If ever there was a pop-culture wildfire, K-Pop Demon Hunters (KPDH) is the spark, the wind, AND the fire! Not only is it a popular movie (understatement of the year), but the music is fanning the flames of obsession: keeping kids and parents alike coming back for more. While we don’t recommend this movie for younger children (there are scary-looking demons and confusing messages), for older children, we do think this is a “you-know-your-child-best” situation. We find some excellent portrayals of truth in the KPDH, but we also recognize some potentially dangerous lies that a kiddo might absorb (even if the filmmakers didn’t intend them). So let’s do what we do here at Mama Bear Apologetics and ROAR! But first, for those who haven’t seen it, what is the movie even about?

It’s about K-Pop (Korean-Pop) demon hunters – literally! A fictional girl K-Pop band, called Huntrix, is the most recent in a long line of musicians secretly tasked with hunting and killing demons. Their ultimate goal, though, is to strengthen the Honmoon (the barrier that protects the world from the demon realm) through their K-Pop music. Rumi, lead Huntrix singer, is hiding a dark secret. Rumi has the tell-tale demon markings (called “patterns”) and they are spreading across her body. The patterns are like a rash that spreads over time. The more the patterns spread, the more she has to hide them. But they are now starting to affect her voice – the very thing she needs to protect the world. Meanwhile, a demon boy band called The Saja Boys works to steal Huntrix’s fans (and eventually their souls). Rumi falls in love with The Saja Boys lead singer, Jinu. (Yeah, you read that right.) We discover that Jinu used to be human, but was so tormented by his guilt for betraying his family that Gwi-ma (the Satan figure) took control of his soul. In the end, both Rumi and Jinu have to accept themselves, including their shame, to gain freedom from Gwi-ma. You can probably already see that this movie is rich with messaging. Let’s try to identify some of the messages that could influence our kids.

RECOGNIZE the message (What are the main messages a person watching this movie will come away with)###### 1.SHAME is the enemy’s foothold.

Gwi-ma is basically the “Satan” of KPDH. As the movie progresses, we discover that shame is Gwima’s primary tool of control and manipulation over his minions. It’s also the tactic he employs to prepare humans to eventually have their souls sucked out to be imprisoned in the Demon Realm, where they are forever tormented by their own guilt.

2. GOOD & EVIL aren’t black and white.

We often think about good and evil in terms of “good guys” and “bad guys.” Huntrix, and all their demon-hunter predecessors, physically fight the bad guys – the demons! But Rumi learns that the real battle is within. The world isn’t so easily divided into “good” and “bad.” We each have a mix of good and bad within our own selves.

3. LOVE can save some demons.

Demons can be beings who are oppressed and manipulated by Satan (Gwi-ma) using shame. Rumi wanted to change the lyrics to the song “Takedown” because she thought it was too hateful. We can’t fight hate with hate. We should show love, mercy, and compassion to ALL beings, even demons.

4. SALVATION happens when you embrace your authentic self.

The more Rumi tries to cover up her patterns, the more they spread. Rumi is trapped in a shame spiral. What ends the spiral? Rumi’s patterns had to first be exposed, and then be accepted as a part of her identity. Rather than covering up whatever makes you feel shame, you will find freedom by embracing every part of yourself: both the good and the bad.

5. IDOLIZING pop stars can consume you.

People use celebrity worship as an escape from having to think about their pain. The problem is, the more you suppress your pain and obsess over your idol, the more you lose yourself.

These messages contain a hefty mix of truths and lies through which we need to wisely discern. We always recommend starting with affirming the truths, because this can create common ground for productive conversation.

OFFER discernment (What are the truths, and where have lies snuck in?)TRUTH 1: The primary spiritual battle is internal. Just like in the movie, whether perceived or not, spiritual battle is all around us. But fighting outward evil won’t be very effective if we don’t first and foremost confront the battle of evil within our own hearts.

TRUTH 2: Shame is indeed a tool of the enemy. In scripture, Satan is called “the accuser,” and he accuses Christians relentlessly (1). He employs accusations to inflame feelings of shame, to beat us down, and to manipulate us. It is oppressive to be harassed and tormented by condemning thoughts.

TRUTH 3: There is power in confessing our sin and shame. Being open and truthful with people we trust about our shame can disarm the enemy. Trying to suppress and hide “our faults and fears” can wreak havoc on our internal worlds, eventually leading to destructive beliefs and behaviors. Honesty can break the cycle of sin and shame.

TRUTH 4: The demonic can present both in an attractive way and in a scary way. Sometimes, the demonic can be enticing and may even look morally good (like Jinu). At other times, their goal might be better met by scaring or intimidating you. Demons will disguise themselves in whatever way they think will deceive you and distort your worldview. (Even if they seem like an angel of light!)

TRUTH 5: Idolatry is destructive. I don’t care how much the music “slaps.” No being in existence, not even K-pop idols (yeah, I said it!), are worth your devotion apart from the One who is the Source of all other beings.

There are many people who are seeing biblical themes in KPDH, and these are just a few. But even when things have partial truths, there are always lies that sneak in. Now, let’s look at some of the lies that could potentially affect our kids’ worldview.

LIE 1: Shame is THE problem. The world hates the biblical answer to this lie: that the real problem is sin. Sometimes our sin is a response to shame, but not always. (And even when it is, that’s never an excuse.) This is important because, as we will discuss further below, when you get the problem wrong, you also get the solution wrong.

LIE 2: All shame is the same. There’s a conflation in the movie of shame that comes from sin (Jinu’s betrayal of his family) and shame that comes from an objective trait that someone is born with (Rumi’s demon patterns). KPDH treats both sources of shame with the same remedy (see Recognize the Message #4). But the truth is, shame that is a result of sin requires a different response than other types of shame.

LIE 3: Shame is defeated through self-love. This is not just a KPDH lie. This is the lie of our time! Self-love (or pride) might make you feel better in some ways. But if you’re really dealing with internal shame, trying to force self-acceptance is really just lying to yourself. At best, you can harden yourself and become calloused to sin, but this just leads to more destruction in the long run.

LIE 4: All hate and negativity are bad. Actually, Christ followers ought to hate evil. Satan and demons are completely and totally given over to evil. We should not EVER show love or compassion to demons.

Lie 5: Humans can become demons. Humans do not become demons (nor do we become angels). However, just as Jinu was being conformed to the demons, humans who ultimately reject Christ DO conform to the demonic. But they don’t become a demonic being.

Now that we’ve recognized the messages and pulled apart the truth from the lies, let’s discuss a healthier and more biblical approach to the topics of shame and the demonic realm.

ARGUE for a healthier approachA HEALTHIER UNDERSTANDING OF SHAME: The Holy Spirit can use shame to convict us, but it is the enemy who uses shame to condemn us. He tempts us to hide our shame, usually resulting in more sin. KPDH is right that part of the answer is to bring our shame out into the light. But that’s not the full answer. Desperately trying to find and embrace your “true, authentic self” is not the way. We need repentance (a change of mindset and lifestyle), along with the covering of Christ’s righteousness, to experience true freedom. Furthermore, shame based on personality quirks is different than shame based on sin. We should embrace our unique interests, skillsets, and personalities. We should not embrace sin or anything that goes against God’s design for humanity (like “diverse” genders and sexual practices).

A HEALTHIER UNDERSTANDING OF THE DEMONIC: We can thank Hollywood for the rampant confusion around the demonic realm. We must help our kids understand: We. do. not. glorify. the. demonic. realm. We should not diminish its evil nor treat it like a horror film meant for cheap scares. We do NOT go looking for a fight with the demonic. We do NOT go looking to save demons (or ghosts – which, by the way, are demons). We also do NOT need to be afraid of such things, because we are in Christ, who is sovereign over even Satan himself. When it comes to the demonic, we don’t mess around with it. We point our minds and hearts to God and His Word.

These are some hefty topics. To help guide discussion with your kiddos, we offer some suggestions to reinforce biblical truth. These include discussion questions, prayers, and even some additional resources to dig a little deeper.

REINFORCE through discussion, discipleship, and prayer1.If you choose to let your child watch this movie, ask them what they believe about demons. Find out what their perception is, and help guide them to understand whether their ideas of demons are being shaped by Hollywood or by Scripture.

2.Watch/Listen to our previous podcast episode where Amy interviews Krista Bontrager (Theology Mom) about demonic oppression and occult fascination.

3.Remind your child that there is NOTHING so shameful that they cannot confide in you. Help them feel more comfortable sharing with you by sharing your own story of when you felt shame, and how exposing it helped remove its power.

4.Help your young kiddos identify their emotions. If and when your child identifies a feeling of shame, talk about where that shame is coming from (2). Is it:

-A sin?

- - Talk about what it means to repent. Explain that thankfully, when we fail, we are covered in Christ’s righteousness. Read 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 together and remind your child that it’s okay to give it time for our emotions to match the truth that we no longer need to feel shame.

–A lie about your identity?

- - - If your child is having condemning thoughts about who he or she is, start by making a list of the lies. Then, prayerfully make a list of the truths.

-Something that happened to you?

- - There can be incredible shame surrounding things like sexual abuse or bullying. These are things that a person didn’t choose, and so we need to help free them from the shame that often accompanies it. Often, the person is struggling with how the abuser or bully made them feel

-A unique interest, personality, or skillset? Embrace it! Hillary often says that it’s the things that people have most rejected us for in the past that can often make us great at what God has called us to do. Are you obsessed with praying mantises? Go get that PhD in entomology! Have a burning desire to teach everyone all the time? It’ll probably come in useful one day (but not when you’re in middle school and high school). Embrace how God made you! Have a conversation with God, asking Him to reveal how you contribute uniquely to the Kingdom of God.

5.Here are two opposing perspectives from Christians who watched KPDH. Personally, I think they both make excellent points! Watch these with your kids (middle school and up) and discuss:

- This is a mostly negative review discussing potentially confusing and unbiblical messages in the movie.
- This is a very positive review (3) coming from the perspective that the movie inadvertently expresses powerful theological truths.

____________

(1) Revelation 12:10

(2) See our KPDH Podcast where Hillary further explains this.

(3) We have not vetted and are not endorsing this entire YouTube channel.

Alexa CramerAlexa is a homeschool mom of two. She became obsessed with apologetics after a season of doubt that nearly stole her faith. Alexa has a background in film and video and will willingly fight anyone who doesn’t agree that Jesus Freak is the best Christian song that ever graced the earth.

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In this episode, we reflect on the tragic loss of Charlie Kirk. Just hours before he was killed, Charlie shared his favorite verse—Romans 8:28—a verse that has become a guiding light for many through the grief and confusion left in the wake of his death. Our hope with this episode is to provide parents with some tools for navigating this tragedy with children who may be affected by it. We want to encourage families to grieve deeply, to lament biblically, and to pray boldly. We also want to point to the redemptive arc of God’s story—from creation to fall, from redemption in Christ to future glory. The God Charlie proclaimed is not silenced. This episode is a call to courage, to resolve, and to hope. A call for this generation to rise—not in retaliation, but in truth and grace. A call to mourn what was lost, but to also step into what comes next.

Main Points Covered* Grieve with your children. + Each child will mourn differently. Be sensitive! + Warn of exposure to graphic content on X. Especially for teens! * Encourage them with the hope of the Gospel + Truth is worth defending. + Being a Christian comes at a cost. * Equip them to understand culture + Weapons are the means, worldview is the cause. + Understand the shift in the definitions of truth, hate, and harm. + The joyful reaction is a reflection of the marxist worldview. * Flourish in faith, family, and fellowship. + Revere God. + Be active in church. + Worship and train up your families. + Bring as many people to the cross with you as possible.

Questions addressed Why does evil happen? * Would gun control stop such occurrences? * Why would people rejoice over this loss? * Is “speaking hate” the cause of this event? Spoiler: no, it is the speaking of truth! * As believers, what do we do now? Resources & Organizations MentionedScriptures*:

Romans 8:28 – Charlie’s favorite verse
Revelation 3:16 – Lukewarm Christianity
Matthew 5:13 – Salt of the earth
2 Corinthians 10:5 – Taking thoughts captive
Matthew 28 – The Great Commission
Acts 17:26 – God’s sovereignty over nations
Ephesians 6:12 – Spiritual warfare
Proverbs 22:6 – Train up a child

Quotable Quotes

Neutrality in a spiritual war is actually siding with evil. - Amy Davison
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Our hope is not in worldly outcomes. It’s in eternal blessings found in Christ. -Hillary Morgan Ferrer
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Your purpose is to bring as many people to God as possible—so what will you do with the life you’ve been given? - Amy Davison
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adminWe are all in this together, so sometimes our posts are a bit of all of us.

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SummaryThis episode tackles the cultural lie of Best-Selfism — the belief that personal happiness and fulfillment should be the highest priorities in life, often at the expense of faith and family. Host Amy Davison argues that this ideology, endorsed by celebrities like Tom Brady and various influencers, is a destructive blend of emotionalism, self-help, and idol worship. Contrasting this worldview, they uplift Scotty Scheffler’s Christ-centered perspective, where faith and family take precedence over personal or professional success. The episode emphasizes the biblical model of self-denial, sacrificial love, and discipleship within the home.

Main Points Covered Definition and Dangers of Best Selfism * Examples in Culture * Biblical Response to Best Selfism * Spiritual and Cultural Consequences * How to Combat the Lie of Best-Selfism Resources & Organizations MentionedScriptures*:

Genesis 3 – The original lie and temptation
Exodus 6:7 – God claiming His people
1 Peter 2:9 – Our identity in Christ
1 Corinthians 6:9-11, 6:20 – Transformation and honoring God with our bodies
Matthew 16:24 – Deny self and follow Christ
Mark 12:29-30, Deuteronomy 6:5 – Love God and neighbor
Matthew 28:19-20 – The Great Commission
Deuteronomy 6:6-9 – Discipleship in the home
Colossians 2:8, 3:23-24 – Avoid deceptive philosophy, work for the Lord
2 Corinthians 10:5 – Take every thought captive
2 Timothy 1:7 – Spirit of power and self-discipline
1 Peter 3:15 – Defend faith with gentleness
Ephesians 5:21-33, 6:4 – Mutual submission and discipling children

Other Resources:

Scottie Scheffler Statement
Scheffler’s Response to Tom Brady
Tom Brady’s Newsletter

Unfamiliar Vocabulary Best Selfism: The belief that one’s highest duty is to prioritize their own fulfillment * Arrival Fallacy: The illusion that achieving success will lead to lasting happiness * Emotionalism:* The ideology that feelings dictate truth and decision-making

Quotable Quotes

False idols always demand you sacrifice somebody else for your own worldly gain, but Christ sacrificed himself for our eternal gain. - Amy Davison
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Your family does not need your best self. What they need is you dependent on God. - Amy Davison
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adminWe are all in this together, so sometimes our posts are a bit of all of us.

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How often have you heard a sentiment like this one: It is the responsibility of the privileged to champion the cause of the oppressed and fight for the inclusion of the marginalized.

That’s basically the going gospel de jour right now. And it sounds good, right? When we hear the categories of “privileged” versus “oppressed” or “marginalized,” most of us have an instinctual emotional reaction to them. Why? Because these words carry moral implications. Shouldn’t we do all those things? Isn’t that what Jesus did? Yes, and yes. However, there are a bunch of linguistically-thefted words going on here.

When altered definitions of these words are culturally accepted, there becomes a moral imperative to respond as society deems fit, not how God sees fit.

