That’s assuming you have a relationship with your child that’s even that close. At this point I have no idea if my mother is alive or not and I really don’t care. This isn’t to say that I want her to suffer or anything like that, honestly I wish her a good life, just one that never crosses my path again. I’m not sure who’d be making that choice should she be in such a situation, but it won’t be me anymore than I’d be doing that for some other random bigot, I mean stranger.
Of course I’m also thinking of my own end of life directives. I have stipulations that I do not want extraordinary measures to be taken to prolong my life - just let me go. Those that love me the most know to turn the machine off. A child that went through this kind of abuse? They might just leave it turned on for a while …
Yeah, so did mine. That’s one of the biggest reasons why I never had children and why I didn’t speak to him for over a decade. (He was a completely different person after he got sober and I’m glad to have met that man, but that’s a different-but-related story.)
But hey, at 53, I hardly ever wake up with nightmares from my childhood anymore.
They sure love quoting Leviticus 20:13, but when I quote Leviticus 20:10 in the context of their “God-Emperor” Trump they hem and haw and try to find any excuse why it doesn’t apply.
Relevant quotes from the King James Bible on gutenberg.org:
20:10 And the man that committeth adultery with another man’s wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
20:13 If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
Then there’s Leviticus 19:33-34, another part of Leviticus they don’t really like:
19:33 And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him.
19:34 But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
9 These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, them shall ye eat.
10 And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you:
11 They shall be even an abomination unto you; ye shall not eat of their flesh, but ye shall have their carcases in abomination.
12 Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters, that shall be an abomination unto you.
Matthew 15:11. “Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”
Anyway, yeah, a lot of fundamentalists draw upon Leviticus for excuses to lash out at people they don’t like, ignoring (as usual) the greater context and all the bits they don’t care for.
And, perhaps more importantly, they ignore over two thousand years of Jewish theological study and interpretation, which is generally far more thoughtful, well-considered and humane than anything these people would produce.
Yes, I never said all Christians. I live in country where a large majority of people are Christians but people don’t refer o themselves as Christian in a non-religious context.
Again, I was responding to someone else who I felt had made a broad sweeping generalization that’s not particular helpful at identifying the problem with this, which is the American context which has a serious problem with Christian fascism, that is only a minority of self-identified Christians?
I have unfortunately been familiar with this asshole most of my life. He actually had (maybe still has?) a column in the local paper. I kept thinking he was just like any other christian conservative jerk, but he started his own school. Then one time home to visit I see a pamphlet in the local bookshop- describing his oh-so-scholarly research into how the slaves were actually treated well, or at least not-so-badly. Then he starts a college and buys some prime real estate right downtown to house it and ancilliary businesses. He’s a horrible force in that community and it makes me so sad to see it’s only grown over the years.
Mindysan33, I appreciate you clarifying that. My comment was a tongue-in-cheek reaction to my reading of the blog post and article and certainly not intended as a broad sweeping generalization about any spiritual group, faith, or religion, let alone people who call themselves Christians, which is quite a broad generalization in and of itself. The blog post and article that I was commenting on describes what I consider to be a bad parent. It’s headline proclaims that bad parent is a “Christian parenting expert” and is preaching her bad behavior. So why call her a Christian anything when she seems to be co-opting her religion? I think what is missing from the front of the headline is “Self-described”, even if the response to her recommendation might be a sect or contingent of nodding, fist-pumping listeners.
I think we all agree… I just really think we need to not engage in the same kind of lazy categorization that is common on the right, honestly. I try to point that out here as often as possible when I see it here, because I think we can do better on that metric.
She’s calling herself one, and as I’m not one, I don’t see myself as the one to define that, honestly. Personally, I’m more interested in what people do with their self-identification and the real world impact it has on the world. Clearly, this woman’s actions are hurtful, while another self-identified Christian would make very different choices that improve the world. The term Christian isn’t in and of itself an indicator of whether someone is going to be “good” or “bad”… Their actions are really what matters…
YMMV, of course! But that’s how I try to think about this stuff.
