What offends me about this image in particular image is that somehow raising children in a biblically solid church is somehow brainwashing.
Let me be very clear, I don't deny that there are individuals out there who brainwash children, cults give false teaching to children, pedophiles who should not be serving in the church abuse children to satisfy their perverse pleasure and wickedness like that.
Let us dispel the notion that raising a child BIBLICALLY is not brainwashing or child abuse or pressuring them.
Deuteronomy 6 says the following to the Israelites:
"6 These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, 2 so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. 3 Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.
4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[a] 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."
There is a reminder to the people to consistently in the passage live in light of what God has commanded and that goes as far as raising your child biblically and they should be.
Under the New Covenant, you don't have to go as far as what is found in verse 8-9 but you nevertheless, the principle that is carried over into the New Covenant is to teach your children biblically how to live.
We find examples of this in the New Testament:
"Ephesians 6 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— 3 “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”[a]
4 Fathers,[b] do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord."
"Colossians 3:18 Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.
21 Fathers,[c] do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged."
Both passages point out that children are to obey their parents, but the father must lovingly and compassionately raise them to be godly. The child should not disobey, but the father has no licence to be cruel to the child or be unreasonable. They are to discipline the child when they disobey but encourage when they obey and care for them.
Titus 2 contains the following:
"Titus 2:3 Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. 4 Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God."
If a woman loves her husband, she will submit to him (The husband has to love his wife and not be a dictator or abusive) and if a woman loves her child or children, she should also do all she can to raise up godly offspring. Both parents have a responsibility to biblically raise their children and train them in the way of the Lord and if anyone hurts or causes a child to sin, it would be better if a milestone would be tied around their neck.
In a biblically solid marriage between a man and a woman, a child will understand their roles and responsibilities depending on their gender. There is nothing abusive or disgusting about raising up a child in a godly and pure environment, it's a tremendous blessing for the child as it may prepare them for service to Jesus Christ, to love God with all their heart, mind, soul and strength and love their neighbor as themselves. Ultimately, the child is the only one who makes the decision, not the parents, whether they follow Jesus or not. A child cannot be saved from sin by their parents, nor can the parents be saved from sin by their child, but ultimately, you will have someone in the end whom Jesus can use for his glory and purpose.
(Yes I believe in original sin and I believe no one come to Christ by their own volition and they need to be convicted by the Spirit and drawn by the Father, but you get the point of what I am saying).
The child does not receive salvation because of their parents and vice versa, though the child is in a better position to be equipped.
Raising up a child to believe that transgenderism, homosexuality and other sins, sexual or otherwise, is morally reprehensible.
Putting aside debatable issues as to whether or not Christians can watch movies or hobbies, as that is a debatable issue which I won't be going into here, If you raise up a child and teach them that gay marriage or any other sexual deviancy should be celebrated, you are encouraging that child to make a not only a terrible mistake, but you are setting them up to destroyed.
A "homosexual marriage" (It shouldn't be called marriage because it is not even a marriage), destroys the distinction between man and woman. it leads to the child being confused on what their identity is, How they should behave, how they should act etc. Fornication, Adultery and other sexual sins do not have biblical fulfillment or are destruction of what God has laid out to be right and true.
Homosexuality itself robs a person of many wonderful things. They cannot embrace the joy of having children, they cannot have a person in that relationship say "This is the baby I have birthed" and rejoice in that. Oh sure a homosexual couple might adopt children, but they haven't produced that child have they? Furthermore, the twisting of God's created order that a homosexual (and others in sexual sin) impact the child in a negative manner.
Adoption is a wonderful thing for parents, but only a man and a woman who cannot have children due to infertility should adopt them. Assuming the adoptive couple are biblical Christians, that adopted child is going to have the opportunity to have Jesus Christ presented to them as Lord and Saviour. Not only will have another figure in their lives to fear and respect, they'll also have a compassionate figure who is their protector and not lie to them, for Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Adoption however, cannot be used to justify a homosexual relationship, it's taking a noble thing and using it to justify a perversion.
Plus, as James White has pointed out on a number of occasions, the homosexual is in love with a mirror image. They are not complementary. Not only do the genitals not compliment each other (The basement and the attic were never designed for that kind of interaction to put it politely), Their is no spiritual connection that is good, the two cannot become one flesh.
There is no plausible way for a homosexual relationship to work, it's empty, there is no fulfillment and there is no way to implement it without causing damage to the family unit, as well as their own bodies.
To teach children that homosexual marriage is to be celebrated (or that any sin should be celebrated), you are essentially telling them to embrace death.
There is a phrase thrown around "We need more love in the world". Is it love when you tell someone to embrace a lifestyle that will lead to their death and bring them ruin? If you tell a child that embracing a sexual sin is a good thing to be embraced, you are not teaching love, you are teaching hatred. And you want to accuse me and other Christians of hate speech? Who are the ones who are truly brainwashing their people? It's not Biblical Christianity that brainwashes people, it's the world that brainwash people.
I know there are people like the Westboro Baptist Church, Theodore Shoebat and Steven Anderson out there, I know that.
But their way is not the way of Christ, I don't want a homosexual to die in their sin, I'd much rather see them be saved from what they are doing and changed by God. I don't want to disparage them (And any disparagement of them I repent of).
If you want to see a biblical model for marriage and what God intended from the beginning, read Genesis 2.
For more information, read the following papers:
http://answering-judaism.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/does-bible-condemn-homosexuality.html
http://answering-judaism.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/does-bible-condemn-homosexuality-2.html
http://answering-judaism.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/quick-response-to-craig-d-on.html
http://answering-judaism.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/quick-response-to-craig-d-on_15.html
Also, before anyone uses the argument about shrimp, I direct you to the following papers:
http://answering-judaism.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/observance-of-torah-demanded-of-gentiles.html
http://answering-judaism.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/observance-of-torah-demanded-of.html
http://answering-judaism.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/observance-of-torah-demanded-of_7.html
Answering Judaism.
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