Let’s break these buzzwords down one-by-one and then look at what assumptions they smuggle into their definitions. (And don’t forget to see the next blog where we ROAR through this, discussing what they get right!… and where lies have snuck in.)

Buzz-Word Overview:“Privilege”Formal Definition: An advantage, right, or immunity only granted to the few, and typically in relation to being in a high position of a company or high status in society.

What we assume they mean: The proverbial “silver spoon” that a person is born with, usually in terms of wealthy parents.

The overly simplistic summary of what they actually mean: White people with their white privilege. (But really, it can extend to basically anything that benefits a person–espeically if that person is white–if it isn’t automatically given to everyone… like parents who read to you as a child. Or good parenting in general.) No matter what it is, if it wasn’t given to everyone, it’s a privilage, and you need to check it before you wreck it.

(Wanna know how “privileged” you are? Just take this quiz! Heads up, though. If you are heterosexual, feel comfortable with your gender, and have never “felt poor,” you’ve just racked up some serious privilege points. Extra points if you’re a papa bear.)

“Oppression”Formal Definition: Being under unjustified control or enduring unjust treatment.

What we assume they mean: Living under a regime that withholds basic, equal, human rights in a manner that you cannot overcome.

The overly simplistic summary of what they actually mean: Being poor or a person of color who now can’t access the privileges of rich, white people. (If you are white, your white privilege wipes out any of your poverty oppression though.) Beyond money and skin color, they can apply this word to literally anything that either currently or has historically created/resulted in inequalities between groups, regardless of whether it is within their control. And this is mostly all group related, not individual related because social justice advocates often think only in terms of a person’s group identity.

“Marginalized” Formal Definition: Viewed as less significant, lower status, and holding minimal amounts of power and influence.

What we assume they mean: People who have been unfairly forced outside of a group, polite company, or have been thrust to the margins of society to be forgotten and ignored.

The overly simplistic summary of what they actually mean: Everyone who does not feel equally normal within a group or society no matter if it is based on their ethnicity, criminal history, immigration, sexuality, religion, perceived gender identity, or–now–even how they choose to behave or dress.

“Equity”Formal Definition: The state of being treated with fairness and impartiality.

What we assume they mean: Nobody unfairly gets more or less than another person. (And “fainess” is defined according to contribution, not need)

The overly simplistic summary of what they actually mean: Everyone gets whatever they need in order to have equal outcomes with everyone else. Fairness is determined by need, not contribution.

The assumptions:

Each of these words smuggles in a lot of social justice assumptions. For example, the social justice version of an ideal society means that:

There are no (low, middle, upper) class distinctions.
Everyone has equal access to the same things at the same quality.
Everyone feels accepted, respected, and celebrated. (As if we could really control how people “feel”…)

This is our culture’s idea of “equity.” Once you assume that the above are “rights” or how a “good society” should look, then anything that opposes it (or makes it harder to achieve) will be considered oppressive. The only solution at that point is to play “find the oppression.” And friends, it’s funny how when we assume that something is the root cause, we will always find “evidence” to bolster that assumption. It’s amazing how you can always find what you’re looking for.

Since we witness all three of those aspects (class distinctions, unequal access or quality, and people who don’t feel celebrated), then finding the “oppression” means finding the oppressor who has robbed these people of their rights to identical outcomes. And, according to critical theory, oppression is due to the “privileged” using their power and advantages to further marginalize others, whether or not it’s intentional. Do you see the ideological connection between all of these “buzzwords”? Once your kids understand the big ideological picture, it will be a lot easier to compare it to a biblical worldview.

In the next blog, we are going to talk about what they get right, what they get wrong, and how we can talk to our kids about it. So, we’re going to ROAR through these buzzwords! Read it here now!

Hillary and AlexaHillary and Alexa love writing together, so this piece is a little bit of both of them.

The post What do they mean when they say equity, privilege, marginalized, and oppression? appeared first on Mama Bear Apologetics.

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Spoilers for the film Wicked* (2024) ahead. Stop reading if you don’t want to know what happens in the film. Also, this is about the film, not about the book by Gregory Maguire or the Broadway musical.**

A lot of opinions are circling the interwebs as to whether Christians should see the film, Wicked. While there are definitely certain unredeemable media that we here at Mama Bear Apologetics feel totally comfortable giving a black-and-white “NO” to (cough Fifty Shades cough), most of the time we just try to give you some things to think through and leave it up to you and the Holy Spirit. That’s where we’re at with Wicked. It’s not for everybody, particularly those who themselves (or their kids) are sensitive to themes containing witchcraft. For instance, there is a scene towards the end of the movie when Elphaba, the green witch, casts a spell from a spell book, and it is very unsettling, especially for those who are spiritually sensitive.

Also, parents should be aware that one of the opening scenes implies an extramarital affair. And if you do choose to see the movie, be prepared for depictions of “queerness” which at times is blatant and slightly obnoxious (just sayin’). That being said, we’re not here to give you a play-by-play or even a movie review. We’re here to do what we do best: to help parents guide their kiddos in discerning through messages being sent by the culture around us.

We’re here to do what we do best: to help parents guide their kiddos in discerning through messages being sent by the culture around us. #wickedfilm #wicked
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A quick bare bones need-to-know summary: Wicked is a spin-off of the Wizard of Oz, which depicts the origin story of the Wicked Witch of the West. Elphaba is born green and has mysterious powers she can’t control, and she is treated horribly by other humans for being different. Animals, however, show her kindness and understanding. She meets Glinda (the future “Good Witch” from the Wizard of Oz) at Shiz University. Initially, the two start out as enemies, but eventually befriend one another. They travel to Emerald City to meet the Wizard, and it turns out (spoiler alert) he’s a big fat sleazy manipulator!

The Wizard and the Headmistress of Shiz University are extremely interested in Elphaba’s powers. Elphaba realizes she is being used for her powers to oppress animals, and she decides that rather than comply with the “system,” she will “defy gravity,” become her own authority, and fight for the justice of her world’s talking animals! Meanwhile, Glinda, who desperately wants everyone to like her, chooses to put her trust in the corrupt Wizard and evil headmistress despite witnessing for herself their true wickedness.

Now let’s ROAR!

Recognize the MessagePeople become “wicked” because of things that happened to them.Our culture is obsessed with villain origin stories (the Joker, Cruella, Loki, etc.). We love to ask the question, “How did this person become so evil?” Wicked is yet another depiction of a character who has been long perceived as pure evil, but when you peel back the layers to see why they act as they do, you’ll find that there is goodness buried somewhere inside their hearts.

Naivety can lead to participating in a wicked and oppressive system.As cute and charming as Glinda (ahem, I mean GAH-linda) is, her narcissistic attitude blinds her to the injustice of the oppression of talking animals. She is so obsessed with approval of those in power that she prefers to naively submit to oppressive authoritarians, convincing herself that they are good even with clear evidence that they are not. Glinda begs Elphaba to trust the Wizard because he must have a good reason for what he’s doing! As a result, Glinda participates in an oppressive system. Viewers should come away with the message that naivety is no excuse. Submitting to oppressive leaders and going along with their system is wrong.

The (seemingly) good guy might actually be the bad guy.Beware of the ones who you trust who have power and control over you. They may have all the appearances of being good and trustworthy and of having good intentions for you. But do they really?

Offer DiscernmentTRUTH #1: Understanding a person’s circumstances can help us have more compassion and grace for them. When we see something in someone that we don’t understand (or don’t like), it is always a good idea to get to know them better in hopes of understanding them better. We develop habits, attitudes, and defense mechanisms as we grow, depending on what was encouraged in our family of origin or the aspects from which we needed to protect ourselves.

TRUTH #2: Our circumstances do have an effect on us.The age-old nature-nurture controversy is alive and well. There are some people who are born with propensities no matter what kind of environment they are in. (We see this all the time with biological siblings who couldn’t be more different.) On the other hand, we cannot deny that our environment has a significant effect on us. However, we should be careful to not make an explanation into an excuse. We are ultimately responsible for our choices, no matter what kind of hand we are dealt.

TRUTH #3: We should not strive for the approval of men.Can we say yay for examples of standing up for what is right, even when everyone else is trying to “go along to get along”?

TRUTH #4: Ignorance is not an excuse to participate in injustice. (‘nuff said)

Ignorance is not an excuse to participate in injustice. #wicked #wickedfilm
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TRUTH #5: People can deceive us. (‘nuff said)So while we applaud the truths that Wicked espouses (and we should use them as jumping off points to talk with our kids!), there are a number of totally unbiblical lies that have snuck in too.

LIE #1: People are inherently good.Hollywood is obsessed with the “noble villain” – the person who had all the goodness beaten out of them by evil, oppressive systems. Without these horrible experiences, they would have (of course) been totally altruistic, kind, and heroic. Mama Bears, this is the opposite of the biblical worldview. Yes, we humans have a latent imago dei; most everyone is born with an innate sense of good and evil. Romans 2:15 reminds us that God’s law is written on our hearts. However, our inclinations are usually more prone to pride and selfishness than goodness and self-sacrifice.

Just observe your kids. Where have they ever seen you or your husband bashing each other over the head to get to a toy? They didn’t have to learn that behavior; that feature came standard–with the creation of the child. So, do not confuse a person’s knowledge of good and evil (or even their desire to be good) with the lie that we humans are basically good. We’re not. Ask anyone who has studied genocides. It is not usually some strange monster who perpetrates the atrocities that we see in crimes against humanity. It is often the average, everyday person.

LIE #2: Magic/sorcery is a neutral tool, and whether it’s good or evil depends on how you use it.This is one of those lies that is sneaking into a lot of our programming. Our society seems to be suddenly obsessed with the idea of “good” forms of the occult. Just ask any self-proclaimed witch (ahem…actress Ariana Grande herself1), and they’ll tell you that they are doing “white” witchcraft… as if there were such a thing. Mama Bears, no. There is no such thing as white magic. There is no such thing as a good witch. And for those of you who feel that you need to stay away from Wicked entirely because–for you–it would be participating in the deeds of darkness (Ephesians 5:11), stay away! Listen to that voice of the Holy Spirit.

Argue for a Healthier ApproachSo how do we think about good versus evil? God and His goodness are not ambiguous, nor are they “nuanced.”

God is ALL good. Everything God does and commands is ALWAYS good. The objective moral system that permeates our reality flows from His very nature. Right is right and wrong is wrong. But why does it seem so confusing sometimes? Why are people such a mixed bag of goodness and evil? Why does it seem like the most evil people really do have tragic pasts? Any of our confusion around morality is not because God has been confusing. Rather, because of sin we have really muddied up our worldview lenses. It can be hard to see clearly, and we need the sanctification of the Holy Spirit to clear them up for us!

Any of our confusion around morality is not because God has been confusing. Rather, because of sin we have really muddied up our worldview lenses.
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So we were created with the ability to represent God and His work here on Earth. But since God lovingly endowed us with free will, we have the choice to commit good (living up to His image) or to commit evil (distorting His image). As testified by our everyday experience, each human is a mixed bag of both choices.

Reinforce Through Discipleship, Discussion, and Prayer1. Know your (and your child’s) level of spiritual sensitivity. Some people may find Wicked to be a very fun, fantasy-based musical. Others (like one of our mama bears) could not even look at the promo poster without having spiritual discomfort well up inside. A lady Hillary saw the movie with had to physically get up and leave when Elphaba started speaking aloud the spells in the book. (Hillary said she also felt something spiritually dark during that scene.) Different people have different spiritual sensitivities. Listen to them.

Know you and your child’s level of occult fascination. Look out for how fascinated your child is (or you are!) with occult themes. Are they tempted to think that witchcraft is cool to imitate? Do they secretly want to be a “good witch” even though they know that there’s “no such thing”? If so, maybe for you, stay away. We do not want to elevate something that is already a struggle. If you’re a theater kid who can spot the nonsense, but you love the music and you can partake without being affected, that’s between you and God. Romans 14:5 – each one should be fully convinced in their own mind. (Meaning, that you have already taken it before God, and He’s told you if this is for you and your kids, or not.)
Talk to your child about the world’s idea that humans are inherently good. Read Luke 4:1-14 and ask your kiddo, “Did Jesus sin when He was tempted?” (No!) Talk about how Jesus had been fasting in the wilderness for 40 days. He had deprived Himself of His basic needs yet still overcame temptation because He IS inherently morally good. Next, read about the fall of Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:1-7). Talk about how they had everything they could ever need and want (fruit from any tree but one, a home in a beautiful garden, fellowship with God), yet they still chose to sin. Can their sin be blamed on circumstances? What does that say about how we should think about our own sin?

What did you think of the Wicked film? Share with us in the comments!

Hillary and AlexaHillary and Alexa love writing together, so this piece is a little bit of both of them.

1 https://www.movieguide.org/news-articles/a-literal-witch-wickeds-ariana-grande-practices-occult.htmlThe post ROARing Through the Wicked Film appeared first on Mama Bear Apologetics.

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This year’s presidential election season was one of the most contentious I’ve ever experienced. And “women’s rights” or “reproductive rights” were front and center of some of the most vitriolic political sparring. We are all SO ready for the election stuff to end, and it’s tempting to just breathe a sigh of relief now that it’s over. But we have a point of mourning here, Mama Bears: When push comes to shove, we as Christians didn’t win; we just didn’t openly lose. I’m not talking about the economy or even freedom of religion. I’m talking about all the abortion legislation on state ballots.

Why are we concerned? I mean we overturned Roe, right? We need to remember (because everyone seems to still be confused about this) that overturning Roe v. Wade merely didn’t outlaw abortion; it just turned the decision back over to the states to decide. When the decision was put in the voters’ hands, the pro-life issue lost in almost every place it was on the ballot. Clearly, we have a whole generation that believes killing children is not just a basic right but is fundamentally necessary for us to live our best life now.

It wasn’t all bad news, so let’s start with something we can celebrate: Florida failed to get the 60% majority for Amendment 4 (which would have permitted abortion until the point of viability). But both Missouri and Arizona (states where conservatives generally won) overturned their near-abortion bans, which previously had only “life of the mother” exceptions. Colorado passed a ballot initiative that not only permits abortion for any reason through all nine months of pregnancy but will use public funds to pay for them. And Montana overwhelmingly voted for an explicit right to an abortion which only permits the state to legislate abortion following viability. Therefore, the state legislature could potentially permit abortion through all nine months. The Montana amendment also uses public funds and does not require parental consent for teens. (Tylenol? Cough drop? Gotta have signed parental permission. Suctioning their grandchild out of their daughter? No permission required.)

Now more than ever, we need to dispel the myths surrounding “reproductive rights” because politicians and social justice advocates are using these ideas to sway Americans to make decisions that have serious ramifications. We’ll have a later post about “reproductive rights,” but in order to combat the chokehold abortion has on our country, we need to unpack the underlying assumptions of the “reproductive rights” position.

Assumption #1 – Equality requires unlimited access to abortion. Our culture seems to have an underlying assumption that for women to have equal access to economic independence and societal equality, women require unfettered access to abortion at any time for any reason without any limits. If they can’t have this right, they will be automatically tethered to home and children instead of pursuing their dreams. Men don’t have to face the issue of an unwanted pregnancy; “fair” and “just” means that women shouldn’t either, right? (This assumption also seems to ignore the millions of women who are successful while embracing motherhood.)

