Before I had children I knew everything about parenting. My husband and I would observe families with children and make lists of behaviors our children would never exhibit. We thought parenting was scientific. We believed. If we train them in the way they should behave then they will not depart from it. I didn’t recognize how critical and judgmental I was. It was just plain stupid of me to think that I could actually control how my children grow up.
Christians are supposed to be kind to others. Everyone! I teach my children what I believe. I want them to believe: It is OK to put your foot down when someone tries to take advantage of you. Still, treat everyone with dignity and respect. This is the art of diplomacy. I don’t expect my children to be masterful, but I do insist they practice it.
Nope! As a Liberal Christian I believe that the Bible is subject to historical and contextual interpretations. I like the explanation that Wikipedia provides of Liberal Christianity. And it is a good thing I am a liberal because this is what the Bible says on obedient wives:
Wives submit to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
Have you heard that Methodists don’t “believe in drinking?” I heard that, but not during a sermon. In the ten years that I have been attending a Methodist church I never heard a talk about alcohol.
Though I am a liberal politically, socially, and in terms of Biblical interpretation, there are some values that I hold on to rather tightly. Maybe these particular views are conservative. Maybe I am just an overprotective parent.
Parenting seems to be twisted up with Christianity in some strange ways. There is a certain logic to the notion that God is our heavenly parent, just as we are parents; therefore our relationship with our children should reflect our relationship with our Lord. This is a great metaphor, but it is just a metaphor. We cannot literally take on a divine role with our children.
Being liberal means, for one thing, that I support same gender marriages. When my daughter was four she asked me if girls can get married to each other.
On the right side of my page you see links to other blogs on “Christian Perspectives” and “Parenting Perspectives.” I have scoured the internet searching for internet resources for those of us who are both Christian and Liberal in terms of politics and perspectives on society.
I think it is time for me to get opinionated in my blog. Eventually I am going to defend homosexual marriages and the legal rights of women to have an abortion. I have no shortage of opinions to express on controversial topics. Today I want to blog about an issue that comes up in my work-place frequently: Kids who can’t have birthday cupcakes.
As a teacher and a Liberal Christian I really struggle with a religion that does not allow children to celebrate holidays. In my previous post I talked about how special Christmas traditions are to me. Most teachers give out treats to children on their birthday but teachers have been told not to give children of Jehovah’s Witnesses treats on their birthday.
interpretation, there are some values that I hold on to rather tightly. Maybe these particular views are conservative. Maybe I am just an overprotective parent. 
