Seduction and sensuality aren’t “bad,” just the opposite ”” they are wonderful things that were meant for marriage. So, our children’s response to such things is not something for our kids to feel “guilty” about, but to orient rightly.
What a gift we give our kids when we communicate that to them.
And so, when my children do come across that garbage, I don’t want them to just turn away and say, “I can’t look; it’s wrong.” I want to help them to think: “How sad that God’s gift of sensuality would be used in such a cheap way.”
At the same time, our kids have to understand ”” we have to tell them ”” that they are in a culture that pushes them, particularly our girls, to be hyper-sexualized ”” and it’s all part of the same, empty continuum. A dangerous continuum that will never recognize that sensuality outside of marriage is just not, well, good enough for them.
Now, as a mom to four young kids, I’m not naive to think this orientation offers any magical protection for anyone. But I do think we parents have to parent boldly, and in countless ways stand up against the culture and for our kids. This is one of them.
The battle in Maine is heating up and this will be a bitter one. The Kennebec Journal, the local left wing rag, has spoken in favor of the Middle School’s action, and the school nurse (the wife of the Attorney General, no less) has said that nothing will change her support for this, but there is a violent general reaction here. However, I doubt that enough parents will get upset enough to change the situation, for as Betsy Hart notes, parents just groan now and see this liberal offensive as inevitable. In short, I suspect that too few are ready to fight. In any case, this is going to have political ramifications, because the Reps have taken a loud vigorous stance against it and the Dem are in the position of having to defend it, whether they wish to or not. The fat lady hasn’t sung yet, however. LM
The kind of parenting of our kids described in the article is the best way to fight diabolical practices such as giving middle-schoolers birth-control. Excellent application of Biblical God-breathed teaching on sex and marriage from a parent to parents, and a way to talk [i]to[/i] our kids, not [i]down to[/i] our kids, without making them feel dirty for responding to their God-given sexuality, but being guided away from the corruption that is in the world by lust. If that makes you squirm, read Song of Solomon and remember that the Holy Spirit saw to it that what He wanted in the Bible got there.
I for one have been praying more Christians would advocate this kind of positive approach. Biblical morality is not an arbitrary killjoy. It is a holy pattern of living intended for our best interest by a God who wants us to live our lives to their fullest. The consequences of sin are grave, both temporal and eternal, and we are all utterly dependent on God’s mercy and the power of our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross. But obedience should be a joy, as we strive to love and live the will of God for us. God bless Hart’s heart.
My sister and I thank the Lord for the many Sundays we spent in Sunday School where the Word of the Lord was boldly preached and our hearts were open to receive it.