Another part of this assumption is that if you don’t have a uterus, you don’t get to have a say. Ignoring the fact that if we followed this assumption the original Roe v. Wade decision would have to be discounted, this is not a standard we use in any other aspect of law. We all are supposed to participate in protecting the innocent from those who would ignore their human rights. You don’t have to have experienced evil to recognize it and seek to stop it.

Unfortunately, legally in our country, men don’t get a say in whether a baby lives or dies. If the mother wants to abdicate her responsibility to her child through abortion, she can, but the government can mandate the father’s participation at least financially.

Assumption #2 – Reproductive rights means nothing is off-limits.While the average pro-choice woman probably wouldn’t take this position, legislators are another matter. The most vocal pro-abortion advocates refuse to set any limits on abortion. None. You’d be hard-pressed to find any legislator on the left who will publicly propose developmental limits on abortion. One of the most egregious examples was that under Tim Walz, Minnesota removed wording from the law that required a doctor to attempt to “preserve the life and health of the born alive infant” after a failed abortion attempt.

One suggested plan is to make abortion the law of the land in every state. In a candid interview about restoring the perceived federal abortion rights granted under Roe, Vice President Kamala Harris clearly said she would not make any exceptions, including religious ones, to requiring every nurse, doctor, hospital, and clinic to provide abortions regardless of religious or moral objections:

“What concessions would be on the table? Religious exemptions, for example – is that something that you would consider?” Jackson asked.

“I don’t think we should be making concessions when we’re talking about a fundamental freedom to make decisions about your own body,” Harris responded.”

Yeah, we know this is a violation of the First Amendment and an affront to the values that our Constitution guarantees. However, proponents seem to think that the right to take the life of your child is more fundamental than the right to religious freedom.

Reproductive justice advocates also believe in taxpayer-funded abortions since the cost might be prohibitive for women in poorer communities, and that laws inhibiting abortion access unequally impact minorities, the poor, and the LGBTQ community (notice they don’t say women because they can’t without excluding transgender individuals who still retain their biologically female organs).

Assumption #3 – Abortions are healthcare.

Healthcare implies offering medical care that promotes returning a patient to a healthy state, but pregnancy isn’t an illness that requires curing.
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While some people say abortions are like having a tooth pulled, that just isn’t reality. (Besides the fact that abortions are inherently unsafe because they always deliberately take the life of a human being.) Abortions carry risks for the mother. We just don’t have as much solid data as we would like due to the lack of required reporting on abortions in general. However, the complication rate is at least 2.1-2.9%, even using the very conservative pro-abortion statistics that are significantly under-reported (often using faulty studies),meaning somewhere around 20,000 women end up in the ER following an abortion attempt each year (depending on the number of abortions/year), and several thousand have severe complications that are life-altering or lead to death.

Physical complications are not the only risks; one study showed 44% of women said they regretted their abortion and many reported the depression and grief persisted for more than a decade. Abortion is not the kind of procedure that a woman easily forgets. It is far from simple, emotionally or physically. If we’re trying to care for and protect women, we need to take into account the very real trauma that follows and seek to prevent it.

Assumption #4 – Women will die from ectopic pregnancies or miscarriages without legal access to abortion.Unfortunately, women have died in states with laws that limited or banned abortions, but those deaths were entirely preventable. No state prevents doctors from treating women who are experiencing a miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy.

In an ectopic pregnancy, the embryo is implanted in a fallopian tube which will –100% of the time – end in death for the fetus. Removing it before it also kills the mother is not the same thing as a deliberate killing of a viable embryo. In a miscarriage, that life has already been lost. No state prohibits doctors from treating either ectopic pregnancies or miscarriages. Doctors who fail to act in this situation are guilty of malpractice. They are either woefully or willfully ignorant of the laws governing the appropriate standard of medical care for women in these tragic situations.

Assumption #5 – Women have no other help available for an unwanted pregnancy. Abortion advocates often share truly tragic stories of desperate women to persuade us that abortions are necessary. They describe women in abusive relationships who can’t bear to bring another life into that situation, women facing tremendous poverty who can’t feed the children they already have, or horrifically, women who have been assaulted and become pregnant as a result. These stories should give us pause.

We should stop to consider how we can be compassionate and seek to alleviate their pain without compromising on God’s morality. But we should also ask what help abortion advocates are offering to escape these tragic situations. Abortions. That’s it. These women need so much more, but most abortion clinics only offer them services connected to abortions or pregnancy prevention, not counseling or legal assistance. And while abortion advocates claim to be pro-choice, if a woman dares to choose life, she will find herself without many options at abortion clinics. Not only do these clinics not offer any other solutions for pregnant women, but some advocates are openly trying to shut down the very pregnancy centers that would offer alternatives! So much for “choice” or “informed consent.”

While many people don’t know about options available to women facing unplanned pregnancies, women do have choices. One option is a Pregnancy Resource Center (PRC) or a Crisis Pregnancy Center. These centers directly confront one of the greatest pro-abortion lies, namely that pro-life advocates only care about babies being born, not about the mother or helping her raise the babies. However, this could not be further from the truth. Pregnancy Resource Centers (mostly staffed by pro-life volunteers) offer numerous services to help women in crisis and outnumber abortion clinics by approximately 3 to 1.

Although several prominent politicians have openly called these kinds of clinics “deceptive” or even “torture” and have tried to shut them down, PRC’s are the most likely place a woman will find actual choices, help, and the support she truly needs–and usually for free! PRCs offer loads of services, including ultrasounds (ones in which the mother is allowed to see and hear her baby), counseling, job assistance, education assistance, relationship classes, parenting classes, baby and young child supplies (sometimes even cribs and nursery furniture), even post-abortive counseling for women and men, referrals to adoptive agencies, and help applying for various forms of government assistance. All of these things can help women facing a crisis pregnancy instead of ending the life of an innocent human being. To learn more about PRCs in your area, click here.

Adoption is another option. Some women choose to give life to their babies but share them through adoption with parents who are in a better position to care for them. (BTW, babies placed for adoption through private agencies are never in the foster system. They are immediately placed in loving homes chosen by the birth family).

Even if a child were to end up in the foster care system, that’s not a viable reason to kill a child. We don’t kill children already in the foster system. Why would we kill those who MIGHT end up there? And the children who end up in the foster system are still made in the image of God and deserve protection. We should fix the broken system, not murder people who might need to use it. This argument is similar to countries like Iceland, which have supposedly “eradicated Down Syndrome”… by aborting all the babies diagnosed with Down Syndrome. You can pretty much solve any problem by killing the people who are suffering. Is that a Pandora’s box we really want to open?

Failing to embrace the beautiful calling of parenthood is also tragic. My heart breaks for the losses these young people are running toward without understanding what they are losing. As Christians, we need to lead more people away from the darkness of these lies and into the light because we know ideas have consequences and bad ideas have victims. And these bad ideas have millions of victims a year. It’s impossible to count the physical or spiritual costs.

Assumption #6 – Self-control violates our sexual freedom.A massive myth has engulfed our world like a black hole, sucking in all the light–and that is the idea that no one should have to practice self-control when it comes to sex. But, we all have to control various impulses all the time. I can’t eat everything I crave or I’d be the size of a house. I can’t drive however I want without getting a ticket. Why do we think people simply can’t be expected to practice self-control when it comes to sex? As believers, we know self-control is a fruit of the Spirit for a reason. But all people need to practice it, especially when the stakes are high. Sex is a wonderful, amazing gift from God to join a married man and woman physically, emotionally, and spiritually, but when it’s abused, it causes all sorts of havoc.

As powerful and important as sex is, it should be something we treat with greater respect, not less.
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Assumption #7 – Babies don’t get human rights until they are “viable.”This last one is pretty insidious because it almost sounds reasonable. The assumption is that the unborn do not have human rights until the point of viability. First, viability is not a set line. It depends on our current scientific technology, which advances regularly and differs from hospital to hospital. Should someone’s right to life be based on location? If you’re lucky enough to be at a hospital with a NICU, you get to live? Are babies at 18 weeks that are fully formed, can feel pain, respond to stimuli, and move of their own volition really not human? Viability is an arbitrary threshold that seeks to remove the human rights of the unborn and definitely removes the humanity of everyone involved.

What is the reality when it comes to reproductive rights?No one should have their right to reproduce taken unfairly. The government should not have a say in when adults choose to start a family. However, that isn’t what is happening. Abortion ends the life of an already existing human being. Pro-life advocates just argue that the time to plan your parenthood is before creating an innocent human life, not after.

As we discussed in our first article in the Buzzwords series, justice is a biblical mandate. People should be treated fairly without regard to ethnicity, skin color, intelligence, appearance, political or religious beliefs, economic status, or developmental age. Biblical justice means the law applies equally to everyone, and everyone should be given the same rights under the law.

Because our human rights begin with the right to life as stated in our Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Our government didn’t give anyone human rights. Our creator did. Our government’s job is to protect the rights endowed by our Creator. We cannot support any government or ideology that contradicts who God is and who He says we are.

In fact, God detests it according to Proverbs 6:16-17:

“There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood.”

Abortion sheds innocent blood, and that blood is on our hands. It’s not too late for us to do something about it, though. There are practical steps we can take to make an impact. We need to reject the assumptions and accept the reality that our hearts and minds need to change so that we can fully commit ourselves to saving the unborn.

Changing Hearts and MindsWhy is this issue so important to not only Mama Bear Apologetics but also to me? Because I used to think I could be a Christian and be pro-choice. (How? First, I was more of a cultural Christian than a sold out for Jesus Christian). But two things changed my mind over time: science and God. Science clearly shows we are human from the beginning, and we have no scientific means of removing the status of human from the unborn. If it’s human, it gets human rights. And because God changed my heart of stone to a heart of flesh, I started to realize the sacred quality of human life and became passionate about the truth I had missed for so long.

We need to help more people start to open their eyes to the horrors of abortion. Do you feel like you need more help talking about pro-life issues with your pro-abortion friends? This week is a perfect opportunity to address the assumptions behind reproductive rights with the truth (in love). To have some helpful talking points, check out this episode of the Mama Bear Podcast.

If this issue is near to your heart or you want to learn more, volunteer at a local pregnancy resource center or foster care clothing closet. Maybe find out what it takes to become a foster parent or respite care for foster parents in your area. Do you know a single mother? I bet she is struggling right now. Can you bring her a meal, offer to babysit, or just hold her baby while she showers or sweeps the floor? Sometimes, getting involved in loving people closest to us makes the biggest impact on them (and us).

God tasked believers with loving the least of these, not our governments. Let’s be about our Father’s business as we seek to change hearts and minds about abortion.
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Remember a lot of people are completely held captive by the destructive ideology of abortion. They are fearful and distraught after last week’s election. Some truly believe democracy has died and that conservatives want to make The Handmaid’s Tale a reality instead of making 1984 fiction again. How we approach people now will affect if we are effective in persuading them to see the truth. Don’t miss the chance to love people during this confusing time.

Jennifer DefratesJennifer DeFrates is a former high school teacher turned homeschool mom and Christian blogger at Heavennotharvard.com and theMamapologist.com. Jennifer is a CIA graduate (the Cross-Examined Instructors Academy, not the government agency…though I wouldn’t mess with her just in case) and has an abiding love for apologetics. She is also the reluctant ringleader of a small menagerie in rural Alabama. How cool is that?

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When I was little, my mom used to take me with her into the voting booth. I remember crowding around her legs as she stood in front of the voting machine to cast her ballot. The process seemed solemn and mysterious. Politics didn’t seem to be discussed much when I was a child. While people had access to newspapers and television, the coverage was limited to an hour here and there (I kind of miss not having news every second of our day), and life felt much more insulated from every political event happening around the world. Of course, politics affected our lives, but I never felt like it was something we focused on.

However, with 24-hour news cycles and video content continuously shoved in our faces (let’s be honest, we often willingly seek out and consume the content), politics are more front and center in our culture than ever before. While we can (and sometimes should) shield our children from some of what is going on out there, we can’t protect them from all the political news or propaganda. And they will be much better served if we teach them how we navigate tough issues biblically. Our last political blog, “Navigating the American Political Landscape,” walked you through how to navigate the rocky political landscape as Christians and voters, but here we want to give you some ways to do so as a parent, guiding your children to know how our faith should govern our choices whether they be in our daily actions or voting in elections.

Personal character speaks volumes.I am old enough to remember when the character of a candidate at least appeared to matter. I remember when exposed extra-marital affairs could end a politician’s career. Sadly, that isn’t the case anymore. It’s not only no longer shocking but expected that politicians are sinful and corrupt. Yet, there are still some good people in politics and the character of the candidates should matter.

As Christians, we should look for people who practice what they preach, candidates who have a track record of honesty and integrity.
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Read Ruth, Esther, or the stories of David and Saul from 1 Samuel. Ask your children to identify positive and negative traits or actions of the biblical figures. Have the kids name the traits or deeds and explain why they were good or bad. Reinforce the concept that what is good or bad comes from God.

Encourage them to look for these traits in the candidates. If there ever is a truly good candidate again, they hopefully will be able to recognize him or her and be able to use discernment to examine their decisions and policies in light of God’s truths.

How can we explain who to support when neither candidate is honest nor decent?This seems to be the question everyone is asking this year. What do we do when don’t like either candidate? (Hillary’s husband, John, wrote about that in a blog called “What If I Don’t Like Either Candidate?” that might be helpful. Read it here.) First, we start with looking at the platform that each candidate endorses. Consider the impact of their policies on our freedoms, rights, economy, etc.

Measure their views against the Bible. How do their policies protect the innocent? How do their policies affect the widow and the orphan? Do their policies align with what the Bible says is true about mankind and how we are to behave? (If you’d like to read each party’s platforms for yourself, here is the Democratic platform and here is the Republican.)

This is a wonderful opportunity to teach your children age-appropriate ways to compare what God’s Word says with various messages and ideas. Here are a couple of examples.

Pro-Life – We value human life because it is a gift from God. No child is conceived on accident, and every human life is made in the image of God. Read Jeremiah 1:5 and Psalm 139:15-16 with your children. Both passages demonstrate that God knit each of us together in our mother’s womb. Ask your children if they can think of any other examples of verses that talk about preborn life (hint: John the Baptist in the womb Luke 1:41-4). Then ask them what these passages tell us about preborn infants? How does God think about babies? Then show them how those truths inform how we vote and what policies we support. We cannot vote for any platform, policy, or person who ignores these most basic of truths. Human beings have the right to life from conception to natural death. When neither candidate is staunchly pro-life, we must choose the platform that protects life the most and get more involved in local and state elections to help more pro-life candidates reach the national level.

Marriage and Family (and gender) – We should also vote in ways that honor God’s design for marriage and family. From the very beginning, God created them male and female and defined marriage and family. As a family, read the account of God’s creation of man and woman in Genesis 1:27 and 2:18-24 and where Jesus reaffirms God’s design in Matthew 19:4-6. Then discuss the following questions:

What do these passages tell us about God’s design for humanity?
Who created marriage?
Who designed and defined our gender?
Do we have the right to change God’s design or change how He made us?

God’s design is best for society and culture. While not every marriage follows God’s design, overall strong marriages create strong families, which in turn create good societies, so we should support policies that follow God’s design and oppose those that lead to confusion.

Okay, those are pretty easy issues to interpret using scripture. What about issues that are more complex like immigration, medical insurance, fair income taxes? Some topics are going to take more research and might be too big to tackle with little ones. However, knowing how God’s word relates to various topics is going to be more and more crucial, especially if you have kids coming home from school being taught a very humanistic worldview.

