I want Ace to be a Christian. I want this SO badly. I'm not sure how I'm going to lead him in that direction, but I'm going to try my darndest. While I'll still love him, I'll be very, very sad if he chooses a different path.
Now, that said, is it strange that I do NOT want him to go to a Christian school?
3 months ago
7 comments:
Depends on the Christian school, I think. I wouldn't hesitate to send mine to First Pres or to St. Andrew's -- I went to the latter myself as a kid, and I don't remember any indoctrination aside from weekly chapel. There are plenty of non-Christian kids there, which speaks for the school's ecumenism.
I would, however, have to think very hard about sending the girls to, say, Pinelake. The problem I have with that church school, and with those kinds of schools, is that just about everything gets filtered through Christianity. It's not necessary from an academic standpoint, and sometimes can be harmful, especially in science. Too, there is the groupthink aspect, and the judgement potential if you don't go to church twice on Sunday and youth group on Wednesday. There's Christianity, and then there's religiosity, and there are quite a few churches/schools around here which don't get the difference.
Thanks for saying all that. I did look at First Pres' website and they seem all about the indoctrination.
You basically eloquently stated everything that I think. I don't ever want Ace's potential opposing interpretation of the Bible to be subject to a biased teacher's grade system. I don't ever want him to be forced to do anything surrounding our religion, and I definitely don't want him to have any negative associations with Christianity. My little brother and sister had to write out Bible verses as punishment... bwah?
That said, HOLY MOSES St. Andrew's is expensive. I'm still looking at University Christian. They seem to be the only thing in our price range.
You know, NH has strong feelings on that, he thinks is people are 100% immersed in the religion it can make them too binary and then they see the rest of the world as bad. He says some blah blah about how people need to see the bad in the world to accept the good of God. He said with his kids he would do something like arabic school and "sunday school" but not all religion all the time.
cncz - that's another opposition I have to Christian schools. I want Ace to choose to be a Christian, not forced to be. I don't want him to be completely immersed in Christianity from the day he's born so that he sees nothing else - I've never seen anything but rebellion come from that, unless we're Mennonites or something.
I'm normally reluctant to post on other people's blogs, but you hit on something I'm pretty passionate about, so I'll throw in my cents.
I don't think the two concepts are particularly linked. Ace's decision about becoming a Christian will come from a lot of different places, but ultimately from his willingness to listen to God (some of us took a lot longer than others to do that!). You and your church will have much more influence on that than his school.
As for schools, don't concentrate on the religon aspect, concentrate on the best education for your son. I've known two families who have sent one kid to public school and another to private, at the same time, because they were very different and flourished in different environments. Just depends on the kid. And remember this - whatever decision you make doesn't have to be set in stone. If he does a year or two at one school and it's just a bad fit, he'll probably be more than happy to move to try something new!
I really wouldn't worry too much about this, toots. With you and Drew as examples, not only will he see how being a Christian has benefited both your lives, but he will also see the respect you have for the belief systems of others regardless of the school he goes to.
very wise for a canine!
Stacey - I struggled with this for years. I mean STRUGGLED. It can be a very difficult decision.
A lot of parenting decisions are tough. Some even compassionately controversial. I personally believe there truly isn't a one-size-fits-all when it comes to parenting. You'll know what's right for Ace when the time comes.
example: private vs public schools
breast-feeding vs formula
stay-at-home vs working mom
Dr. Ferber vs Dr. Sears
adoption vs in-vitro
spanking vs time-outs
infant pierced ears vs not
infant tattoos vs not
OK, I threw that last one in to see if you were still reading. :)
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