..."I suspect that many of these families are heavily compartmentalized, in the sense that the parents are probably in careers where they deal with reality, and do so competently. Many probably home-school their kids. However, they do not appear to be recluses, withdrawing from the world."<BR/><BR/>I agree.<BR/><BR/>To have actual fun or deal competently with the world in such a milieu, one must compartmentalize. This reminds me of the way my dad would refer to Southern Baptists during my youth in Mississippi. He'd call them, "practicing hypocrites".<BR/><BR/>The closest thing you got in the documentary to seeing the kids showing actual independence is when they're playing games before "lights out", only to be stopped by the man who warns them that God doesn't like ghost stories. (What an irony, given that the Bible is the granddaddy of all scary ghost stories!) I suspect that very few either break free of this religion or get completely crushed by it. Most learn to hobble along by learning hypocrisy.Gus Van Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-30005534967780816882007-09-10T11:43:00.000-06:002007-09-10T11:43:00.000-06:00I wonder about kids of contemporary evangelicals. ...I wonder about kids of contemporary evangelicals. Their parents and educators seem to try hard to build <I>arguments</I> for some stuff (e.g. the Intelligent Design ideas). So, while they are teaching their children faith, they are also giving them the implicit lesson that logic and reality do matter.... only to conclude that logic and reality are on their side.<BR/><BR/>I suspect that many of these families are heavily compartmentalized, in the sense that the parents are probably in careers where they deal with reality, and do so competently. Many probably home-school their kids. However, they do not appear to be recluses, withdrawing from the world.<BR/><BR/>In a sense, this compartmentalization is their major strength. It allows them to live partially normal lives, and they can fund their effort far better than if they were to retire to some Christian commune.<BR/><BR/>On the other hand, this exposure to the real world must also be their Achilles heel.<BR/><BR/>From the movie, I would have liked to learn how isolated (or not) these kids really are. The young girl is shown as having a "regular" neighborhood friend. However, I wonder how many attend public schools and how many are free to browse the net.SNhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03953992447839442060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-52072142031244111382007-09-10T06:08:00.000-06:002007-09-10T06:08:00.000-06:00(1) "Um, we are only 'in store for' the last one; ...(1) "Um, we are only 'in store for' the last one; the first is already happening on a wide scale and the test balloons of the second -- proposed laws against 'defaming religion' -- have already been floated (on the hot air of Leftist 'tolerance' and moral relativism, no less)."<BR/><BR/>Yep. I realized as I logged on this morning that I should have remembered exactly this point last night. Furthermore, this level of brainwashing is not necessary for any of these phenomena to occur, although I think it would make the third thing on my list quite a bit more likely.<BR/><BR/>(2) Some conservatives indeed <A HREF="http://www.the-undercurrent.com/index.php?p=/000006.html" REL="nofollow">seem </A>to have already figured out the "value" of existing hate crime law.<BR/><BR/>(3) On the unstated (and and hence, all-too-frequently undefended) idea of it being good to help children develop independent minds, this is something that most Americans implicitly do correctly, at least on some level, but are allowing to slip away for lack of conscious identification and understanding of why they should be doing it.Gus Van Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-72780079031868678562007-09-10T01:50:00.000-06:002007-09-10T01:50:00.000-06:00we are in store for a major push for an end to the...<I>we are in store for a major push for an end to the separation of church and state in America, the introduction or reimposition of religion-based laws wherever possible, and, quite possibly, religious terrorism beyond the occasional abortion clinic bombing.</I><BR/><BR/>Um, we are only "in store for" the last one; the first is already happening on a wide scale and the test balloons of the second -- proposed laws against "defaming religion" -- have already been floated (on the hot air of Leftist "tolerance" and moral relativism, no less). <BR/><BR/>"Hate crime" laws already on the books will readily adapt to this purpose as well.<BR/><BR/>The idea that parenting consists of "instilling values" instead of imparting the ability to grasp and choose them independently, is a thoroughly dominant idea these days -- and one of the most destructive, too. <BR/><BR/>The opposing idea of parenting as teaching children to think isn't <I>gone</I> yet, thankfully; when I remind someone of that, they usually nod their heads. But it never seems to come from anyone <B>but</B> me. If I don't put that idea forward, "instilling values" is invariably the unstated premise of that discussion.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com