I have seen lots of posts on people's blogs over the last couple of days regarding Sarah Palin (the American Republican Vice-President nominee) and the situation she and her daughter have found themselves in. For those who don't know, her 17 year old daughter has found herself pregnant, and is planning on marrying the father of her child. Lots of the blogs have asked people to comment on the situation, and whenever I tried my comments were so long that I have given up, and decided to post on it myself!
My take on the situation is this:
I hope that the young people concerned are of the mature variety (and no, getting pregnant doesn't preclude that) and that their marriage and family life will be happy. I think that it is a personal and private decision and one which only this young woman and her partner (with the help and support of her family) can make.
I don't think that having a pregnant daughter is always a reflection on the parent - actually *most* teenagers end up having sex, however much we hope they won't, and many of them have unprotected sex - often because they are "good kids" and didn't intend to have sex outside marriage, so when the emotions and desires overtook them they were unprepared. Most parents are lucky that their kids don't come home pregnant. It sounds like this mum was one of the unlucky ones.
I realise that by even discussing this at all, I am fueling the belief that there is a right to discuss other people's lives in this way – and I really don’t think there is. My main feeling about this story is moral outrage – how dare people publish details relating to the daughter of someone standing for public office?
I am aware that at this stage that some people might want to bring up the Bible passage that talks about church leaders being people who have well-ordered families. Just as a point of clarifaction, this specifically refers to children under the age of 12/13, as this was the age at which the Israelites reached adulthood. It was also written about a situation in which a parent had the right to put their child to death for disobedience! When such sanctions were possible (I note, *possible*, not desirable!) having unruly children was seen in a very negative manner. I don’t see that this law can be applied to this situation.
So I ask myself – will my child lie to me? Will they always be honest with me – always respect me? I doubt it... I suspect there will be times when my child will behave in ways that they know I wouldn’t approve of, and so will try to hide this behaviour from me. I hope that they won't...I hope they will always feel they can come and talk to me...but experience of youth work has shown me that no parent knows everything their child gets up to. As a parent, our task is to equip our children to make the choices they need to, to be able to deal with the situations they face and, above all, to know that they are loved unconditionally.
If this story tells me anything at all – it's that a lass has got pregnant before she intended – probably to the “surprise” of her parents – and they are supporting her. Whatever your political affliation (and believe me, I have none when it comes to American Elections!) surely that is a positive outcome and the parents should be commended for it?
On a lighter note, I let my memory card reader at work last night, so won't be able to post the latest pics of the bump until this evening. Apologies if you tuned in just for that!
Yours Outrageously,
The Broken Man
Showing posts with label young people. Show all posts
Showing posts with label young people. Show all posts
Wednesday, 3 September 2008
Friday, 29 August 2008
Gd n da hse – God in the House
As part of my studies I have been directed to the Ship of Fools website – let me say early on – I like these guys – a lot. You and I both know there is a but coming….ready for it?
I have been asked to comment on the use of text message language used to translate the Bible, or bits of the Bible; apparently something which the Ships of Fools guys have done. I have been asked to consider how the text speak translation compares to my translation of the Bible.
My observations are as follows:
The Bibles I use attempt to translate from the Hebrew and Greek text trying as best they can to convey the full meaning of the text in its original language while maintaining readability. This is a balancing act which is never completely satisfactorily achieved by any translation.
The “text” translate takes this translation, and attempts to reduce it to its most simplified reduced form in an attempt to be “cool” and communicate with young people. In doing so, they lose not just a little of the context and meaning, but reduce it to almost complete insignificance. Even if we were to believe, which I don’t, that this reduced message, this "Bible lite", was still of value if it connected with young people, we face a further difficulty; it *doesn’t* connect with young people.
Anyone who has ever actually asked young people what they think of this kind of thing will know the reactions are far from positive. In the same way that nothing is more embarrassing to a child than a parent who attempts to use “cool” phrases or dress in teenage clothes, the same is true of middle age people attempting to adopt “text” language. Each generation creates or reclaims certain phrases and ways of communication to distinguish them from the generations that have gone before, the desire is not that others adopt this method of communication; in fact, if people do it ruins the whole point.
On a positive front it has made me think about one phrase that is in current usage “Oh My God” shorted to “OMG” as an explitive in texts. I think that a youth discussion group called OMG would be a great reclaiming of the phrase! Beyond that I am afraid I find the whole thing rather cringe worthy.
