Loving your enemy is difficult when you're in your 20s. When you're in the third grade it's a great way to get a black eye. I don't have an alternative you should tell your kids, just a story about a friend that wet his pants while skiing and the advice his mother gave him.
In Marlboro, Massachusetts there is a small hill called "Jericho" that we used to ski on when were kids. One day in the third grade, my friend couldn't make it back to the bathroom in time and peed in his snowpants. Someone found out and proceeded to tell everyone at school. When he told his mom how mad and hurt he was, this is the Christian advice she gave him:
"Go in to school tomorrow and tell everyone that you're human, you make mistakes."
Instead he climbed to the top of a skinny tree in his backyard and refused to come down for a few hours.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
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7 comments:
That's a good one. What about our church signs? We're always using them for catchy (and often outdated) one liners. Maybe that's why people come to church, the sign read "Turn or Burn", and they ran in.
Hubby is a preachers kid and now works at a Christian school where my kids also attend. We have always told our oldest son that if there is a bully in his class He needs to be the one to stick up for those who are picked on. One day a kid decided to make fun of the rest of the kids. Apparently our son took his advice and told this kid to stop being mean. Bully kids punched my son in the mouth. My son punched him back...both ended up in the principals office and not only did my son get a lecture from the principal...but also Hubby for not teaching our son to "turn the other cheek"...
I have an 8 year old boy and I've told him to do everything he can to avoid a fight. But if one finds him he should hit first and hit hard. Too many Chrstians emasculate their boys. Even Jesus got rowdy when it was required (Mark 11).
I've given him three "justified" reasons to fight. When he can't get away from an agressor. When a weaker boy is being bullied. Whenever a girl is being disrespected.
He might get detention at school, buy I'll have a steak dinner waiting for him at home...
We've had this come up with our eight-year-old son. There is an older/bigger boy at church who keeps hitting our son in the head. My husband gave my son permission to hit this kid back and to hit him hard! This permission was given after we made sure that our son had already informed an adult supervisor in the room. My husband also let these supervisors know that our son had his permission to hit back if necessary. Thankfully our son has not had to defend himself. BTW I disagreed with my husband's advice, but he's the man!
"BTW I disagreed with my husband's advice, but he's the man!"
There's a "stuff christians like" entry for you. Assuming that, because they were born with penises, men are smarter, wiser, and better equipped to make rational decisions.
Love the kids response... climbing the tree! When my daughter was three, there was a boy in her preschool who, every day, would come up and hit her. Thhhwap! The teachers did everything they could to try to keep this boy from my daughter. So, being the pastor of the church that I am, I taught my daughter a little jujitsu. Yep.
"If the boy comes to hit you, put him on the ground" was my pastoral advice.
Being a responsible pastor and parent, I did make sure I informed the other kid's parents. They knew of the issue so all I had to say was, "Deal with your son. Let him know, I have taught my daughter to remove him from the situation if he decides to hit her again."
Well, he did... and she did... and he never hit her again. Now she is working toward a black belt.... :)
I'll add to Brenna's comment the assumption that it's okay to use violence to stop boys disrespecting girls. Most of the girls---even the young ones---would find that rather insulting.
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