Comments on: A Child in the Midst

By: Carmen

Carmen — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 22:37:51 +0000

p.s. and besides, it is in the preamble to the Constitution.

“…and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity…”

This WAS one of their goals. (Posterity = future generations of children).

Just saying.

By: Carmen

Carmen — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 22:13:26 +0000

I would like to make the point that many of the Founding Fathers WERE thinking of their children when decideing to wage war against their oppressors. If you read the letters of John Adams, for example, you will find that he was very devoted to his children and wanted safety and freedom for them–and for future generations of children. The men who signed the Declaration did not “want mommies and daddies to be hurt” or to “hurt the children.” They were not intending to marginalize children by “starting” a war, but rather intended to protect what they saw as God-given freedoms of their children, which were being taken away by a tyrant king. They WERE “seeking independence for the future of their children.” John Adams sacrificed many years away from his family so that his children and ours could enjoy the freedoms we have. Personally, I am glad that the decisions made by the Founding Fathers did not change, and that they did decide to fight tyranny. The absence of a line in the Declaration does not mean that they didn’t care about children. The Americans who sacrificed their lives in the Revolution were not trying to hurt anyone’s mommies and daddies. Those brave people did more for the children of this country than we will ever know. It is a misinterpretation of history to imply otherwise. This post really disappoints me. Just saying.

By: Kees Boer

Kees Boer — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 03:10:33 +0000

I was just rethinking this. From what I understand one of the primary reasons for the USA forming was because of the children. The Christians wanted to be able to give the children an education that was God honoring and that was based on the Scriptures. So, they went to Holland in the Mayflower, but didn’t find it there and then went to new world, America, where they could have the freedome. So, a child was definitely in the very reasoning of the founding fathers of the USA. Or more importantly, God was in their thinking as it related to raising their children. It is interesting that now we have removed God from the classrooms and we see all sorts of problems.

Kees

By: Valerie Long

Valerie Long — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:36:54 +0000

I really love that Compassion goes back through and reposts some of the posts from the archives as I just joined this blog about 7-8 months ago.

I was reading what Vicki said about sometimes politicians use children for their own agendas without really caring about the children. The first thing that came to mind for me is the “No Child Left Behind” law. Now, I know that some of our politicians thought they were doing the right thing with this bill, but the fact is, it hasn’t done a whole lot of good and in some instances has even done more harm than good.

I don’t know a LOT about politics, but just based on what I know about the bill, they probably didn’t have anyone from the education field actually help craft the bill. I say this because most people in the education field will tell you that when you have things like this, everyone ends up teaching exactly what the kids need just for the test and nothing else. Not to mention that standardized tests fail in so many ways since they don’t take into consideration anyone who learns differently or can’t take tests.

I wonder what, if anything, it would’ve changed to have a class of children or a group of teachers in the room when they made that bill.

I also look at my generation and wonder what would’ve happened if there’d been a child in the room when they decided to take arts out of the schools. My generation was the first to receive all those cuts in funding and I look at what we’ve come up with for movies, tv, toys, etc. and it’s obvious from the fact that so many things have been brought back from our childhood that my generation has no imagination of their own. And that’s what happens when kids aren’t exposed to the arts. It’s sad. And while I don’t know if it would’ve changed anything, I would hope that having children in the room when that decision was made would’ve made some sort of a difference.

When I read what Vicki said about politicians using kids to promote their own agendas, those were the two things that almost immediately popped into my head.

By: James Lanchester

James Lanchester — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:19:57 +0000

I thought of another one, it could be positive, and it could be negative, unfortunately there is no way of knowing ahead of time. A rule stating that the children must be present at all meetings preparing a divorce.

By: Mike Stephens

Mike Stephens — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:33:45 +0000

Proverbs 16:33 “Even the things that seem accidental were really ordered by Him!!!!!!!” (Amplified)

I think of Abraham and his son Isaac…definitely a child present in that situation, but God intervened.

I think of the flood when all of mankind drowned.

By: Dana Young

Dana Young — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:24:08 +0000

Being an active duty military member, I have a strong desire to see violence of all types stopped. Starting with what is on my tv. I am so blessed to be raising my children in a multi-national environment. My children interact with other children from Germany, Holland, Italy, Belgium, about 15 different countries. They get to see early that everyone is different and that is ok. They will not experience racism till they get back to the States. I wish we could all remeber the little ones that are playing when we plan our attacks or counter-attacks. I also believe we should do away with the words, “collateral damage.” As long as this world continues to exist there will be war, unfortunately. Alot of it is caused by ignorance and fear. But there is still a lot of good left in this world. I know there are at least 1,000,000 people that believe that.

By: Heather

Heather — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 06:44:11 +0000

Ur rite Kees!I always think of all the childrens suffering first.When Fay hit Haiti they were the first ones I prayed for. I just thought Id add the sobering,no rose colored glasses outlook to the post though. So many societies do not place much value on childrens lives!

By: Kees Boer

Kees Boer — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 06:03:18 +0000

I think the important thing in the blog is to remember the children and when watching the news, evaluate how it effects children. For instance tomorrow, Fay will be crossing our town Gainesville. All the children will be out of school for that day. (Of course, I have to be honest, when I was that age, I probably would have regarded that as a good thing! LOL!)

But that was just an example, there are other examples, like the war in Georgia and an earthquake in China, etc…

Blessings,

Kees

By: Heather

Heather — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 03:41:34 +0000

Sometimes I don’t think if children were present it would make much of a difference. Many “Third World” countries and regimes like Uganda,Burma and usually other African countries and militias in these places use child soldiers to commit unspeakable and untypable horrors and atrocities. Some use children as human shields even.
Some things maybe having a child present would change them but other things I don’t think would even change.
Sorry about the depressing post but this is pretty much reality…