Widows, Orphans, and…Since my husband died, I’ve become acutely aware of how many times the God mentions caring for the widow and the orphan in the Bible. It’s a lot. Psalm 68:5 tells us that God is the Father to the fatherless and protector of widows. Exodus 22:22-23 warns not to mistreat them. James 1:27 says that pure religion is a faith that cares for the widows and orphans.

But who was supposed to do this? 1 Timothy 5 says first their family, then the church if they had no family. God called us as individuals to care for the widows and orphans in our sphere. Is there a kid without a dad in your neighborhood? Can you invite him to join your family for a fishing trip? Can you mow the lawn for a widow on your street?

Should the government be structured to be fair to the widow and orphan? Absolutely. However, we need to consider how policies will actually affect people. Sometimes, well-meaning policies have lasting negative consequences. The government generally doesn’t do a great job in the areas where God has called the church to act.

… the Sojourner (i.e. immigrants)Immigration is one of those nuanced topics in which we need to be very careful about our terminology. An immigrant is anyone coming into a different country than their nation of origin. We further differentiate between those who come into our country legally or illegally. But how should Christians think about this issue?

First, anyone we come into personal contact with is made in the image of God no matter where they call home. We are called to treat each person with worth and value. Hebrews 13:2 exhorts us to demonstrate hospitality. Leviticus 19:33-34 instructs us to treat the sojourner the same as the native. We are to be compassionate and demonstrate mercy.

Yet, we need to understand the Bible definition of sojourner. Sojourners also had requirements, mainly to assimilate into Hebrew culture, following the Mosaic Law (Leviticus 18:26, Numbers 15:14-15). Israel had one law that applied to both the Israelite and sojourners.

Romans 13 also makes clear that we are to obey the law of the land and the rulers unless they call on us to violate God’s moral law. While we can all agree that our nation’s immigration system needs a massive overhaul, the Bible doesn’t allow people to break the law because it will be better for them. Coming into our country illegally violates the law. While we can have compassion, the circumstances of most of these people are beyond tragic, however, breaking the law is still sin.

But what if your kids ask, “Wasn’t Jesus a socialist?”This could be its own article, but quickly, no, He wasn’t. First, much of God’s law that was given to Moses is based on the idea of private property and the need to repay people for damaging their property (Deuteronomy 5:19). God is so emphatic on personal property that a family was not even permitted to sell their familial land permanently; land was always returned to the original owners every 50 years during the year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25:13). Socialism does not have private property. Secondly, Daniel 4:17 clearly shows that God, the Most High, gives power and wealth to whom He will to serve His purposes. Also, read Matthew 25:14-30. Jesus tells a parable of three different servants trusted with three differing amounts of money. They started with different advantages. Wouldn’t Jesus address this if it were inherently unfair? Maybe brainstorm with your children why the master might have given some servants more money? We are not all called to have the same; we are all called to do the best with whatever we have been given.

While Jesus did call on the rich young ruler to sell all his possessions and give them to the poor (Matthew 19:21-24), He did not call everyone to do so. Perhaps that young man needed to see that he loved his money more than Jesus.

We are to glorify God in how we use what He has entrusted to our stewardship. That means being generous to the poor and needy, but we don’t abdicate that responsibility to a secular (and often godless) government and hope they get it right.

How do you handle these more nuanced topics with your children?These kinds of topics are where you need to dig in deep. You might need to do some research before you sit down with your kids. First, do your best to understand the proposed plans from each side and how they will play out in the real world. Like shutting down an oil pipeline might be safer for the natural environment in case of leaks or spills, but how will it affect gas prices, food prices, and electricity costs? All policy decisions have ripple effects which impact peoples’ lives. You can help your kids see this through Bible stories about men who made sinful choices and how those choices affected their families or Israel as a whole. (Exodus 20:5 shows how an idolatrous father can affect generations, King Ahab from 1 Kings 16-21, Korah from Numbers 16, and most of the kings of Israel in 1&2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles.)

Additionally, remind your children what the Bible says about our human nature. We are sinful and have a fallen nature. Which platform, candidate, or policy denies our sinfulness and ascribes natural goodness to all? Take the platform to its logical conclusion and discuss. Have your kids evaluate if it’s really a good idea. Does it align with Scripture? Can we look to the past to see how similar policies affected our nation or others? Look at the platforms of both parties and ask your kids to consider how each one would work in the real world and how those policies align with who God is and how He commands us to live.

Discuss with your children how a candidate is more than one office in many elections. A governor or presidential candidate may appoint hundreds or thousands of people (I heard one candidate mention in an interview this week that the president appoints 10,000 people!) to various high-level offices and appoint judges to different levels of the court system. Consider carefully which viewpoints you want those appointees to hold. The previous four presidents all appointed hundreds of judges to the federal court system. In many cases, they hold long or lifetime appointments. The impact of judicial appointments was very clear when Roe v. Wade was recently overturned.

Teach your children that we don’t vote our feelings.We can’t say this enough right now. Our culture is feeling the feelings. And they seem to be counted more crucial than facts. Emotions are real, but they are not always true. Sometimes, we can feel totally worthless and depressed, but all we really need is a sandwich or a nap (1 Kings 19). We need to base our thinking on solid foundations, not ones that are so temperamental. And empathy for others can be toxic when it leads to policies that hurt others. Have your children research the effects of welfare. Did it help or hurt? How can they make sure a policy that sounds kind is also wise.

Because most media is run by ad revenue, what we see and hear is perfectly curated to evoke strong feelings in us and be persuasive, whether it’s for a tissue brand, soft drink, or political candidate. People make their livings on being able to get us to override logic based on our emotions. Don’t fall for that and show your kids how to think through propaganda. The podcast Filter it through a Brain Cell is an excellent resource in this arena!

Another interesting method is watching political ads without the sound, using just closed captions. It’s amazing how much of the power in an ad or movie is in the musical score.

Read through slogans and watch ads to determine what each candidate endorses and recommends. If the candidate is vague, that speaks volumes as well. Why are they being vague? What are they trying to mask? Sometimes it might be that they haven’t fleshed out a solid proposal on an issue, but sometimes, he/she might deliberately be trying to keep their true intentions secret to win those middle of the road voters. Look at their past records as candidates and in office. What did bills and policies did they support or oppose? What is their track record in office? How well did they fulfill their campaign promises?

For older kids on social mediaHow we behave online can have a huge influence on others. I’ve had lots of hostile interactions regarding my pro-life views and had people (even strangers) message me about how impressed they were with how calmly and rationally and kindly I acted even when I was being attacked. Remind your teens we are blessed when we are attacked for the truth and name of Christ. Don’t let it upset you. Do your best to represent Christ as you strive to share His truths. And especially remind them that we don’t debate to convince the person we’re talking to, we aim our demeanor at all the people who are watching the interaction. More than likely, you won’t change your sparring partner’s mind. But you might change the mind of onlookers—but only if you keep your cool and keep it kind.

Also, tell them to do their best to fact check articles and memes before posting. We all fail at this sometimes but try to at least find a couple of sources that verify the information you’re about to share. Images can be extremely powerful, but it’s never acceptable to knowingly share false or misleading information because it makes your point. The ends do not justify the means.

Before sharing news articles, read opposing sources. How did the other side characterize the same event? Having enemy attestation of facts that make a powerful point, is even better. I often have found an opposing article that proves my point to share because it’s much more effective when a source your friends or family might trust says the same things.

Speak wisely.Each of us has an influence in this election far beyond our vote. You have a sphere of influence starting with your children and including friends, family, neighbors who are watching and listening. How you act speaks volumes. Your kids have those spheres of influence too. Help them learn how to have good conversations even about difficult topics. Teach them to be bridge builders (Bridge-Building Apologetics is an excellent resource by our very own Lindsey Medenwaldt).

Teach your children to ignore ad hominem attacks (personal attacks) on the candidates (or directed at them) and focus on the issues. Keep the main thing the main thing. For example, “Okay, we can agree he is kind of a jerk, but let’s focus on the issue of ____.” Don’t get caught in the emotions of having a tough discussion. Remember, people generally won’t have a political epiphany and change their views on the spot. Teach them to ask their friends the same questions we’ve asked you like:

How would that work?
What do you think that would solve?
Are there foreseeable consequences to that solution that might cause other problems?
How did you come to those conclusions?

Help your children remember to always represent Jesus. Sometimes the way they act will influence their friends more than any carefully crafted arguments.
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But what can we DO?We are supposed to be the salt and light of the world. In her forthcoming When Culture Hates You, Natasha Crain points out that verses like John 3;19-21, 8:12, and Ephesians 5:11 are about those roles of preserving (salt) what is good and (light) exposing what is not. She says, “They require Christians to advocate for righteousness in the public square. We aren’t preserving or exposing anything by sitting passively in our living rooms.”1

If your kids are anything like mine, they want to do something. Start with fasting (take a tv or phone break, skip dessert, etc.) and praying as a family. When Nehemiah agonized over the state of Jerusalem, he spent days weeping, fasting, and praying.

Ask God for wisdom in how you and your family can make a tangible difference in your area. Can your kids collect canned goods for a food bank? Can they visit the residents at a senior center? Can you all volunteer at a pro-life pregnancy center, homeless ministry, or foster clothes closet? Can you attend city council meetings and support Godly men and women who run or serve?

Find ways for your kids to be part of doing things to be the salt and light of the world. Show them they can change the world one person at a time.
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The candidates we have this year are partially our own fault. We have allowed evil to reign in every corner of our government. Look for ways to bring a change in the culture through your witness and making disciples. Change won’t come overnight, but together, we can make a difference in the culture which then affects who we follow in politics and Hollywood (which definitely needs to change!). Hopefully, we can teach our kids how to boldly be the light in the darkness.

www.heavennotharvard.com1 Natasha Crain, When Culture Hates You (Harvest House: 2024), 27.The post Politics at the Dinner Table: Answering Your Kid’s Questions Without Panicking appeared first on Mama Bear Apologetics.

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Back-to-school time often means back to familiar routines, but it can also bring new things: new schools, new teachers, new friends… new vocab? Now, if you’re hoping we’ll explain what stuff like skibidi toilet riz means, you’re out of luck.1 But we might be able to help you with the other kinds of words your kids might be bringing home – ideological buzzwords.

Buzzwords make up the jargon of a particular time and place. Every generation has slang and jargon that captures the era’s zeitgeist that can sound strange to other generations. For example, the buzzwords of the 1990s included many new tech terms that parents had previously been unfamiliar with like e-mail and hard drive. Or words like “virus” that suddenly had a new definition (computer virus anyone?).

Parents today have a lot of new buzzwords to learn, too, except most of the words kids are bringing home are concepts that parents only think they understand. That’s the tricky part: this new zeitgeist operates by taking the familiar and infusing it with new meanings that the average person 10 years ago wouldn’t have even dreamed of (hello, linguistic theft!) – words like privilege, inclusion, and justice.

But we mama bears aren’t going to be like those normal moms. We’re the cool moms, right? The ones who understand the ideological implications behind the words. Yes, they can be difficult to define because they are vague, slippery, and can mean just about anything people want them to mean–and that’s on purpose! In the words of community organizer Saul Alinsky (who taught his followers “how to get power… how to get it and how to use it.”), “You do what you can with what you have and then clothe it in moral garments. . . because all effective means require the passport of morality.”2

When all is said and done, you’ll get a good picture of how some old ideas are sneaking into these new happy-clappy-can’t-we-all-just-get-along-flower-power words. For each of our words, we’ll briefly describe what people have traditionally meant by the word, what people now mean by it, give a few examples of how it is used in this new sense, and then finally how to talk about it with your kids.

But before we get to allllllll our buzzwords, we first need to dig deep into the big kahuna – the buzzy-est buzzword of all – justice (and more importantly social justice).

Social Justice?Ahhhhh….. Social justice. It sounds so good! So biblical! So right!

Or, for some of you, the phrase “social justice” immediately makes your skin crawl and you import the entirety of Mao’s and Marx’s philosophy into a single phrase, ready to unleash your righteous indignation on anyone who uses the phrase positively. But mama bears, let’s try not to err on either extreme. Our goal is to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves (Matthew 10:16). God has given us the ability to reason, so come let us reason together (Isaiah 1:18), starting with the concept of social justice.

Our goal is to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves (Matthew 10:16). God has given us the ability to reason, so come let us reason together (Isaiah 1:18), starting with the concept of social justice.
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“Justice”What we assume they mean: A good society upholds justice when its people are treated fairly and impartially. This means people will be respected and afforded the same opportunities regardless of their gender, skin color, ethnicity, economic status, etc. Justice should mean that people receive the benefits they worked for and are not being punished for things they didn’t do. When a crime is committed, appropriate punishment should be served to the perpetrator and payment made to the victim ensuring justice has been restored. The Bible is all about justice. (See for example Leviticus 19:15, Deuteronomy 27:19, Jeremiah 22:3, Proverbs 21:15 and 29:7, Isaiah 1:17 and 5:23, Zechariah 7:9, 1 Peter 1:17, and Colossians 3:25.)

The overly simplistic summary of what they actually mean: Equal opportunities and outcomes for everyone, especially if there is a statistically significant discrepancy between ethnic minorities. (Unless those minorities do better than the average white person (i.e. Asian or Jewish people); those kinds of “minorities” don’t count.)

So what is “social justice”?

Our culture is sweeping all kinds of social dilemmas under the banner of “social justice.” Social justice goes beyond identifying “justice” for individuals and instead focuses on “justice” for groups – especially groups based on ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, and religion.

The assumption: According to social justice theory, if everyone had the same opportunities, then everyone would have the same outcome. If there are statistically significant differences between demographics (like those listed above) then the “system” is to blame, not the individual. Social justice means exposing and dismantling these unfair systems.

In the case of the justice system, certain demographics can experience unfair benefits or unfair impediments to success, preventing groups from achieving the equal outcome hypothesized by a totally “fair and just system.” In order to achieve this fair and just system, the structural impediments of the system need to be torn down. The unearned privileges must be rejected by those receiving it in order to allow someone in another demographic to benefit. (And yes, biological differences can also include unfair privileges and impediments, as we’ll see in a later blog regarding the concept of “reproductive justice.”)

What they get right and what they get wrong:

Setting evil people or selfish agendas aside, most “social justice warriors” (SJWs) are passionate about human flourishing. Even if SJWs are not suffering themselves, many are willing to commit time and energy to the goal of being an advocate for the well-being of others. What they are good at is bringing awareness to often overlooked areas of life in which communities or groups of people are suffering. They encourage (if not demand) others to get uncomfortable and examine their own biases and prejudices because they assume that it is these biases and prejudices that are causing all the harm. And in some cases, they are absolutely right! (For example, see here.) They help bring awareness to historical injustices that still have lingering vestiges. (How does one quantify the generational effects of learned helplessness from slavery?)

Fighting for people who have been unfairly targeted or forgotten is good and biblical. So what’s the problem? Social justice as a whole gets it wrong on two fronts. First, it takes legitimate cases of group oppression and applies it to every group that has ever been “marginalized.” Gird your loins, mama bears, we are about to see all the same social justice rhetoric for pedophilia under the guise of “minor attracted persons” (MAPs) – a poor, disenfranchised demographic who has been unfairly stigmatized for a “sexual orientation” that they did not choose or want. MAP discussions are already in TED talks and academic literature and will surely be making their way into our society soon. And since we’ve defined “justice” as any kind of marginalization or unequal treatment for whole demographics, there is nothing to prevent the phrase “social justice” from protecting this new oppressed group, too. (This is what people mean by a slippery slope.)

