As parents, we long to protect our children from a myriad of dangers. And, in increasing measure, western affluent cultures have minimized these dangers through the development of safety innovations: car seats, cordless blinds, baby monitors, etc. All are good and helpful for keeping our kids safe. But as recent world events attest, the world is still a very dangerous place. What’s a parent to do? Erik Raymond, a pastor and father of six, has a helpful article titled, “What Do You Tell Your Kids About ISIS?” Although not comprehensive in scope or depth, the article provides parents with 10 very helpful basic discussion points. Here is his introduction:
Christian parents are called to help their children to think about, interact with, and evaluate current issues from a biblical perspective. Cultivating a Christian worldview is one of the main components of child training.
Over the last couple of years, as ISIS has been increasingly in the news, we have had a number of discussions as a family about what has been happening. Our 6 children range from 4 to 20, so there needs to be thoughtful care given to the details of our discussion. However, it is quite near impossible to tame down the atrocities of ISIS to a general audience.
Our children became quite concerned—and with good reason. The barbaric beheadings speak of ancient tribal savagery rather than modern military battles. Most of the conflicts they have heard of have involved airplanes, ships, and soldiers. Now these guys come along with a fearlessness that is only matched by their thirst for blood. Of course our kids are concerned—we are concerned.
You can read his 10 discussion points here.(Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.)
