In my latest reading of Blinded by Might: Why the Religious Right Can't Save America,
by Cal Thomas and Ed Dobson, there were a couple of points that caught
my attention. The first point actually contains a variety of points!
1.
Cal Thomas talked about the importance of the family. To my surprise,
he actually portrayed Jimmy Carter in a positive light, as when he
referred to Carter's belief that the family was paramount, as well as
mentioned a time when Carter visited the Department of Housing and Urban
Development and told employees that he hoped they'd get married if they
were living in sin, for he was serious about the stability of the
family. (Thomas was one who voted for Jimmy Carter in 1976 because
Carter was a born-again Christian and was refreshing after the Watergate
scandal, but Thomas became disillusioned with Carter during his
Presidency.)
I thought that Thomas was a little extreme in what he
was advising parents to do----to put their kids into Christian schools,
and severely limit their children's exposure to TV, the Internet,
music, etc., perhaps even dismissing those things from the home. On
some level, I can sympathize with Thomas' concerns, for I believe that
the entertainment industry encourages attitudes towards sex that can
result in ill effects: children lacking a stable home life, a
dearth of commitment in relationships, etc. However, I have problems
with Christian parents putting their kids into a conservative Christian
bubble. Moreover, while Thomas acts as if public schools are bad and
families are good (or such is my impression, and I'm open to correction
on this), my opinion is that the family itself can negatively
influence children, giving them attitudes that are racist or prejudiced
or plain-old narrow-minded. I wouldn't say that the state should raise
kids----as if the state does things perfectly. I just don't think that
families are totally ideal as places for instruction, or that it's
necessarily wrong for public schools to present an alternative viewpoint
to what kids are learning at home.
I liked, however,
what Thomas said to parents who chose to keep their children in public
schools: don't storm "into the school with a list of demands", but be a
"winsome presence at PTA and school board meetings," volunteer "to help
with school activities", and develop "relationships with the school's
leaders" (page 139).
For some reason, I was having a negative
reaction while I was reading Thomas, for he appeared to be getting into a
preachy mode, and I tend to be turned off by that. But some of
what he was saying was pretty convicting to me: that we should put
effort into making society better rather than just relying on the
government, that we should not be snobs but should be welcoming to
everyone, like Christ was, etc.
2. Dobson says that he
does not really get into political issues in the pulpit, but he preaches
through the Bible. And yet, he acknowledges that preaching through the
Bible can entail commenting on moral issues, such as the sanctity of
life. I'd say that preaching through the Bible is important, for that
can encourage pastors to highlight the material that may be blind-spots
to certain Christians. For example, the Bible does talk about the
sanctity of life, but it also has a lot about social justice for the
poor.