Secondly, if we are to put the intention of this movement in biblical terms, it would be to “love thy neighbor” (Matthew 22:39). Again, a good thing. But SJW’s get this wrong, too, by trying to uphold this command while redefining love. They essentially define love as having empathy and compassion… with no mention of truth or responsibility. Like, put yourself in the other person’s shoes, and ask what you would want if you were them – but what we want isn’t always what’s best for us, either! (And wouldn’t we all like to be off the hook for our own contributions to a problem?) This new definition of social justice operates under the assumption that all unequal treatment is the result of an unjust external “system.” This ignores any problems arising from sin, negates personal responsibility, and (sometimes) rejects brute reality.

According to God’s Word, “Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth” (1 Corinthians 13:6). Are there areas of unhealthy prejudice and bias which we need to bring attention to? You betcha. Are there areas where people are reaping the effects of unhealthy cultural mindsets? Cultural values that need redeeming as a wide scale? Ummm… yes to that, too. But that is taboo according to SJW’s who label it “victim blaming,” as if people don’t need to also be held responsible for their own choices. It’s not either/or, it’s both/and. We cannot neglect either one.

Furthermore, justice and righteousness are bedmates; you cannot separate them. That should be a huge worldview concern for Christians. You’re either going to look at these issues through a biblical lens using God’s definitions for things like love, truth, righteousness, and justice, or you’ll see them through a lens influenced and shaped by the culture. If all your ideas are filtered through the singular trait of compassion, you can accidentally stumble into (as Allie Beth Stuckey says in her latest book) “toxic empathy.” By disregarding sin, truth, and personal responsibility, our culture’s social justice framework does not always lead to true justice because you cannot have “justice” that includes unrighteousness (as is the case with things like “reproductive justice”).

Examples of (social) justice:

Health Justice

The group Health Justice Commons recently stated on their social media that “The Medical Industrial Complex (MIC) is a violent, profit-driven system that functions as a form of social control.”3 “Healthcare justice” is not just about getting people access to healthcare. Rather, the system itself needs to be cured of it’s “ableist” mindset (the mindset of able-bodied people) who blame people for their illnesses and focus on “behavioral change” for promoting healthcare. For example, in one clip from the NBC medical drama New Amsterdam, a doctor tells a boy’s parents that he thinks their son’s tumor was caused by racism.

This fits in with Health Justice Common’s accusation that our current healthcare system blames individuals and/or their bodies for their illnesses rather than acknowledge that “generational trauma and oppression” are the real causes of “harm and illness.” The goal is to dismantle the system. That’s how they define “healthcare justice.”

Housing Justice

The website urban.org discusses the new concept of “housing injustice.” According to their website, achieving housing justice means “ensuring everyone has affordable housing that promotes health, well-being, and upward mobility by confronting historical and ongoing harms and disparities caused by structural racism and other systems of oppression.” Sound like a mouthful to you too? Here’s the basic idea: People are getting evicted from their homes when they don’t pay their rent/mortgage, but this is seen as an injustice because the reason they haven’t made the payments is ultimately due to being trapped in an oppressive and racist system.

How to talk to your kids about justice:

Justice is part of who God is. We worship a God who loves justice because it is a part of His very nature (Psalm 33:5). Justice pleases God, and injustice invokes His good and righteous anger (Nahum 1:2-3). We see this attribute of God clearly when we read through the Old Testament laws that He gave Moses after delivered the Israelites from Egyptian slavery.

God calls for impartiality when judging, from the poor to the affluent (Leviticus 19:15). We even see how the Lord had built-in protections in his law for people like the poor and slaves. (Leviticus 23:22, Deuteronomy 15:13-14)
God calls us to protect the vulnerable. When James 1:27 talks about caring for the orphan or widow, it’s literally talking about people in society who have no advocate, no authority over them from whom they can receive protection; this means that this group needs protection from people taking advantage of their vulnerable position. However, it doesn’t attribute any action resulting from that vulnerability as being unjust. As we see in that same verse, we aren’t just to take care of this demographic, but to take responsibility for ourselves from “being polluted by the world.”
There have been groups who have been mistreated. Unfortunately, we don’t have to look very hard to find rampant examples of discrimination and injustice in the U.S. and around the world. These include things like slavery, the Holocaust against the Jewish people, Japanese-American internment camps, violence toward and forced assimilation of Native Americans, just to name a few. At times, the list seems endless. We even see examples in Scripture. As Christians, we need to take a stand against such atrocities. We need to care for others as Christ cared for people. Keep in mind that loving our neighbor doesn’t just mean loving those we agree with. Think of Jesus’s love and care for the Samaritans, the tax collectors, the ill, the poor, the rich, etc. When we talk with our kids about past injustices, we need to be honest about what’s happened, as is age-appropriate, of course. Acknowledging the dark stains of human history can help us have more sympathy (and even empathy) toward people among us.

When we talk with our kids about past injustices, we need to be honest about what's happened. Acknowledging the dark stains of human history can help us have more sympathy (and even empathy) toward people among us.
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Past injustice (unrighteousness) never excuses present injustice (unrighteousness). God cares about all trauma (Psalm 34:18) However, He still holds each person accountable for their own actions (Ezekiel 18:20). In Greek, the words for justice and righteousness are the same word. Dikaosynē which means “the state of being as one ought to be or integrity and virtue.” What should this tell us about justice? It will never include unrighteousness. When it came to justice, God never allowed “generational trauma and oppression” to change the plumbline for which to judge people. If He had, the books of Exodus and Deuteronomy would look very different. These two books describe a people who were literally coming out of slavery and oppression – an entire demographic intimate with generational and personal trauma. The solution wasn’t a softening of God’s law; it was literally to this people group that God gave his law! (He was extremely patient, but also had some pretty harsh punishments for disobedience.) Moses even had to “talk God down” (kidding/not kidding…) from wiping out the entire group (Exodus 32:9-14).
Blessings and guilt can be communal. Just because God only punishes individuals for their own sins does not mean that whole families or communities are immune from the effects of each other’s sins. Alcoholism and depression tend to run in families. Divorce has a tendency to breed divorce. Kids are especially affected by a parent’s choices. Entire groups can suffer for the unrighteousness of their leader (Leviticus 32:33). It is good to acknowledge ways that the health or dysfunction of our family or demographic have affected our own ideas of what is normal and healthy. However, it is up to individuals to break the cycle by making wise and healthy decisions for themselves so that they don’t perpetuate the generational curses.

In short, Christians should emulate God’s heart by being at the forefront of advocating for true justice wherever we are located!

ConclusionThe problem with the cultural definition of “justice” is that it often bypasses God’s definition of justice. Rather, it reflects an unattainable utopia because we, as humans, will always have our actions stained by sin – both as individuals and as individuals within a “system.” Cultural justice shifts the blame for crimes and other sins from the individual to “corrupt social structures.” God’s justice attributes sin on the individual who broke God’s moral law (1 John 3:4 and Deuteronomy 24:16). Cultural justice is about systems and institutions. God’s justice is about the human heart (Hosea 6:6).

Mama bears, we’ve got our work cut out for us! Most of the other buzzwords we’ll cover in this series are under the umbrella of social justice, and social justice has had a lot of linguistic theft and linguistic smuggling going on! (See Chapter 4 in our first book and Chapter 6 in our sexuality book.)

When words like justice, tolerance, inclusion, & rights are sifted through unbiblical assumptions, our kids may think they are arguing for Christian principles when in fact they are advocating for unrighteousness!
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For this reason, we must proactively prepare our kiddos with candid conversations about these buzzwords. We want them to recognize the message and be able to practice discernment, knowing why God’s way is a healthier approach. That way, when our kids inevitably encounter these terms at school or with their friends, they will be empowered to stand firm with confidence in biblical truth. Stay tuned for upcoming Buzzword blogs…

adminWe are all in this together, so sometimes our posts are a bit of all of us.

1 But we’re pretty sure it means someone is unpopular and nobody likes them.2 Saul Alinsky, Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals (Vintage Books, 1989), 36, 44 (emphasis ours).3 See https://www.instagram.com/p/C-3Oucroq8p/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA%3D%3D.The post Beware of Back-to-School Buzzwords appeared first on Mama Bear Apologetics.

Mama Bear Apologetics™: Empowering Your Kids to Challenge Cultural Lies

Mama Bear Apologetics Guide to Sexuality: Empowering Your Kids to Understand and Live Out God’s Design

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SummaryYoga is one of the most popular forms of exercise for women. It’s said to help with everything from balance to blood pressure, so there’s no problem with it, right? Turns out, there is more than meets the eye. In this podcast, Alexa Cramer shares the background of yoga that you won’t get in your average class. Listeners will learn the worldview of yoga, the purpose of worship behind each pose (yes, worship … and not for the God of Christianity), and the surprising history behind “ooomhm.” Alexa and Amy then discuss whether or not “Christian yoga” is possible and how to help your kids speak truth and grace.

If you’ve ever thought that yoga is just about stretching, you won’t want to miss this episode.

Main Points Covered* Difference between yoga as an aspect of eastern religion vs what is done today. * The history and worldview of yoga. * How is the yoga done today? What do we see in the studios? * What is “ooohm”? * What are the purposes of the poses? * Can you have Christian Yoga? * How can we nurture a truth and grace approach with our kids?

People and Resources Mentioned* Crash Course on Yoga * ROARing through Yoga * The Second Coming of the New Age – By Josh Peck & Steven Bancarz * The Becket Cook Show on Yoga Podcast Episode

Unfamiliar Vocabulary* Esoteric: Intended for only a small number of people with a specialized knowledge or interest. * Monism: A doctrine which maintains either that there is ultimately only one thing, or only one kind of thing. * Asanas: Specific body poses practiced within yoga that are intended to be forms of worship. * Chakra: In Hinduism, means “wheel” and refers to energy points in your body.

Quotable Quotes

107. What to Know About Yoga
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””Our
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adminWe are all in this together, so sometimes our posts are a bit of all of us.

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The Second Coming of the New Age: The Hidden Dangers of Alternative Spirituality in Contemporary America and Its Churches

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SummaryNancy Pearcey, author of The Toxic War on Masculinity, joins us in this enlightening episode to help us tackle the complex issues surrounding masculinity, Christianity, and culture at large. We discuss the cultural assault on masculinity and how the church can counteract these negative narratives, providing a balanced view that uplifts men rather than tearing them down. Nancy offers valuable insights, supported by sociological data, that demonstrate how evangelical men who are deeply committed to their faith actually excel as husbands and fathers.

We journey through the historical transformations in perceptions of masculinity, from family-centric values to the career-driven ambitions influenced by Darwinian evolution and social Darwinism. Highlighting the troubling narratives from influencers like Andrew Tate and Myron Gaines, we emphasize the urgency for the church to present a positive and healthy view of masculinity. These secular scripts, often equating manhood with promiscuity and primal behavior, are infiltrating even Christian educational environments, creating conflicting messages for young men about strength and character. We also explore the significant role of fatherhood in nurturing healthy masculinity. This episode is packed with thought-provoking insights, making it a must-listen for anyone interested in understanding and supporting the role of men in the family and the church.

Main Points Covered* Where does the war on masculinity stem from? * Is there a difference in “toxic masculinity” between evangelical and non-evangelical men? * How the Industrial Revolution changed what the expectation of men in the home was. * The difference between a real man and a good man. * What does it mean to be a man?

People and Resources Mentioned Nancy Pearcey – Author of The Toxic War on Masculinity and Total Truth. * Brad Wilcox – Sociologist at the University of Virginia, cited for his research on evangelical men and family dynamics. * Washington Post Article “Why Can’t We Hate Men?” * The Moral Animal* by Robert Wright

Unfamiliar Vocabulary Social Darwinism: The theory that individuals, groups, and peoples are subject to the same Darwinian laws of natural selection and plants and animals. * Andrew Tate: An American-British social media personality, whose views are often seen as misogynistic and controversial. * The Cultural Mandate:* Be fruitful and multiply and subdue the Earth.

Quotable Quotes

106. The Toxic War on Masculinity with Nancy Pearcey
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[bctt tweet=””We should be very confident about both bringing these positive findings into the church to encourage Christian men, as well as bringing them into the public square to debunk the secular narrative.” – @NancyRPearcey” username=”mamabraplgtics”

adminWe are all in this together, so sometimes our posts are a bit of all of us.

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The Moral Animal: Why We Are The Way We Are: The New Science of Evolutionary

Soft Patriarchs, New Men: How Christianity Shapes Fathers and Husbands (Morality and Society Series)

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By Tricia Scribner

Jen and Mark have seven grandchildren. As Christian grandparents, they wish they could talk to their grandkids about Jesus, but for one set of grandkids, that’s forbidden because their son’s wife, the grandkids’ mom, is an atheist. If Jen or Mark even mentions the word “church,” the conversation shuts down. Their son has warned them not to bring up that “Christian stuff” around the grandchildren or they won’t be allowed to see the kids at all.

What I’m about to say requires us as grandparents to lay down our pride, our desires, and our disappointment and take up self-sacrificial humility and confidence in the God who loves our adult kids and grandchildren more than we do. While these actions may be tough, they aren’t nearly as tough as dealing with the consequences of allowing disappointment, fear, and anger to drive our actions.

Instead of thinking in terms of what we can’t do, let’s think of five things we can do!

We can show love and respect for our adult child and spouse/partner as parents.We as grandparents have already been parents; that time has passed. (Wouldn’t we love a do-over for our failures?) Our role now is to provide support, not to control. Even when we don’t agree with parental rules, we can:

use our words to build the relationship between our grandchildren and their parents, not to tear it down. While grandparents must sometimes confront parents’ dangerous behaviors (whether the parents are Christians or non-Christians), our goal is to foster a healthy relationship between our grandchildren and their parents.
honor boundaries and family rules. Nothing damages a relationship with an adult child and his/her partner more than undermining parental rules and telling our grandkids to keep it a secret. “I know mom told you no sweets, but a couple of cookies won’t hurt. It will be our secret.”
take opportunities to speak well of our adult child, our grandchild’s parent. For instance, we can share with our grandkids sweet memories of their parent’s growing up years. “When your daddy was in second grade, he loved fishing, just like you. . . .”

We can act in faith, rather than in fear.Maybe you’re thinking, But what if our grandkids’ parents have threatened to stop us seeing our grandkids? Yes. Even then. Especially then.

In Psalm 56, David described a situation that struck that kind of fear in him. Saul hunted David like an animal, refusing to rest until David was dead. Having escaped to Philistine territory, David didn’t know whom to fear more, Saul or the Philistines. That’s why he said in verse 3, “when I am afraid” (emphasis mine). Fear is not an “if” but a “when.”

While David confessed his fear, he didn’t camp out there. Instead, he drove a metaphorical stake in the ground, declaring his life as God’s territory by affirming his trust in God. Then, he pronounced his enemies’ attacks impotent against the God whose power (v. 9), protection (v. 13) and tender love for him (v. 8) had proven His trustworthiness.

But here’s a point worth noting. Even after David prayed the words of Psalm 56, his crisis didn’t evaporate. But God gave him power to live faithfully and righteously within the interminable crisis. He will do the same for us, when we practice trusting Him.

