The christian gospel begins with the dehumanising assertion that all humans are fallen sinners who deserve nothing but god's judgement and wrath.
Not only does this taint all relationships between christians and unbelievers, it destroys the beautiful innocence of childhood.
In a recent edition of the popular christian radio program "Family Life Today", titled “Introducing Your Child To God,” co-host Bob Lepine discussed teaching “practical theology” to his young daughter, explaining:
When my daughter, Amy, was still less than two years old, I started teaching practical theology to her. I used to put her on my lap — in fact … I think she was still less than a year old. I used to have her on my lap, and she’d be all cute and cuddly, you know? She’d be coo-ing up at me. I’d look down at her and I’d say: “You know what? You’re a wicked sinner. Yes, you are. Yes, you are. You’re a wicked sinner.” I was just trying to make sure she understood, from the beginning, her depraved nature.
Lepine continues:
It sounds cruel, doesn’t it? But the reality is — if she was going to understand who God is, she has to first understand her own desperate condition. I needed to say it for me because — you look at a new little baby, and all you think is how cute they are. We fall into this whole idea of thinking these babies are just adorable, they’re so precious, and they’re just so good. And the reality is: In her flesh dwells no good thing. Well, it does today because she’s a follower of Christ. But in those days, she was a wicked sinner.
President of FamilyLife, Dennis Rainey, and co-host Bob Lepine, went on to laugh about the supposed necessity of teaching innocent children that they are actually “wicked sinners” before introducing their guest, Bruce Ware, a professional theologian and “Christian parenting expert” who teaches Systematic Theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.
After being introduced, Ware laughed with the co-hosts, while agreeing with the fact that toddlers are in reality “wicked sinners” in need of correction, noting:
As you said, Bob — I mean, you look at these sweet little babies — but, boy, inside is, you can tell already, is this sin nature that is ready to be expressed in a variety of ways.
This is not an extreme version of christianity, nor is it a perversion of the gospel. These men are simply discussing a straightforward and accurate application of the message of the NT.
Teaching the christian gospel to children is mental and emotional abuse.
