Christian Household?

**houseisland** · April 9th, 2006, 02:23 PM

At this very moment, there is a fourteen-year-old child sleeping on my couch.

He is a school friend of my daughter.

He arrived this morning at 7:00 AM, soaked to the skin -- cold, tired and hungry. He was given dry clothes and blankets.

My experience of the kid is that he is bright, well-mannered, well-behaved, artistically talented and eccentric. He affects a "Goth" look, which can be deceptive and off-putting if you don't make the effort to see through it to the kid underneath. And he is just a kid.

He is from a good fundamentalist Christian household, a household where the family does not eat together, where there is no food in the refrigerator, where there is rigid and inflexible patriarchal biblical authority combined with near complete parental neglect.

I have met the patriarch. He is pig-ignorant, as dumb as the proverbial sack of hammers.

The kid has been told that by his parents that he is the representative of Satan and that he is possessed by demons. He has been kicked out of his house.

He has been living on the streets. He has been kicked out of school. He is frightened and suicidally depressed.

In this city, he is at high risk for sexual predation, involvement in crime, drug addiction, etc., etc.

What god do his parents believe in?

_____________________________________________

It is my pure and virtuous heart that
gives me the strength of ten!

**street1** · April 9th, 2006, 03:10 PM

Well,to start off with....God Bless You and your christian household.

This is about the question.

If jesus came to your home would you welcome him in or turn him away?

You welcomed him in. God Bless You for that.

I for one am strongly moved by your actions.Hope you can help him.

Best of Luck!!!

**Tecumseh** · April 9th, 2006, 03:35 PM

I won't go into why I don't have much use for established religion, other than this is one of the reasons, but you did a righteous thing by lending a hand to that young fellow. I have zero tolerance for child abuse and what you have described is a classic example. Good on you!

**clauded** · April 9th, 2006, 07:04 PM

one thing is sure you did the right thinghope you can help the kid some anget him sorted out and get the direction his pigs parents won`t give him,luck to you and the poor kid

**Ferrit** · April 9th, 2006, 10:50 PM

All i can say is
That is not a
GOOD CHRISTIAN HOME.
That is a fanatical home and quite frankly shouldnt be lumped into Good Christian home category.
I think what you have done is a very good thing and all I can say well done.

**jaimicook** · April 10th, 2006, 01:52 AM

It is my opinion that organized religon and denominations has done more harm to Christianity than good. Unfortunately it is not going away. I have walked more or less faithfully with my Lord for 50+ years and have concluded that being a member of a church does not a Christian make. "Religon" won't save your soul!
Jim

**Guts3d** · April 10th, 2006, 06:24 AM

I guess that we don't know how good we have it until we hear of something like this... My parents (while being far from perfect) would never have cast me out regardless of my sins. You have my admiration and respect, Houseisland.

**amyb** · April 10th, 2006, 07:32 AM

I have goosebumps. Some people SHOULD not be parents. You are doing a very good deed! I hope everything works out.

**Stalemate** · April 10th, 2006, 08:29 AM

I like to think that my home is based on christian principles and from what I see here that varies greatly from what you describe.

And although I commend you for taking in this young man and doing what is right by him, I can't help but wonder why it is that you would specify that this family is "good" when it obviously does not adhere to the basic christian tenets of caring for one's family members.

Why the obvious demeaning generalization where people who *do* try to live out their lives properly according to these balanced moral teachings will only feel slighted?

I realize you're angry about the people who did this, or their misunderstanding of the principles of christianity, but why spread the borders out further than that?

BTW, the world needs more people who, like you, will put their personal comfort and private lives on the back seat to take in those in need.

Bravo.

**El_Squid** · April 10th, 2006, 08:58 AM

Well done, Senor Casa Isla! Not only have done a good and noble thing, you have shown that young man there are truly good, caring people in the world and not all so-called Christians are of the fanatical variety. God bless you!

**houseisland** · April 10th, 2006, 09:49 AM

Originally Posted by Stalemate

I can't help but wonder why it is that you would specify that this family is "good" when it obviously does not adhere to the basic christian tenets of caring for one's family members.

The problem with text is that it does not communicate sarcasm/irony with complete accuracy. The bold face/italics were intended to indicate irony.

I know quite a number of good Christian households who are just that -- Ned Flanders types -- people filled with faith, compassion and charity -- no false piety, no self-righteousness. They have stroppy teenagers, like everyone else, but their approach is flexible, adaptable and compassionate.

There is the Leonard Cohen line: "Jesus taken seriously by many, joyous by a few." In the good Christian households the joy is evident.

_____________________________________________

It is my pure and virtuous heart that
gives me the strength of ten!

**houseisland** · April 10th, 2006, 09:54 AM

Well he slept for about eight hours.

When he got up, I made him eat well.

He hung around and had dinner with the family.

He left at about 9:30, saying he was going to try to go home.

He is welcome to come back.

_____________________________________________

It is my pure and virtuous heart that
gives me the strength of ten!

**TripleRLtd** · April 10th, 2006, 10:29 AM

Another one of the many reasons I, too, have abandoned "organized religion": too many maniacal/fanatical "believers" for my taste.
Many fundamentalists can take a radical negative view of the goth subculture since one widespread misconception is that the goth subculture as a whole represents a unified cult-like religion, when in reality there is a wide diversity of religious beliefs throughout the subculture. As always, stereotyping fails, especially in the case of a young teen just into puberty.
This child needs help, as does the family. One thing I must wonder about was why was this boy thrown out of school? There could be much more to this than meets the eye House. You may consider reaching out for the authorities. This is a CHILD we are talking about and something is very, very wrong here.
As to your question, it would appear that the God this patriarch believes in is not the God of love, patience and understanding that most Christians believe in.
Best of luck doing the right thing here House.

**houseisland** · April 10th, 2006, 10:45 AM

Originally Posted by TripleRLtd

This child needs help, as does the family. One thing I must wonder about was why was this boy thrown out of school? There could be much more to this than meets the eye House.

There is always more than meets the eye.

I believe he was thrown out of school because he had a number of fake .223 Remington rounds encorporated into his metal-goth attire and he refused to get rid of them -- this, however, was probably only the straw that broke the camel's back. I am quite certain that there were other issues as well.

At the base of it all he is quite a nice kid. He blossoms under non-judgmental adult attention. He enjoys talking to my wife and me.

His parents need a good smack up the side of the head.

_____________________________________________

It is my pure and virtuous heart that
gives me the strength of ten!

**El_Squid** · April 10th, 2006, 11:31 AM

It is sad when young folks are suspended from school and kept out of community activities for unusual dress styles. Perhaps your young man would trade in the fake bullet look for the Hula Goth look. Same as the "regular" and "mall" (Hot Topic) Goths, just insert a really loud Hawaiian shirt!

Our son David and his friends resorted to Hula Goth, when Norman started suspending students for wearing black trench coats. Then there were those who started wearing dresses!