The boy showed the completed list to his father, and his father suggested he think of another event, saying that the sealing was not appropriate to discuss at school.
My first thought was that Dad was smoking crack. The sealing was an important moment in the boy’s life. Why shouldn’t he write about it? I think it’s awesome that he counts his sealing as one of the top 10 most important events in his life. I don’t think any teacher would have a problem reading a paper with such an event listed.
I believe in freedom of religion, and I believe in freedom of expression. The boy should be able to write about his sealing (or baptism, or bar mitzvah, or whatever) without fear of any negative repercussions.
But let’s change the scenario a bit. What if the little boy wrote about something else? What if his shining moment was his initiation into the KKK? Or what if it was when he went to the dentist to get his artificial fangs implanted? Would we would be as supportive? Would be applaud the boy for not being afraid of sharing what he believed in? I know I wouldn’t, and I suspect you wouldn’t, either.
What’s the difference? It’s not hard to figure out. The sealing is socially acceptable, and the other two are, well, not. OK, fair enough. But there was a time, not very long ago, when admitting you were LDS wasn’t very socially acceptable, either. But people stood up for they believed in. And persevered.
I think the boy has a great list.
(ETA: I am not LDS. Nor do I support the KKK or vampire worship. Not all of my posts make sense.)
interesting. i try to be totally open and accepting.
ReplyDeleteI've "edited" my 11-year-old a couple of times on this stuff but more because we're dealing with stuff that's pretty sacred to us and I don't want anyone to be . . . I don't know. It's just none of their business if I'm not sure they're going to respect it.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I've kind of changed my mind over the last year. If it's important to him, I let him write about it and keep my mouth shut.
Except for not when he talks about blowing up the school. Which he does. A lot. I know what he means but I figure it's best not to leave that to anyone else's interpretation.
As an LDS person, thank you!
ReplyDeleteI think the reason it's okay to accept one and not the other has to do with the fruits of the organization/program/beliefs. The KKK breeds hate, which should never be lauded as socially acceptable.
I think any group or religion that has peaceful purposes (regardless of what some of its wayward followers choose to do) should be acceptable and accepted.