We can take the long view.Right now, things may look bleak. We pray for circumstances to change. As we intercede, they may. But if they don’t, we can determine to act in a Christ-honoring way, waiting patiently before Him, without fretting (Psalms 37:7).

We can remember to wait before the Lord, not merely for a change in circumstances. Rather, our waiting provides opportunity to affirm His faithfulness, goodness, and power, and to renew our strength.

While there is no guarantee our grandkids or their parents will trust Christ as Savior, neither of these painful possibilities changes God’s character or His enabling us to live faithfully.
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Further, one day our grandchildren will be grown. If we are still alive, they will be free to choose the kind of relationship they want with us. Invest now for that future.

We can teach our grandkids critical thinking and reasoning skills.Critical thinking is a way of reasoning to understand and solve problems. If grandkids’ parents ban God-talk but are okay with our teaching our grandchildren other things, we can train them to reason well so they can analyze and evaluate truth claims (whether religious or not) for themselves.

Here are a few examples of useful thinking and reasoning skills to teach:

How to identify assumptions underlying truth claimsClaim: “You should do what you feel is right for you.”

This truth claim comes with various assumptions such as “Whatever you feel is true,” and “You have a moral obligation to be fulfill your desires.”

How to recognize fallacies in arguments1. All fish swim in water. 2. That creature is swimming in water. 3. Therefore, that creature is a fish.

The conclusion doesn’t follow logically from the premises. This is an example of the non-sequitur fallacy.

How to recognize when a claim is self-defeatingA truth claim is self-defeating when it doesn’t meet its own stated standards. “I can’t type a word of English.” (“Wait a minute. Didn’t you just type those words in English?”)

To learn more about reasoning and critical thinking skills, here are good resources:

For 13 and under: The Thinking Toolbox by Nathaniel and Hans Bluedorn
For teens: The Fallacy Detective by Nathaniel Bluedorn

We can explore the natural world with our grandchildren.If God is persona non grata in conversations with our grandchildren, we can explore the wonders of the universe with them, focusing on its beauty, order, design, complexity, and purposefulness. When we do, we know as Christians that the effects (evidences) bear witness to the cause (God), as Romans 1:19-20 describes. These characteristics of nature reveal a personal, all-powerful, creative, purposeful, and infinitely intelligent Mind behind it all. Nature speaks even when we cannot (Psalm 19:1, Psalm 139:15).

So that we don’t undermine parental rules, we need to prepare to respond when questions about origins and evolution come up. This challenge is not so different from my Christian friend’s experience as a biology teacher in a public school.

When students ask how the universe began, for example, she explains that the current prevailing view among scientists is that everything came into being from nothing, by chance. Students often look at her incredulously when she pushes home this point. Why? Because, regardless of religious convictions, to say everything came into existence from nothing by chance is illogical. And they know it. She doesn’t have to say, “God created.”

So, take heart.

You are not alone. Like you, thousands of Christian grandparents walk this road. Christ Himself knows what it’s like to live with family members who reject the truth (John 7:1-5).
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He has placed you in this family—your family—for His purposes. Seek to love and respect the parents of your grandchildren, acting in faith rather than fear, and taking the long view. Focus on what you can teach them, such as critical thinking and reasoning skills and the wonders of the natural world. And breathe.For more help, take a look at Overcoming Grandparenting Barriers* by Larry Fowler of the Legacy Coalition for help in biblically navigating difficult grandparenting situations.

Guest AuthorGuest Author is probably awesome at what she does. She is probably a mom, but possibly not. She definitely has good things to say, otherwise, she wouldn’t have been offered the position of guest author. We like Guest Author. She is our friend.

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Overcoming Grandparenting Barriers (Grandparenting Matters): How to Navigate Painful Problems with Grace and Truth

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I am a 21st-century, overstimulated, and exhausted mom. All I want is to take one measly hour to go outside in the quiet of nature and stretch with an adorable baby goat on my back. What could possibly be so wrong with that?

Okay, goat yoga is hilarious. And it’s kind of adorable. But seriously, so many of us crave a healthy way to care for our minds and bodies. With the promises of peace, stress reduction, physical fitness, and the ability to quiet your mind, it is no wonder that yoga has become so popular in the West. But is yoga an appropriate practice for Christians? How do we discuss this with our kids without being dismissive or judgmental?

In A Crash Course in Yoga, we discussed yoga’s spiritual roots and some of the symbolism found in the different aspects of the practice. The poses, the movements, the breathwork, and the meditation are all designed for attaining “enlightenment.” Enlightenment derives from Eastern religions like Buddhism and Hinduism. In yoga, enlightenment occurs as you gradually disconnect from your individual sense of self and “realize” that you and everyone else (and everything else) are one. But things get a bit tricky as yoga is appropriated into Western culture. Depending on the yoga instructor, your session could emphasize the spiritual aspects of yoga, but there’s also a good chance your class is just focused on health and fitness while using yoga poses for stretching and strengthening. Is it all evil? If not, is any of it evil? Is this just an area of Christian freedom and personal conscience? Can yoga be “taken back” for God? Can the exercise of Yoga poses be divorced from its spiritual roots? If my kid copies someone on TV doing “Warrior Pose” will she be attacked by demons?! Let’s ROAR.

Recognize the Message – What are the messages coming from pro-yoga Christians?1. All that matters is your intent

“We know that yoga is a spiritual discipline much like fasting, meditation, and prayer that cannot be owned by one specific religion.” – Holy Yoga1

Since yoga has been adapted as a practice by multiple Eastern worldviews, many people view it as something that can be adapted by any worldview. The idea is that yoga practice can be integrated with anyone’s personal beliefs about reality. Don’t intend to worship Hindu deities? Just think about YOUR God! Or don’t! Yoga is what you make of it.

This is an area of Christian freedom

“Where the Bible is silent (and, if you were wondering, it doesn’t say anything about our modern-day yoga practices), I use my freedom and wisdom from Christ to determine what is consistent with my faith — just like I’m gonna use Extended-Side-Angle to strengthen my core.” – Alli Patterson2

Since the Bible doesn’t explicitly condemn yoga, the idea is that each Christian should come to his/her own conclusion. If–as a Christian–you are able to separate yoga from its spiritual roots in your own mind, then you should feel free to participate.

Christians have special spiritual protection

“Consequently, believers in the Bible have no reason to fear yoga. According to the Scriptures, God encircles, encompasses, covers, and shields those who make Him their refuge. His presence, the anointing, is a kind of force field of protection making you inaccessible to the enemy no matter what the circumstances.” – Tonyah Dee3

No need to worry about yoga’s Hindu origins. Remember the first message “All that matters is your intent”? Well, if that’s true, and if you don’t even know that yoga is designed to worship ancient Hindu deities, then it would follow that you are safe from accidentally participating in idolatry. If your kid came home from school and showed you that she learned a “Lord of the Dance” move in gym class, are you going to panic that your child is now an idol worshiper? Plus, you have the Holy Spirit in you! He’ll make sure you’re always protected.

Offer Discernment – What truths can we affirm in yoga, and what lies do we need to expose?TRUTH #1: Our mind, body, and spirit are connected.There is no question that our mind and our body are connected. Just taking “the placebo effect” into account demonstrates this. According to an article published by Harvard Medical School, “How placebos work is still not quite understood, but it involves a complex neurobiological reaction that includes everything from increases in feel-good neurotransmitters (like endorphins and dopamine) to greater activity in certain brain regions linked to moods, emotional reactions, and self-awareness. All of it can have therapeutic benefit.”4 Therefore, what we believe can actually have a physical effect on our bodies.

Biblically, we know that our spirit is affected by both our mind and our body. Sin affects the spirit, since “the wages of sin is death.” When original sin came into the world, we were born spiritually dead–a spiritual separation from God. When we sin, we further disconnect ourselves from God. We know that we can sin with both our bodies (through actions) and our minds (through thoughts and unrighteous emotions [Matthew 5:21-30]). Further, our words and actions come out of our spiritual condition. Our mind, body, and spirit are indeed connected.

TRUTH #2: Stretching and breathing are good.As believers, our bodies are a temple for Christ. We each only get one body on this side of heaven (at least I think so but since we’re basically living in a sci-fi movie these days, who knows?). Exercising, stretching, and breathing deeply are good for the body.

In fact, there is good scientific evidence to suggest that daily deep breathing exercises can reduce cortisol levels (the stress hormone), anxiety, and blood pressure.5 Stretching also has a number of benefits, including reducing your risk of injuries, improving your range of motion in your joints, and just overall better performance in daily activity.6

TRUTH #3: We can do all things to the glory of Christ.Whether we are doing ministry, changing diapers, or doing our self-care routine, we can (and should be) glorifying the Lord. As we perform our daily tasks with the joy of the Spirit, in humility, kindness, and love, we represent Christ to the world. Even as we take care of our mental health and our bodies, we model for others how we are stewarding God’s creation well. If you want to meditate on Scripture or pray while you stretch or exercise, you can certainly do this as a way to honor Christ. All of this glorifies God.

“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:17).

LIE #1: The words and the poses don’t mean anything if you don’t want them to. When performing yoga postures or stretches, you are putting your body into positions that were specifically designed to worship or pay homage to false gods.7 You might not have any intention of worshiping these gods, but you are participating in the ritual nonetheless. Check out the YouTube thumbnail shown below and understand that this woman is supposedly committing her day to the Lord while doing a worship pose to the Hindu god Vīrabhadra.

When “holy yoga” uses the same flows and poses, whether or not you use the same names for them, your body is sending out a message. Just like words in a particular order mean something, poses in a particular order mean something.

LIE #2: I can be surrounded with an unbiblical worldview and not have it affect me.We’re not saying that every person who goes to a yoga class is going to become entrenched in the New Age or devote their life to yoga and Hindu spiritualism, although, some will.8 But each of us needs to have a humble view of ourselves and realize that we are vulnerable to the influence of false ideas whether we like it or not. Remember how intentions don’t always matter? Just because you don’t intend to be influenced by an opposing worldview doesn’t mean you won’t be.

Further, if Christians have divine protection from deception or from demonic oppression, why does the Bible repeatedly warn us against being deceived? (See Timothy 4:1, Colossians 2:8, 2 Timothy 4:3-4).

Lie #3: Yoga is a black and white issue. Let’s face it, it’s way easier to have a black-and-white answer. As worn-out Christian parents, we’re often tempted to just slap a “safe” or “dangerous” label on things and call it a day! Some people say “All yoga is safe if you refocus on God,” and others say “All yoga is dangerous no matter how it’s done!” But what we need to do is be wise without being legalistic. I think it’s safe to say that yoga in its purest form is not for the believer because it entails participation in the worship of self and of other gods. But neither does Satan own sitting on your knees and stretching your arms out (in yoga called “child’s pose”). Again, it’s not necessarily the poses and breathing; it’s the order in which they are done that conveys meaning.

Argue for a healthier approach(this section written by Hillary Morgan Ferrer)

As a general rule, I’m going to say that it is unwise to participate in something if you don’t know what you are participating in. If I had someone randomly give me a German phrase to go up and say to a police officer, I wouldn’t do it until I knew what I was saying. Likewise, don’t get a cool-looking Japanese tattoo if you don’t know what it means. You can end up with weird things permanently on your body. Furthermore, I have a friend who speaks fluent French. Upon going over to a girlfriend’s house, she saw a throw pillow that read “chair de grandpère.” The friend thought it meant “Grandpa’s chair.” It actually meant “Grandpa’s flesh,” which is not something I’d want on my throw pillow.

So, if we are going to participate in something that has meaning, we must make sure we understand the meaning of it first. If you as a Christian feel like you need some yoga for exercise and wellbeing, here’s a few thoughts on how to achieve the same goals in a healthier way:

Stop using the terminologyAs Christians, we need to remember that Jesus is, Himself, God’s Word. Words mean things. So if we aren’t trying to become yoked with the Brahman, stop using phrases that basically mean “A Christian yoking with the Brahman.” (Aka: Christian Yoga. It’s like Christian Satanism. No literally, it is like that.) Suggestion? Someone out there pleassssse create something called BÄS or something, which could stand for Breathing and Stretching. Pronounce it like “boss.” I’d totally go to a BÄS session! Even a hot BÄS session! And when doing poses, stop using the words that venerate Hindu warrior gods like Vīrabhadra (warrior pose). Don’t pay homage to Sita by doing tree pose. In BÄS, it can be stretching hurdler or flamingo pose. They are great for balance and inner thighs. No accidental worship required!

As we’ve said before, the devil doesn’t own words, but it is unwise to say certain words in certain orders because they mean something. If you don’t understand what the words or the poses mean, don’t use them. I’m not going to chant “Salue le grand serpant qui se déguise en ange de lumière le plus puissant! Viens en moi et donne-moi le pouvoir de tes démons pour accompli tes œuvres” and justify it with “I don’t speak French, but this sounds pretty.” Because what I’m literally saying here is “Hail the great serpent who disguises himself as the most powerful angel of light! Come into me and give me the power of your demons to do your works.” I’m not intending anything nefarious, but I probably shouldn’t say that no matter what language it’s in. And that doesn’t mean that I can’t use the words light, angel, come, or power, but saying those words in that order means something, whether I intend them to or not.

Stop using the order of posesJust as with words, the order matters with what your body does. Don’t do a Kundalini flow if you’re not trying to awaken your 10 sacred bodies. Don’t do the order of the sun salutation unless you are wanting to worship the sun. Stretch and breath and pose–but for the love of all that is holy, just stop doing them in the flows that represent Hindu worship! If you don’t mean it, don’t say it – with your body or otherwise.

Meditation is about filling, not about emptyingYes, interject God into your calming stretches. Use the time to breathe deeply and ponder on his love. Pray while you stretch your calves. It’s okay to quiet your mind without emptying it!

This is not a chew-and-spit situationThe chew-and-spit method is for discerning the good and bad within media and ideas. However, we don’t go practicing other religions to see which parts of it overlap with Christianity. Want to study it to see what they are saying? Sure. Nothing wrong with studying other world religions. Practicing other world religions? No. Not the same.

And as many practicing Hindus (especially those in the East) will tell you, yoga is not separable from Hinduism. Christian baptism is not synonymous with a bath. The Lord’s supper is not synonymous with “a snack.” Yoga isn’t synonymous with breathing and stretching, no matter what the western world is trying to say. Stop appropriating Hinduism. It’s straight-up rude to Hindus.

In the end, Mama bears, this is a wisdom issue, not necessarily a sin issue. Please do not take this article and use it to beat every Christian you know over the head as if they are sinning unless they give up yoga like yesterday. Yoga is unwise, but it is also hyperfundamentalist to heap laws upon laws within Christianity. Use this information to put a pebble in the shoe. Use this information to help people make good, informed decisions and to be more intentional in their Christian lives. Use this information to inform your own practice, but allow the Holy Spirit to convict.

