I received quite a bit of hate mail on my small Christian college campus of Westmont, mainly because of things I said in classrooms, but the largest amount I received was when I took aim at the annual Spring Break short term mission vacation. I must admit, I was a pretty fiery young lad and might temper my critique a bit these days, but I had been transplanted from a situation where my family worked with some of most destitute people in our province, where death was a daily word, to the halcyon climes of Montecito, CA. The student chapels would be filled with testimonials about how much they were “blessed” by the people they went to help, and how much they learned, and so on. I remember my big line was that Westmont had somehow mistaken “magnitude with magnanimity.” Of course, these days I think, well, a bunch of young folks spending their own money or their parents money to at least try to do a good thing, actually getting some sort of perspective, and more likely than if not, supporting missions or non profits throughout their life because of this isn’t really all that bad. I still call them “sanctified vacations,” and I still know there can be big trade off between harm and help from them, but criticism has mellowed.
Being raised within the cultural context of parental discipline, and as I observe young parents struggle to help their children to exercise self-control, I find it hard to believe that the time-proven, nearly universal application of correction to the backside has become the "Deplorable Word." Yet, it has.
Most of us have not the advantage of the cross-cultural upbringing that you enjoyed, Anne. Our only means of stepping outside the cultural milieu in which we find ourselves is the study of history or the study of another contemporary culture. Your critique of Doucleff's attempt to see parenting from outside her culture discourages me. She was trying to offer alternative and proven methods of parenting to those discouraged by the socially acceptable but largely ineffective methods left to parents. Your (and Matt's) book on parenting needs to come to telios. With the limited observations of your children via a couple of podcasts and publicly posted Facebook photos, they seem to be the evidence of a successful parenting approach. How we need sane advice!
As one of those leaders who took groups of mostly young people to build houses in impoverished neighborhoods in Juarez, in our debriefing times after a week in Mexico, I was delighted to hear comments that praised the people and culture, and that indicated some new freedom from xenophobia and Western superiority. While much foolishness remained and was sometimes shared, I celebrated the movement, the growth.
Finally, I so enjoy your thoughtful commentary on the range of books and topics you explore. I look forward to every Substack you write. Yes, something strong and wholesome, something sane and bracing. Have a wonderful day, young woman.
I received quite a bit of hate mail on my small Christian college campus of Westmont, mainly because of things I said in classrooms, but the largest amount I received was when I took aim at the annual Spring Break short term mission vacation. I must admit, I was a pretty fiery young lad and might temper my critique a bit these days, but I had been transplanted from a situation where my family worked with some of most destitute people in our province, where death was a daily word, to the halcyon climes of Montecito, CA. The student chapels would be filled with testimonials about how much they were “blessed” by the people they went to help, and how much they learned, and so on. I remember my big line was that Westmont had somehow mistaken “magnitude with magnanimity.” Of course, these days I think, well, a bunch of young folks spending their own money or their parents money to at least try to do a good thing, actually getting some sort of perspective, and more likely than if not, supporting missions or non profits throughout their life because of this isn’t really all that bad. I still call them “sanctified vacations,” and I still know there can be big trade off between harm and help from them, but criticism has mellowed.
Several observations:
Being raised within the cultural context of parental discipline, and as I observe young parents struggle to help their children to exercise self-control, I find it hard to believe that the time-proven, nearly universal application of correction to the backside has become the "Deplorable Word." Yet, it has.
Most of us have not the advantage of the cross-cultural upbringing that you enjoyed, Anne. Our only means of stepping outside the cultural milieu in which we find ourselves is the study of history or the study of another contemporary culture. Your critique of Doucleff's attempt to see parenting from outside her culture discourages me. She was trying to offer alternative and proven methods of parenting to those discouraged by the socially acceptable but largely ineffective methods left to parents. Your (and Matt's) book on parenting needs to come to telios. With the limited observations of your children via a couple of podcasts and publicly posted Facebook photos, they seem to be the evidence of a successful parenting approach. How we need sane advice!
As one of those leaders who took groups of mostly young people to build houses in impoverished neighborhoods in Juarez, in our debriefing times after a week in Mexico, I was delighted to hear comments that praised the people and culture, and that indicated some new freedom from xenophobia and Western superiority. While much foolishness remained and was sometimes shared, I celebrated the movement, the growth.
Finally, I so enjoy your thoughtful commentary on the range of books and topics you explore. I look forward to every Substack you write. Yes, something strong and wholesome, something sane and bracing. Have a wonderful day, young woman.
There seems to be one or two disembodied pair of legs in the bottom picture.