Post by bagheera on Sept 5, 2009 17:18:45 GMT -5
Hello all,
I come from a background which included a bout of fundamentalism which i left. my brother is in a similar movement to this quiverfull one. i have deep concerns for my nieces who are told they won't be helped to go to college unless they marry someone older who will pay for it, and that they shouldn't work. school is only to learn enough so that they can home school their future brood. the older ones care for the babies. the boys are educated and have college funds. there's more to the story, obviously, but suffice to say i'd like to get more knowledge and perspective so that i may be the aunt that can help my nieces (and nephews) someday if they want it. and also to handle the judgements and domineering over-bearing self-righteousness of my brother. i would love to have a decent relationship with him, but his religious behaviors make it impossible. he is like a slave owner who says it's ok because it's God's divine order and because he cares for his slaves.
I come from a background which included a bout of fundamentalism which i left. my brother is in a similar movement to this quiverfull one. i have deep concerns for my nieces who are told they won't be helped to go to college unless they marry someone older who will pay for it, and that they shouldn't work. school is only to learn enough so that they can home school their future brood. the older ones care for the babies. the boys are educated and have college funds. there's more to the story, obviously, but suffice to say i'd like to get more knowledge and perspective so that i may be the aunt that can help my nieces (and nephews) someday if they want it. and also to handle the judgements and domineering over-bearing self-righteousness of my brother. i would love to have a decent relationship with him, but his religious behaviors make it impossible. he is like a slave owner who says it's ok because it's God's divine order and because he cares for his slaves.
), even within fundamentalism, so this approach might not make such a difference with someone less inclined to be analytical. But if you are really willing to make yourself a presence in their lives, you will make a difference just by being who you are - I guarantee it. As I've said elsewhere, knowing good people outside of one's fundamentalist sect can help break down those ideas of "us against the world," where everyone outside the sect is evil and suspect. You will give them instant evidence to the contrary, and it might cause them to rethink that training.