Reinforce Through Discussion, Discipleship, and Prayer1. Ask yourself these questions: * Do you think the enemy cares about your intentions? I recommend you watch our podcast episode where Amy Davison interviews Krista Bontrager, and they discuss ways in which we (or our kids) can unintentionally invite the enemy to oppress us. * Can we really just impose our own meaning onto an ancient Hindu ritual? If so, where does that stop? At what point does practicing a ritual that is intended for worshiping other gods cease to have meaning? For those who know what these rituals mean, what do they see when they see you – a Christian – doing this ritual? What do others see when they observe you doing yoga? Do they see you worshiping the one true God? Or is their perception that you are worshiping other gods or attempting to connect with your “higher self”? What do your kids see? More important than that, when we are performing a highly choreographed ritual, what do the beings in the spiritual realm see? * What does God mean when He tells His people to be “set apart”? Is He only talking about what’s going on in your own private mind? In Leviticus, God tells His people not to follow the practices of the surrounding nations by saying, “Do not do as they do” (Leviticus 18:1-2). In 2 Corinthians we are told not to be yoked with unbelievers. Remember, the word yoga literally means “yoke,” and the purpose is to be “yoked” to the oneness, or the “Supreme Reality.” Scripture says, “What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God” (2 Corinthians 6:16). As our bodies are temples, should we be using them to form poses that at the very least pay homage to idols? 2. Make “What you do with your body matters”9 a household phrase and repeat it until your kids roll their eyes when they hear it. It’s a great mantra because it applies to many situations. 3. Take turns with your kids making hand gestures (like a high five, thumbs up/down, praying hands, arms folded, etc.) and make up a brand new meaning for them. After the laughter dies down, discuss how it would work out for you out in the world when you decide to assign your own meaning to widely recognized hand gestures. 4. Model humility by praying with your kids that the Lord will open your eyes to anything that does not bring honor and glory to Him. We should all regularly ask the Holy Spirit to convict us of areas in our life where we are unaware of disobedience to Him. 5. Prepare your kids in case they are asked to participate in yoga in school (or elsewhere). Make a plan according to your family’s convictions. For example, whichever pose the class is doing, find a similar pose that will stretch the same muscle or focus on a similar balancing act. This is where “studying yoga” could actually be beneficial. Figure out which poses they are going to do and in what order, and come up with an alternate order with different stretches that stretch the same things. Also, this is a great time for Scripture memorization. When the yogi asks the kids to have an “intention” like in the breathing in and breathing out, pick a good verse and have your kids focus on that in the breaths. 6. Have a discussion with your kids about friends and family who might be participating in lifestyles or practices that are off-limits for your family. Another phrase you can repeat is, “You don’t know what you don’t know,” and explain that not everyone is aware of the spiritual aspects of what they are doing. Talk about how patient and gracious the Lord is with ALL of us, and that we will likely learn about our own blind spots over time.

Alexa CramerAlexa is a homeschool mom of two. She became obsessed with apologetics after a season of doubt that nearly stole her faith. Alexa has a background in film and video and will willingly fight anyone who doesn’t agree the DC Talk is the best band that ever graced the earth.

1 https://holyyoga.net/what-we-believe/2 https://www.crossroads.net/media/articles/can-christians-do-yoga3 https://yahlight.com/what-is-yoga-phobia/4 https://www.health.harvard.edu/mental-health/the-power-of-the-placebo-effect5 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9877284/6 https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/in-depth/stretching/art-200479317 See “A Crash Course in Yoga,” https://mamabearapologetics.com/a-crash-course-in-yoga/8 Read Ruth Burgess’s story: https://www.thetruelight.net/wp/ruth-burgess-story1/9 Hillary Ferrer and Amy Davison, Mama Bear Apologetics: Guide to Sexuality (Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 2021), 246.The post ROARing Through Yoga appeared first on Mama Bear Apologetics.

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I suspect at least a portion of you already have your minds made up about yoga, but you clicked on this link because you wanted to see what we had to say about it, to know if Mama Bear supports it or not. Am I right or am I right? This is one of those topics that can be divisive. Those who are against Christians practicing yoga accuse them of synchronizing with the culture and other world religions. Those who see it as an area of Christian freedom, practice yoga themselves, or who couldn’t care less if other Christians practiced it, are exasperated by what they see as legalism surrounding this topic. Then, there are the mamas who are genuinely unsure where they should land on this issue or how to guide their kids through it. As yoga is increasingly being taught in public schools,1 Mama Bears should be equipped to think through this ancient practice with wisdom. So let’s talk.

This is going to be a two-parter. In Part 1, we’ll begin with some information about yoga that you might not be aware of, like its symbolism, philosophy, and spiritual ramifications. We’ll especially focus on what yoga is, and where the conflict lies in our list of things you need to know. In Part 2, we will use the Mama Bear Apologetics ROAR method to practice discernment as we think through the information covered in Part 1.

What exactly is yoga?Yoga originated in India and is steeped in Hinduism but the practice has been adapted by several other Eastern worldviews, including Buddhism and Sikhism.2 All that to say, yoga has evolved, and there are various types and subtypes of yoga practice. While researching, I noticed multiple ways in which people seem to interpret the purpose of yoga. For example, some people believe they can attain supernatural powers such as levitation or clairvoyance,3 while others reject that idea in favor of a less fantastical view in which one achieves “enlightenment.”4 So, it’s pretty safe to say that we as Christians can reject these overt aspects of yoga. Duh. No brainer. However, how is it being presented to us in Western culture?

Hatha Yoga is the type of yoga we modern Westerners typically think of. It’s the kind of yoga where you put your body into poses and breathe deeply. So while you may associate this kind of yoga with breathing through downward dog, we need to recognize that it is much more than that. Remember: yoga is a philosophy about reality, not just physical exercise. In fact the physical poses are intended to more deeply entrench you into the philosophy. Regardless of how a person practices yoga, we cannot ignore that the underlying philosophy is present, and that matters. We must acquaint ourselves with the worldview yoga is promoting.

The Worldview Behind YogaYoga is intended to “yoke” you… but to what?If you want a clear-cut explanation of the intention of yoga, just look at the name. The word yoga literally means yoke or union. By and large, the purpose of yoga is to unite yourself (or fully realize your union) with the “Divine Consciousness,” the supposed eternal power that permeates everything in reality and which encompasses all knowledge (of like, everything!). The worldview behind yoga assumes that your inner self is divine, that everything that exists emanates from one impersonal force (Brahman), and that therefore your divine self and this force are connected. Your perception of who you think you are is merely your “ego” and the goal is to gradually detach from it so that you can know your “higher self,” realize your connection to all things, tap into the omniscience of the “Divine Consciousness,” and reduce suffering.

It’s all about Chakras (pronounced shock-rahs)Have you ever heard someone say they need to “balance their chakras”? It’s easy. Just shake your hips because they don’t lie. Oh wait, that’s Shakira… Chakras, on the other hand, are referred to as “energy centers” in the body. They are supposed points in your body in which a mystical (and mythical) divine energy, called Kundalini energy, moves through. Kundalini is often portrayed as a snake and is believed to be “coiled” at the base of the spine, and moves up the spine when activated. (That doesn’t sound nefarious at all? What could possibly go wrong with balancing a snake energy in your spine?)

The aim in yoga is to activate and balance your chakras because you want your sweet little Kundalini snake to be balanced in each area. This is one of the goals of the yoga postures and movements – to direct this energy throughout your body. As your chakras become activated, the Kundalini moves up your spine through each “center.” Many who teach the chakras warn that Kundalini can be dangerous, but not for the reasons that you think. They say that if you get too much “energy” in a particular chakra, it will become unbalanced and negative (and sometimes dangerous) effects can manifest, such as headaches, depression, rage, and hallucinations.5

If your kid watches the television series Avatar: The Last Airbender, you should be aware of an episode in which a guru teaches the main character how to open his seven chakras. You can watch the scene here.

The postures are intended to facilitate worshipIt is often stated that the yoga poses (called asanas) were designed to worship Hindu gods. The truth is that some of the poses are, and some aren’t. According to Marcia Montenegro of Christian Answers for the New Age, “The poses themselves are often depictions of Hindu deities, and the hand positions mimic the hand positions seen on the statues of Hindu gods.”6 Other postures are simply inspired by things found in nature. Let’s look at a few common poses:

Sun Salutations

You may recognize sun salutations as a series of poses which are often used as a warm-up exercise at the beginning of a yoga session. What you might not be aware of is that these poses were designed to worship the Hindu god Surya, which is a personification of the sun (cough pantheism). This asana is also called “Surya Namaskar.” “Namaskar” is a formal word for “namaste,” and similarly means “I bow to you.” Therefore when you perform Surya Namaskar, or sun salutations, you are doing poses designed to bow to the sun.

Warrior Pose

This pose represents the Hindu mythological god Virabhadra. Get ready for this one… In Hindu mythology, Virabhadra is a creation specifically for the manifestation of the god Shiva’s wrath. Shiva (one of the primary gods of Hinduism) made Virabhadra out of a lock of his own hair and commanded him to take vengeance on his dead wife’s father by cutting off his head and destroying everyone else with him.7

Tree Pose

Here is a pose which is supposedly meant to symbolize becoming “rooted,” balanced, and grounded. But it’s also meant as an act of worship to the Hindu god Vishnu. Further, from my research I understand that trees are considered sacred in Hinduism and are often associated with specific deities. Basically, tree worship is a thing.8

Breath control is about alignment more than oxygenIn yoga, breath is important. Remember, yoga is designed to bring your consciousness into oneness with the “Supreme Reality” or Brahman. Pranayama, or the practice of breath control either during still meditation or while performing asanas (yoga poses), is therefore designed to prepare your mind to enter into a meditative state in order to accomplish that goal of oneness with the divine.9

Can we ignore the spiritual aspects of yoga?So far, we’ve gone over some of the very basics of what yoga was designed for. Of course, more questions remain. Are the philosophy and spiritual ideas so deeply ingrained in yoga that they cannot be separated from the practice? A pro-yoga Christian blogger writes, “I personally don’t believe simply putting my body into a triangle shape means I subscribe to an entire belief system. I just think it stretches my inner thighs really well.”10 She makes a point! But, Mama Bears, let’s not stop there. Because of yoga’s spiritual roots, we would be wise not to be so dismissive in our evaluation of whether or not to partake. If we are to grow in spiritual maturity, we are told to have our “powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil” (Hebrews 5:14).

Join us for the fun part in “ROAR’ing Through Yoga” where we will engage our critical thinking and work to discern truth from error, good from evil.

Alexa CramerAlexa is a homeschool mom of two. She became obsessed with apologetics after a season of doubt that nearly stole her faith. Alexa has a background in film and video and will willingly fight anyone who doesn’t agree the DC Talk is the best band that ever graced the earth.

1 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4831047/2 Sikhism is an Indian panentheistic religion in which salvation entails becoming one with god when we detach from from any earthly desire or attachment.3 https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/laghima4 https://fractalenlightenment.com/41321/yoga/uncovering-meaning-siddhis-can-yoga-give-superpowers5 https://chakrapractice.com/what-is-kundalini-syndrome/#What_Are_the_Dangers_of_Developing_Kundalini_Syndrome6 https://www.christiananswersnewage.com/article/christian-yoga-an-oxymoron7 https://beyogi.com/virabhadra-rise-warrior/8 https://www.hinduscriptures.com/vedic-culture/nature-worship/siginificance-tree-worship/7592/9 https://www.christiananswersnewage.com/article/yoga-training-not-just-exercise10 https://www.crossroads.net/media/articles/can-christians-do-yogaThe post A Crash Course in Yoga appeared first on Mama Bear Apologetics.

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My 6th grader is a lot like most. His favorite way to unwind is to cruise his favorite YouTube channels for the latest builds, Minecraft commentary, or a Daily Dose of Internet. So, when he told me that he wasn’t going to watch one of his favorite YouTubers anymore, I was curious what had led to this virtual breakup. His answer surprised me.

“The YouTuber said that when a baby is in a mom’s belly then she can get rid of it because it isn’t a person yet. People don’t really believe that, do they?”

This wasn’t the first time he had encountered pro-choice claims. Over the past year, the arrival of his little sister has fostered some great discussions about the value of human life. What I didn’t realize was that he believed the subjects of our talks were hypothetical, only as real as the dragons in his video games. It wasn’t until an influencer shifted from gamer to activist that my son realized that these beliefs are very real. And it seems like, at least based on trends on social media, that the activists are only going to get more prominent.

Teens seek first the kingdom of influencers and everyone from politicians to pop stars is encouraging our kids to be pro-choice. If we don’t disciple our children, the world will gladly take our place, and the results aren’t pretty, just look at Judges 2:6-15.

Our children desperately need to hear the truth regarding the value of the unborn. In this blog, we’re going to debunk the top 2 challenges leveled against pro-life supporters and offer kid-friendly talking points.

“It’s just a clump of cells.”What it means: This first statement is one part biology with a huge dose of materialism — only addressing the physical substance. If we want to get technical, living things are all just ”clumps of cells” at various stages of order and development.

Granted, during the germinal stage of pregnancy (weeks 0-2), the developing baby admittedly looks like a clump of cells. But by the time a woman finds out she is pregnant, the baby resembles a tiny version of its newborn self — complete with a heartbeat, fingerprints, and the beginning of those chubby legs that are so fun to squish.

Calling it a “clump of cells” is easier to swallow during the first trimester (when most abortions take place) because the details of the little ultrasound-bean are hard to see, so the emotional connection isn’t as strong. Sure the fetus is human, but it’s not a person yet, right?

That “yet” is constantly debated. For some people, a baby isn’t a baby until the mother says it is. Until then, it’s just a clump of cells to do with as you please.

The problem: The question of personhood (when a person counts as a person) is a huge problem for pro-choicers. Is it when a woman says it’s a baby? When it can survive outside of the womb? Or is it like one op-ed I read, only when it can contemplate Shakespeare? If that’s the case, then most of us lost our personhood card when we zoned out during sophomore English. And that’s entirely my point! External standards can never determine personhood.

The reality: The “clump of cells” argument is a materialist’s rhetorical tactic used to strip the unborn child of dignity and value by making them sound worthless and disposable. This logic doesn’t just apply to unborn children, mind you, it can apply to a person at any age.

Either every human has inherent dignity worth protecting regardless of his or her physical and cognitive development or abilities, or we can decide by popular vote which humans are worthy of human rights. Take a few moments you refresh yourself with the philosophies behind slavery, the Holocaust, the tribal wars of Rwanda, or the Rape of Nanjing if you think this is no big deal. I promise, you want human rights grounded in inherent humanity, and nothing else.

Talking point: If we allow language to dehumanize unborn children, then we can use language to dehumanize anyone we want. Help your kiddo (especially your teens) see the flaws in this reasoning by discussing whether human worth can come from anything outside of one’s existence. Does it come from reading Hamlet? If so, do we have a right to kill the mentally handicapped? Does it come from making the 9-inch trip through the birth canal? Does that mean it wasn’t a person at the beginning of labor? What about first-breath? Are there human souls floating around in the air, and the first one we swallow becomes “us”? If human worth is determined by one’s ability to survive outside of the womb, then why stop at babies? Why not kill anyone else who cannot survive on their own? Like toddlers or the elderly? It’s a dark but important conversation to have, one that your kids probably won’t see tackled thoroughly on TikTok.

“You’re violating my autonomy and forcing women to be breeders!”What it means: These arguments have become more common since the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Pro-choice advocates interpret this ruling as the first step in establishing a modern-date Gilead, a totalitarian society straight out of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. Without the right to elective abortion, women will be forced to don the red cloak of reproductive enslavement. We’re not using hyperbole here. This is literally how women are protesting. (See below).

This image was taken from the NY Times article and is available for use under the fair-use guidelines as seen here.