There is a middle ground. "The Street Bible” or “word on the Street” (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Word-Street-Rob-Lacey/dp/0310932254) by Rob Lacey (of blessed memory) is fantastic. It does not claim to be “The Bible”, hence Rob Lacey renamed it from "The Street Bible" to "word on the street" to avoid confusion. It is the author's own retelling of the bible in a contempary manner. It was not written initially with the plan of publication and so was written as a meditation on the texts using the terms the author felt most comfortable with, not attempting to second guess what anyone else would find “cool”. It’s a book for reading, not studying, but at the same time by using contempory languge it brings to life the richness and meaning of much of the Bible texts, and is a book I have recommended to many people – young and old – as a bedside read.
Urs as evr
da Brkn mn
I have been asked to comment on the use of text message language used to translate the Bible, or bits of the Bible; apparently something which the Ships of Fools guys have done. I have been asked to consider how the text speak translation compares to my translation of the Bible.
My observations are as follows:
The Bibles I use attempt to translate from the Hebrew and Greek text trying as best they can to convey the full meaning of the text in its original language while maintaining readability. This is a balancing act which is never completely satisfactorily achieved by any translation.
The “text” translate takes this translation, and attempts to reduce it to its most simplified reduced form in an attempt to be “cool” and communicate with young people. In doing so, they lose not just a little of the context and meaning, but reduce it to almost complete insignificance. Even if we were to believe, which I don’t, that this reduced message, this "Bible lite", was still of value if it connected with young people, we face a further difficulty; it *doesn’t* connect with young people.
Anyone who has ever actually asked young people what they think of this kind of thing will know the reactions are far from positive. In the same way that nothing is more embarrassing to a child than a parent who attempts to use “cool” phrases or dress in teenage clothes, the same is true of middle age people attempting to adopt “text” language. Each generation creates or reclaims certain phrases and ways of communication to distinguish them from the generations that have gone before, the desire is not that others adopt this method of communication; in fact, if people do it ruins the whole point.
On a positive front it has made me think about one phrase that is in current usage “Oh My God” shorted to “OMG” as an explitive in texts. I think that a youth discussion group called OMG would be a great reclaiming of the phrase! Beyond that I am afraid I find the whole thing rather cringe worthy.
There is a middle ground. "The Street Bible” or “word on the Street” (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Word-Street-Rob-Lacey/dp/0310932254) by Rob Lacey (of blessed memory) is fantastic. It does not claim to be “The Bible”, hence Rob Lacey renamed it from "The Street Bible" to "word on the street" to avoid confusion. It is the author's own retelling of the bible in a contempary manner. It was not written initially with the plan of publication and so was written as a meditation on the texts using the terms the author felt most comfortable with, not attempting to second guess what anyone else would find “cool”. It’s a book for reading, not studying, but at the same time by using contempory languge it brings to life the richness and meaning of much of the Bible texts, and is a book I have recommended to many people – young and old – as a bedside read.
Urs as evr
da Brkn mn
Tuesday, 15 July 2008
Diversity
Some seven years ago my wife got a job as a youth worker for a church and asked me if I would run a discussion group for teenagers. At the time there were 4 teenagers who played paper hockey and other games on a Sunday night with no spiritual input beyond a prayer at the start of the group. I said that if they wanted a discussion group I would happily run it but I had no interest in being involved in the group as it was.
The following week I meet with the group and told them what the discussion group would be like and asked them if they were interested. They said “no” and as far as I was concerned that was that. Two weeks later they were short of a leader for the Sunday evening meeting and my long suffering wife asked me to step in. An informal discussion followed with one of the members on freewill and determinism (they never picked easy topics!), and I said we could get together and talk about it on the following Monday with pizza at our flat. This group developed and grew into the discussion group, and with time membership increased.
Seven years later, and the group has had 19 members. The members now just get together in the University holidays and are mostly 20+ years of age. Many of them came to the group without a faith and developed one through the group; four joined us just for a short while, and left fairly quickly.
Now one of those “young people” is working for me during the summer holidays as my assistant. On the way to work we discuss theology, and he will be a Godparent to my child. The relationship changed with time, as did the group, moving from a discussion group led by us to one led by a different member of the group each week, and taking on the form of a “co-learners” group. The young man who is working with me now in his second year at theological college, another studying Philosophy and Ethics, one of the group training as a paramedic, another is manager of Waitrose. Several have completed or are currently on gap years working with children who don’t have the same benefits they have had. The development we have seen in them over the time the group has been running is huge.
I don’t want this to sound like we have shaped these young people – I’m not trying to blow my own trumpet. All we have done is been around, offered opportunities to meet with God and offered a little guidance, lots of encouragement and the occasional dose of reality! They have developed the strong bonds between themselves, the commitment to the various churches they attend, the love for God that each of them share and the concern for the wider world. We are just proud and privileged to have had the opportunity to be part of their lives (and surprised that this time has lasted for so long!)
