Article April 15, 1911 Issue

OBEDIENCE

RUTH INGRAHAM

It is sometimes remarked that much difficulty is experienced at this date in the government of children, and that Christian Scientists are not awake to their responsibilities in this particular; that parents do not teach their children to obey. They say, "Oh, Love will take care of them." and let it go at that. In consequence of this the child follows his own will, acquires an exalted estimate of his own judgment and capabilities, and has very little respect for authority. while his teachers in the public schools and elsewhere have to suffer for his parents' neglect. The writer, a teacher of long experience and a lover of children. while not conceding this to be a fault peculiar to Scientists, has nevertheless found it to be as frequently true in their case as in that of others, a fact which is greatly to their discredit.

In the days of our fathers, children were taught submission to their elders in thought, speech, and action, almost to the point of losing their individuality. Obedience was often brought about through fear of punishment, both at the hands of offended parents and through the wrath of a jealous and vengeful God. The old-fashioned orthodox parent, while quite certain of his integrity of purpose, not infrequently confused his personal preference or prejudice with the supposed will of God, to whom he attributed his own anger at an infraction of discipline. The child was made to feel a trifling offense against purely human and arbitrary rulings as equivalent to a sin against the statutes of omnipotence. He was not taught to distinguish between the human will and the divine, in matters of presumed authority, nor was he encouraged to inquire into the wherefore of given orders. Instant, unquestioning obedience was exacted, as many a grandfather or grandmother of the present day will testify.

Against the extreme severity and narrowness of this training, as we all know, there has been a very natural revolt. Human nature is apt to go from one extreme to the other in all things; its unreasoning impulse carrying it past a safe middle course before it stops to find its bearings. So in the present day and generation we witness the undignified spectacle of parents meekly submitting to the encouraged tyranny of even their young children.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

A WHOLESOME INFLUENCE