They're frikkin' KIDS ... let them be kids
Stupid stuff will happen all by itself and our kids need a firm and solid core foundation of tools to determine right from wrong
All life will turn out OK if we teach them right
Keep an open mind, and someone will throw garbage in it.
I wanted my kids to be aware of every current evil position advocated by the Left and also of the reasons why the answers I taught were right. I did not teach open-mindedness. I taught values and critical thinking. My approach was pretty much:
Homosexuality is sinful - God says so, and here’s what the Greek/Aramaic says word-by-word. Here’s why homosexuality is a bad choice in terms of practical consequences in today’s world.
Socialism is immoral - here’s why in terms of basic values. Here’s evidence that socialism was harmful time after time, whether national-socialist, soviet-socialist, or Obama-socialist, and more broadly that big government is innately harmful.
Self-defense is a basic God-given natural right. Here’s what philosophers have said on that topic. Here’s the words of the Second Amendment. Diagram the sentence, and assume it means what it says. Let’s go shooting - do you see any evil in the steel, brass, and lead?
Whatever bandwagon the far left fringe jumps on next, I believe my kids are ready for it. My highest priority as a parent was to raise my children to be good people. That means that they would be Christians who are immune to all of Satan’s temptations, regardless of how future liberals phrase the arguments in favor of envy (tax the rich), avarice (redistribute wealth), lust (pro-gay, pro-divorce, pro-adultery, pro-casual sex, pro-abortion), gluttony, pride, anger (the vindictive prosecutions of bakers, photographers, florists, and others who will not violate their beliefs to participate in a farce imitating marriage), or sloth (pro-welfare as a way of life).
"Open Minded" is often used like "reasonable" and "common sense", just a lever to get you started down the slippery slope.
Ping
My kids were as open minded as their Mother told them to be. Mrs Hero was not the most lenient warden.
They were kids for pete’s sake!
Do what Mommy tells you to do.
Save your brass.
Don’t nick the bowel.
Don’t swim after you eat.
Lead with our left.
NEVER put water in your single malt.
I mean, it’s just basic stuff kids need to know . . .
There’s really no such thing as “open minded”. Everybody has a worldview or concept of reality which rests on axiomatic first principles that cannot be proven with reason or logic. That’s what makes them first principles.
I was raised with an open mind. Didn’t do me much good until I purchased my first Tanakh.