Would you allow your teen to go to church event with friend?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
+1 Also, as part of the confirmation class at our Methodist Church, the kids (generally 13 year olds) attend services at a wide variety of places of worship, including other Christian denominations, Jewish, Muslim. Exposure to different points of view is a good part of the process IMO. |
Anonymous
| I'm one of the PPs whose church shows movies. Its just a movie. Projected on the side of one of the buildings, outdoors in the summer and fall. Bring your blanket and s'mores. There is zero evangelizing. Truly. Its just a movie. At my church at least. |
Anonymous
For someone trying to make this girl sound undesirable because of where she is from and her religion, you are the one coming off as narrow minded, unsophisticated and paranoid. |
Anonymous
|
My husband has a PhD and a great career and grew up in rural Kentucky. The bane of his existence is people like you. One of my asinine friends said to me "oh I can't believe someone from Kentucky would be good enough for you when we got engaged--what does that even mean?
While his upbringing was quite a bit different from mine in many aspects, as I grew up in an upper middle class family (attorney father, mother with a masters degree, lived in affluent suburbs with good public schools, went to a private college) and he grew up more in a working class family (father had a blue collar job, grew up in a place where a lot of his peers didn't even go to college) and my in-laws are much more religious than my family, it's not like his family is a weird alien species with whom it is impossible to communicate (ok, maybe my FIL is, but he just has a lot of issues). It's also not like this is unique to him being from Kentucky; he could have grown up in rural Maryland or Virginia and we would have a similar difference in upbringing in terms of class, etc. Kentucky is also culturally different depending on where you are in Kentucky. There's a huge difference between the demographics of some neighborhoods in Lexington or Louisville (which can be extremely educated and cosmopolitan) and the dirt poor Appalachian areas in Kentucky. I would think that if someone just moved from Kentucky, they probably have educated parents who relocated to the DC area for work, and in all likelihood, are more likely to value education, careers, etc. in a way that isn't all that different from the way most parents on this board value these things. Also as someone who grew up in a non-religious family, I attended mass, synagogue, and church with friends from time to time. There's nothing wrong with being exposed to the fact that other people have different religious traditions than you do. I also think this sounds like a completely innocuous social gathering to me. |
Anonymous
| OP is a judgmental jerk |
Anonymous
This. If they're baptists, avoid. If they are Methodist or Lutheran or Presbyterian USA, not big deal. |
Anonymous
Ditto. OP, just terrible. |
Anonymous
Well if the idea of Jesus, God, prayer is a problem for you, yes, you don't allow your child to go the friend's church to watch a movie. Even if they don't pray or mention God or Jesus this is still a religious group meeting at a church. Some of the people (gasp!) might pray. I would definitely do some research on the church if I was unfamiliar with it. |
Anonymous
Really that last comment is just more of the same. What about going to a Baptist Bible Study and then discussing what is learned there in a calm manner. This would teach your child how to think critically about things and make up his/her mind up about the validity of different points of view. We are talking about teens here and soon they will be off on their own making all kinds of decisions! |
Anonymous
Replace Kentucky w/ black or christian with Muslim and then it's outrageous |
Anonymous
Same here. This Monday the youth group at our church is going to the animal shelter, where they will talk about... animals. |
Anonymous
|
It might very well be a great church, a fun activity, and a chance to hang out with a new friend. But there are indeed churches that encourage their teens to bring friends to activities and then put them on the spot by asking them to "pray the prayer of salvation" and publicly proclaim their love for Christ. It can be an awkward situation for any teenager.
I think the people who are suggesting you check out the church online beforehand have the right idea. And talk with your daughter ahead of time to give her some idea of what to say in case she's suddenly faced with over the top evangelizing. |
Anonymous
And learning to deal with aggressive evangelizing is a good skill to learn!! |
Anonymous
+1 |
DS63
Member Offline
Member Offline
|
NP here. I do not understand what Kentucky has to do with anything. With that said, My (jewish) DD (13 yo) was invited by a "friend" to a similar night. She pressured me to let me go. I told her if there is anything that makes you uncomfortable, call. Well, before the movie, they had the new kids stand up and tell something about them selfs, including there religion. After that my DD was repeatedly asked about accepting Jesus.
She is a strong kid, and endured. She later found out the kids wee supposed to bring non-christians to the movie. |