A Christian blogger bragged today about a child who is proselytizing another child:
To put this in context, I’ll explain that Junior Soldiers are juvenile members of The Salvation Army, ages 7-16. Recruits – those preparing for Junior Soldiership – can be as young as 6. I have no idea how old (or young, as the case may be) this particular evangelist is. Nevertheless, I can’t resist asking, does this vignette tickle your funny-bone, turn your stomach, or what?
If a child wants to read his Bible while riding a bus, well, okay, he has a right to do that. If someone asks him about what he’s reading, well, okay, he has a right to discuss it. But following up that accidental conversation by preparing to evangelize a child with a canned presentation strikes me as more than a bit creepy.
Has this young evangelist (or his parents) considered whether the parents of the intended recipient want their child to learn about Christianity in this manner? Furthermore, can any adult seriously believe that children are intellectually equipped to discuss religion with each other, particularly with the express intention of converting one another? My guess – based on my personal knowledge of this blogger – is that the parents of the budding evangelist don’t give a damn what the target child’s parents want; they’re certain that their evangelical Christian religion is the true one, the only path to god and heaven. Therefore, they’re doing the child, and perhaps an entire family, a favor by sharing their version of Jesus. As for my second question, I can only guess that their answer is “yes,” since someone is encouraging one child to proselytize another.
Christianity: so simple even a child can understand it.
I suppose we’ll be reading about Willliam Lane Craig’s retirement any day now.
Yeah, right.
Chalk up this weird, perhaps sordid, story as yet one more example (as if any more are needed) of Christian arrogance.
– the chaplain
desertscope
January 20, 2011 at 5:45 pm
To be fair to the Christians, once a person receives a certain level and breadth of experience and education, it is nigh impossible to make them take Jeebus (or other gods) seriously. What they are selling is best sold to the innocent.
the chaplain
January 20, 2011 at 7:53 pm
des:
I’m not interested in being fair to a group that stoops so low as to indoctrinate the vulnerable. Proselytizing vulnerable adults is bad enough; indoctrinating children, and doing so precisely because they are innocent and easily duped, is indefensible.
desertscope
January 20, 2011 at 11:54 pm
It worked on me. The more I learned, however, the harder I prayed. I felt guilty. It all sounded so implausible, I thought there must be something wrong with me. Well played, child predators.
the chaplain
January 21, 2011 at 8:27 am
That guilt-trigger thing is an amazing tool for keeping young believers in line. It’s more than a tool, it’s a psychological weapon. Youthful believers are taught that god is perfect, unfailing, etc., so when they begin doubting, asking questions and seeing anomalies, they automatically think they’re to blame. After all, the dogma is right by default, so any problems must lie within the believers.
Spanish Inquisitor
January 20, 2011 at 8:24 pm
“Give me the child ’till the age of seven and I’ll give you the man.”
the chaplain
January 20, 2011 at 8:44 pm
Yep. That’s a maxim among evangelicals.
grasshopper
January 20, 2011 at 9:50 pm
I’m impressed you sifted through that site to find that quote. That blog is nasty.
the chaplain
January 20, 2011 at 10:41 pm
That blog is pretty nasty, even by conservative evangelical Christian or Salvation Army standards. Sifting through it isn’t really difficult for me, though, because I’ve met Major Army Barmy and several of my family members know him very well. I find his blog fascinating because I can’t believe I actually know someone that bizarre! I think it’s my version of being unable to resist going to the scene of a train wreck.
Sean the Blogonaut
January 21, 2011 at 3:07 am
Whether they carry bibles or guns child soldiers are a sad indictment on the society that creates them.
the chaplain
January 22, 2011 at 9:48 am
Well said.
OneSMallStep
January 21, 2011 at 10:55 pm
And I bet you anything that the parents of junior soldier just scream anytime the government or the school or anything other than the parental units attempt to influence their child. Yet they have no problem trying to influence non-Christian children, no matter what the parents of those non-Christian children mighty feel.
the chaplain
January 22, 2011 at 9:49 am
I wouldn’t be at all surprised if you’re right. Evangelical Christians are completely blind to the double standard that is so obvious to the rest of us.
Ahab
January 29, 2011 at 10:37 am
It doesn’t surprise me that children would be taught to proselytize to other children. If you’ve been convinced that nonbelievers are going to hell, wouldn’t you try to save them? Unfortunately, this kind of attitude is unhealthy for a child, I feel.