The biggest challenge has been in making sure that we don’t imprint our particular brand of theology or belief on the group’s members, but allow each of them to meet with God in the way they need to. We have Conservative Evangelicals, Charismatics, Liberals, and members who are most comfortable finding God on a starry night or a rainy afternoon, yet week after week they sit together and discuss the Bible, abortion, adoption, war, criminal justice, and everything in between. They share their hopes, their fears, their wishes for the future and their struggles.
As I think of this little band, I consider the Anglican church in its current crisis; a situation where people of different opinions and traditions struggle to sit around the same table and recognise that they each worship the same God; that each of their faiths are real and worthwhile. We don’t always agree in our group, and when we don’t we tell each other, and explain why, but never is a voice raised, never is a person put down or insulted. During the week, members of the group socialise together, and we are expecting at least one marriage in the next few years. The group has discussed homosexuality at a time when one of the group members was questioning their own sexuality. We discussed women in leadership when one of the young women began exploring working as an Army Chaplain and many other sensitive issues which group members were experiencing. In all these cases there have been some for and some against, but I believe each person has felt respected, valued and loved. They have always been able to separate the issue from the individual.
So, maybe in the lead up to the Lambeth Conference, we should invite the Bishops to come, join us and study the Bible with us, as diverse as we are; maybe our young people could offer them an example of how to live together as a Christian community, with widely differing opinions, but “one faith, one church, one Lord”.
The following week I meet with the group and told them what the discussion group would be like and asked them if they were interested. They said “no” and as far as I was concerned that was that. Two weeks later they were short of a leader for the Sunday evening meeting and my long suffering wife asked me to step in. An informal discussion followed with one of the members on freewill and determinism (they never picked easy topics!), and I said we could get together and talk about it on the following Monday with pizza at our flat. This group developed and grew into the discussion group, and with time membership increased.
Seven years later, and the group has had 19 members. The members now just get together in the University holidays and are mostly 20+ years of age. Many of them came to the group without a faith and developed one through the group; four joined us just for a short while, and left fairly quickly.
Now one of those “young people” is working for me during the summer holidays as my assistant. On the way to work we discuss theology, and he will be a Godparent to my child. The relationship changed with time, as did the group, moving from a discussion group led by us to one led by a different member of the group each week, and taking on the form of a “co-learners” group. The young man who is working with me now in his second year at theological college, another studying Philosophy and Ethics, one of the group training as a paramedic, another is manager of Waitrose. Several have completed or are currently on gap years working with children who don’t have the same benefits they have had. The development we have seen in them over the time the group has been running is huge.
I don’t want this to sound like we have shaped these young people – I’m not trying to blow my own trumpet. All we have done is been around, offered opportunities to meet with God and offered a little guidance, lots of encouragement and the occasional dose of reality! They have developed the strong bonds between themselves, the commitment to the various churches they attend, the love for God that each of them share and the concern for the wider world. We are just proud and privileged to have had the opportunity to be part of their lives (and surprised that this time has lasted for so long!)
The biggest challenge has been in making sure that we don’t imprint our particular brand of theology or belief on the group’s members, but allow each of them to meet with God in the way they need to. We have Conservative Evangelicals, Charismatics, Liberals, and members who are most comfortable finding God on a starry night or a rainy afternoon, yet week after week they sit together and discuss the Bible, abortion, adoption, war, criminal justice, and everything in between. They share their hopes, their fears, their wishes for the future and their struggles.
As I think of this little band, I consider the Anglican church in its current crisis; a situation where people of different opinions and traditions struggle to sit around the same table and recognise that they each worship the same God; that each of their faiths are real and worthwhile. We don’t always agree in our group, and when we don’t we tell each other, and explain why, but never is a voice raised, never is a person put down or insulted. During the week, members of the group socialise together, and we are expecting at least one marriage in the next few years. The group has discussed homosexuality at a time when one of the group members was questioning their own sexuality. We discussed women in leadership when one of the young women began exploring working as an Army Chaplain and many other sensitive issues which group members were experiencing. In all these cases there have been some for and some against, but I believe each person has felt respected, valued and loved. They have always been able to separate the issue from the individual.
So, maybe in the lead up to the Lambeth Conference, we should invite the Bishops to come, join us and study the Bible with us, as diverse as we are; maybe our young people could offer them an example of how to live together as a Christian community, with widely differing opinions, but “one faith, one church, one Lord”.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
