and I will be!

My reply

Pat,

Since we became "Friends" on face book the only times you have said anything to me is to judge my profile or to look down your nose at me and make assumptions about my life. My parents have no desire to have anything to do with my life, and that is why I have made a new one for myself. When I do speak with them they tell me the choice I am making to go to school to become a teacher is endorsed by the devil, and I am his child for doing so, etc. As for me "abandoning my faith" that is something that you may feel to be true when you look at my life, and that makes me sad because you are judging me without any real knowledge of my life.

I also think that in "trusting the sincerity of the parents hearts..." you could easily miss the true root of the problem. I am not saying that the parents are always to blame, but in some cases it is that way. You hold my parents in seemingly high esteem, but in leaving home I was able to put a past of hypocrisy, anger and abuse behind myself and focus on a future with hope, goals, and purpose. I would have been more than willing to share this with you if you wished to ask, though it is not something I really like to talk about with anyone, but instead you jumped to the immediate conclusion that as the child, I was in the wrong.

All that I can say here is the different path is not always the worse path.

Good luck with your worldview seminars, though I can't imagine sitting under you and learning about "worldview" when your own is so biased.

Hana

and her reply:

hese questions may seem startling unless you read my other message asking permission to ask you these questions. Hopefully you have, and you'll know why I'm writing these questions to you.

1. At what point in your upbringing did you begin to lose respect for your parents? Why?
2. At what point did you come to realize that you did not agree with your parent's morals and values? Why?
3. Do you believe that there is, in fact, a God and that the Bible is His word?
4. If the answer to #3 is yes, do you believe it's important for Christians to be obedient to God's word?
5. Are you a Christian? If so, how do you define the term "Christian"?
6. What do you believe is the determining factor, in your life, as to what is right and wrong for you?
7. What advice would you give parents who have strong convictions concerning their personal beliefs?
8. What could your parents have done differently in your upbringing that would have made them better parents?

I'm not "on a mission" to change you, bridge relationships in your family, or anything else like that and no-one but you will know I've asked you these questions. I haven't spoken to your parents in years. I'm just very perplexed about the huge number of teens/young adults who are making the same choices you are making and I'm very confused by it. If you are wiling to answer these questions, then I'll probably have more for you to answer (depending on your answers).

If you think there are other questions I should be asking in order to better understand you, feel free to share whatever you'd like. I'm hoping that my understanding you will, in turn, make me a better parent.

I'm half way expecting a "What? Are you nuts? Mind your own business." response -- but I hope that's not what I get.

~~~~~~~~~~
geez. I give up