The problem: The reaction against overturning Roe v. Wade misrepresents the most important factor in the case. The Supreme Court didn’t take away a woman’s “right to an abortion,” it recognized that abortion wasn’t a constitutionally protected “right” to begin with. (See our article here.)

This brings me to my next point: sex makes babies. I know I sound like Captain Obvious here, but people keep referring to babies like Bob Ross refers to paint smudges. Newsflash folks: Babies aren’t happy little accidents; they are the result of 3 1/2 minutes of biological cause and effect at work…give or take. This means that when we decide to have sex, then we are choosing to play the only biological game that can win us a 7.2 oz biological prize.

The reality: Let’s be fair. If you were forced to mate for the propagation and profit of selling your offspring then, yeah, you’re a victim of forced breeding. But that is not what is happening. In truth, birth control and the materialistic worldview behind the sexual revolution have made promises they can’t deliver, namely that we can circumvent the natural result of sex — babies. Even if people don’t want a child, sex will still make babies whether we like it or not. The only way to “rectify” this biological fact is through the systematic devaluation and sacrifice of human life — under the guise of freedom and autonomy.

Next, regarding the issue of rape and incest. There is no denying that both are tragic, but we can be so quick to try to “fix” one crime, that we commit another alongside it. Abortion punishes the child for the father’s crime, and that’s unjust. Plus, one tragedy doesn’t dictate another person’s personhood. That is why many states have outlawed abortion in cases of rape and incest.

Talking point: One challenge that your teens will probably hear is that abortion should be legal because one person cannot be forced to donate blood, organs, etc. to save the life of another. This is upheld under the right of bodily autonomy, in the famous court case McFall v. Shimp, which I encourage you and your teen to read the summary of here.

Compare and contrast this case with abortion. What are the differences between a biologically separate, dying person (like a sibling or friend) and a mother carrying a child? Is a thriving infant in utero the same as a dying friend? Did the baby “intrude” upon the woman’s body, or was their conception the result of the actions of the couple? If the conception is a result rather than an intrusion, and if the infant is not dying but thriving, does a person have the right to kill that unborn child for just any reason? How does this impact the abortion discussion?

Final ThoughtsI wish the toughest part of our kid’s childhood was math homework, but the reality is that discussions that normally took place in the courtroom are happening in our kid’s media feeds. The good news is that kids (teens especially) want to think well about these topics. They just need a considerate place to wrestle with what they’ve heard.

Don’t panic if they’ve adopted secular views regarding the right to life. Even yours truly held them at one point. Instead, thoughtfully unpack the implications of pro-choice arguments in truth and love and trust in the Holy Spirit to move. If you want more talking points, you can also listen to our interview with fellow mama bear Jennifer DeFrates on how to have pro-life conversations with family and friends. That interview will drop on Tuesday, so be sure to follow us on social media and YouTube so you don’t miss it!

Editor’s note: To play devil’s advocate, someone might counter the “consenting to sex is consenting to babies” with something like “consenting to driving is consenting to a car accident.” In this vein, abortion is like car insurance, and outlawing abortion is like saying “Only men can have car insurance; sorry ladies, but you have to pay out of pocket.” This points out a valid point, it is not fair/equal that women unduly carry the reproductive burden. No man will ever have to carry a baby to term. While this is true, the unfairness against one person doesn’t justify the death of an innocent party.

Amy DavisonAmy Davison is a former Air Force veteran turned Mama Bear Apologist. She graduated from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary with an MA in Christian Apologetics. She and her husband Michael (also former Air Force) have been married for over 17 years and have 4 kids. Amy is the Mama Bear resident expert on sex and sexuality, and she’s especially hoping to have that listed on her Mama Bear business card.

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SummaryIn a Crash Course to the Israel-Palestine Conflict Part 1, Hillary, Amy, and guest David explained the terminology, the history of the Israel-Palestine Conflict, and the evidence showing how Israel has belonged to the Jewish people. In this episode, Hillary and Amy shift from history to the importance of why we stand by Israel. They clarify that supporting Israel doesn’t mean that the believer endorses every action, but that they stand by the nation and its people in solidarity with the covenant of God. They also debunk the idea that the New Testament church is a replacement for Israel, showing that God’s covenant with the Jewish people still stands today.

Next, they identify how college campus protests in support of Palestine are social-justice-focused in nature and completely shut down thoughtful discussion. Here, we listen to social media activists tell anyone who doesn’t support Palestine to be silent and support any method the “oppressed” (aka Hamas) use to achieve their goal of overthrowing Israel and establishing an Islamic theocracy. Parents are offered practical tips to help their children think well, identify faulty reasoning, and questions to discuss when they encounter activism.

Lastly, Hillary and Amy evaluate the question we’ve all wondered: Couldn’t Israel and Palestine work together as a two-party state? Here they go straight to the Hamas Covenant/Charter to show how dividing a cookie in half might work between toddlers, but dividing Palestine isn’t an option under Islamic-driven Hamas. This highlights the importance of understanding the stakes. This battle isn’t just about territory, it’s a spiritual battle playing out between God’s chosen people and those who wish to wipe them off the map.

Main Points Covered* Why should Israel matter to Christians? Shouldn’t we stay out of politics for the sake of the gospel? * What is happening on college campuses with all the youth protesting and supporting Palestine? * Why can’t we negotiate a two-state solution?

People and Resources Mentioned* + Jeremiah 31:35-37 + Psalm 89:35-37 + Romans 11:1-2, 11-12, 17-21, 24 - 1 I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew…. - 11 So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. 12 Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean! - 17if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root[c] of the olive tree, 18 do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. 19 Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” 20 That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. - 24 For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree. + 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 + Our episodes on Social Justice Part 1 | Part 2 + The Mama Bear Apologetics Book + Instagram Video Referenced + 1967 Arab League Summit Document + Hamas Charter/Covenant

Unfamiliar Vocabulary Supersessionism (Replacement theology): Supersessionist theology argues that Christians have replaced Jews as the people of God, and often refers to a contested translation of Jeremiah 31:31—32 in Hebrews 8:8-9. * Theocracy: A theocracy is a state that is governed by a government that derives its authority directly from a religion * CORRECTION from Part 1: The Edomites* were descendants of Esau.

Quotable Quotes“Sometimes what kids think the problem is, it’s not about that problem. It’s a spiritual issue going on. There are two spirits at war, and we are caught in the middle.” – Hillary Morgan Ferrer

“What we are interested at looking at here isn’t necessarily what the average man is doing to the average man. It’s what the people in power think is fair and just and acceptable to do to the other nations.” – Hillary Morgan Ferrer

What we are interested at looking at here isn't necessarily what the average man is doing to the average man. It's what the people in power think is fair and just and acceptable to do to the other nations.
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“This is an apologetic issue for kids because when we look at God’s covenant and His promise, it proves and models His faithfulness.” – Amy Davison

This battle isn’t just about territory, it’s a spiritual battle playing out between God’s chosen people and those who wish to wipe them off the map.
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adminWe are all in this together, so sometimes our posts are a bit of all of us.

The post Episode 90: A Crash Course in the Israel – Palestine Conflict Part 2 appeared first on Mama Bear Apologetics.

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SummaryOctober 7, 2023, saw the attack on Israel by the terrorist group Hamas. Conflict is nothing new to this region, but for Americans, the way in which the coverage has been handled shifts with each news outlet. Did Israel bring this attack on themselves through an alleged colonization of Palestine? Is Hamas the freedom fighters some outlets make them out to be or something more sinister? In this podcast series, we at Mama Bear Apologetics are tackling the top questions you have about the Israel-Palestine conflict to better equip you to know and explain this issue with your children.

In the first podcast Hillary, Amy, and fellow apologist David Wolcott cover the top terms and definitions tossed around the nightly news. You’ll hear why Hamas and Palestine are not the same thing, and why these two are being conflated to promote an “us vs. them” ideology. Listeners will also get a brief history of God’s people to answer the question everyone has been asking, “Who’s land is it anyway?” These set the scene for the second upcoming podcast where Hillary and Amy will address the bigger themes at play: the spiritual battles around the attacks on Israel, and how critical theory is nurturing support for Hamas in Gen Z.

Main Points Covered* What is the difference between Hamas and Palestinians? * What is the difference between Israelis and Jews? * How and when did the Israeli/Palestine conflict start? * What advice can we give our kids in navigating information and conversations around this topic?

People and Resources Mentioned* Ben Shapiro Talk * Genesis 12:2 * Genesis 17:4 * Genesis 17:19 * 1917 Balfour Declaration * Google Ngram Viewer * A Brief History of Palestine + 2000-2200 BC Abraham was shown land of Canaanites by God, but doesn’t possess it (but lives there) + They all leave when Joseph is in Pharaoh’s court (2100 BC) + Jews come to conquer the land under Joshua 1300 BC + 1000 BC – time of David + 722 was the first exile (Assyrian exile), but not everyone left + 586 BC next exile (Babylonian exile) + 63 BC = first takeover by the Romans + 70 AD – destruction of the temple + 135 AD – Romans called the land “Palestine” as a slap in the face to Israel, but never referred to a “people group” + 7th century AD – the founding of Islam – Arabs started claiming ownership of the land because Jerusalem as the 3rd holiest place (outside of Mecca and Medina) + Palestinians were never referred to as a “people group” until 1977. Zahir Muhsein of the PLO, Palestinian Liberation Organization said “The Palestinian people do not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians, and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct Palestinian people to oppose Zionism.” (PLO executive committee member Zahir Muhsein, in a 1977 interview with the Dutch newspaper Trouw.)

Unfamiliar Vocabulary Hamas vs Palestine + Hamas is a terrorist group that is the ruling body over Palestine. + Palestinians are a group of people dwelling in Palestine – Jews and Arabs * Edomites/Arabs are the descendants of Esau. * Israeli vs Jewish: Anyone who is a citizen of Israel is considered an Israeli. Jewish is an ethnic people group. And some people call themselves Jewish, but are specifically referring to the religion.1 * Zionists believe Israel is the land of the Jewish people and is their heritage right. * Christian Nationalism: the belief that the American nation is defined by Christianity, and that the government should take active steps to keep it that way. * TikTok Activism: a form of activism on the TikTok social media platform * Reparations: making of amends for a wrong one has done, by paying money to or otherwise helping those who have been wronged. * *We incorrectly said the edomites were descendants of Ishmael in the episode.

Quotable Quotes“It’s important to be talking to our kids and asking them to have people define their terms for them. A lot of times this will slow the conversation down, and that’s a good thing.” – Hillary Morgan Ferrer

“You can possibly get swept up into something that you don’t really know what you’re advocating for. So that’s what you want to help your kids be watchful of — what are they defining, what are they assuming about another people group, what are the conclusions that are being made?” – Amy Davison

adminWe are all in this together, so sometimes our posts are a bit of all of us.

1 See the blog series by Lindsey Medenwaldt about Judaism on the Mama Bear website. The first article “A Crash Course in Judaism” can be found here: https://mamabearapologetics.com/crash-course-judaism/.The post Episode 89: A Crash Course in the Israel-Palestine Conflict (Part 1) appeared first on Mama Bear Apologetics.

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SummaryOn this episode, we ROAR through the topic of ghosts. What are they? What are the common misconceptions around ghosts and the supernatural? What does the bible say about ghosts and how are Christians supposed to engage this topic?

Main Points Covered* How does the world see ghosts? * What is a ghost truly? * How are we to interact with the truth and lies around “ghosts”? * How can we navigate elements of the spiritual realm with our kids?

People and resources mentioned* Ephesians 6:12 * 1 Thessalonians 5:23 * Ecclesiastes 12:7 * James 2:26 * Luke 16:19-31 * John 10:10 * Leviticus 19:31 * Isaiah 8:19-20 * Matthew 12:26 * Acts 19 – Seven Sons of Sceva * Teen Vogue article on ghosts * MBA Episode 87: The Rise in Occult Fascination Among Youth with Krista Bontrager * Cults, World Religions, and the Occult by Kenneth Boa * The Occult by Josh McDowell and Don Stewart * The Handbook for Spiritual Warfare by Dr Ed Murphy

Unfamiliar Vocabulary Paranormal: Supernatural phenomena that exist beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. * Ghost: Commonly believed to be a disembodied human spirit that can be anchored to an individual, place, or object. A biblical understanding of “ghosts” is that they are, in most cases, a demonic presence. * EVP: Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) are sounds found on electronic recordings that are interpreted as spirit voices * Residual energy: A “spiritual GIF” an energy that replays the same action over and over again. * Medium: A person reputedly able to make contact with the world of spirits, especially while in a state of trance. * Demonic Oppression: When the presence and power of a demon influence the body and mind of a person. * Occult: In the broadest sense, it is a category of supernatural beliefs and practices that encourage the interaction with demonic spirits and forces. * Necromancy: The supposed practice of communicating with the dead, especially in order to predict the future. * Dia De Los Muertos*: A Hispanic celebration of the life of lost loved ones which traditionally has elements of practicing necromancy.

Quotable Quotes“An entity that is not affirming, submitting, or promoting the truth of God, is not angelic. It is demonic.” – Amy Davison

“When someone passes, be honest with your child about death but also point back to the beauty and the hope that is within Christ. Because there is immense hope in Christ, beyond the grave.” – Amy Davison

“Talk to [your kids] about ghosts. What do you know about ghosts? What have you heard about them? What is interesting to you about ghosts? What questions do you have about it? And then explore those questions with them.” – Amy Davison

adminWe are all in this together, so sometimes our posts are a bit of all of us.

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SummaryThis week we are joined by Krista Bontrager to discuss how the occult is becoming more popular among younger generations, what that looks like and what parents should be on guard against. Krista has a wealth of knowledge on this topic and we are grateful for the wisdom she shares with us.

Main Points Covered* How the occult is becoming more attractive to younger generations * How boys and girls are seduced into the occult differently. + For girls, it is usually through empowerment from witchcraft. + For boys, it often comes through horror movies, anime, and supernatural shows. * How interacting with the occult can result in demonic oppression. * Practical resources to help your kiddos and how to speak truth to them about the spiritual realm.

People and resources mentioned* Theology Mom * Center for Biblical Unity * Spiritual Warfare by Carl Payne * The Bondage Breaker by Neil Anderson * Douglas Geivett on The New Apostolic Reformation * Krista’s Youtube Playlist on Spiritual Warfare and The Supernatural * Mama Bear Apologetics: Crash Course on the Enneagram

Unfamiliar Vocabulary The Occult: In the broadest sense, is a category of supernatural beliefs and practices that encourage the interaction with demonic spirits and forces. * Astral projection: (also known as astral travel) a term used in esotericism to describe an intentional out-of-body experience that assumes the existence of an astral body or body of light, through which consciousness can function separately from the physical body and travel throughout the astral plane. * Multiverse theory: Multiverse theory suggests that our universe, may not be the only one. The theory suggests that there are actually millions of other universes that are parallel to each other. * Shifting: A combination of Astral projection and Multiverse theory to where any sort of universe can exist and you can shift your consciousness to any of those universes or realities. * Cosplay/cosplay culture: The practice of dressing up as a character from a movie, book, or video game. Many times, the cosplayer will actively “assume” the identity of the character and set aside their own. * New Apostolic Reformation (NAR):* The New Apostolic Reformation, or NAR, is an unbiblical religious movement that emphasizes experience over Scripture, mysticism over doctrine, and modern-day “apostles” over the plain text of the Bible.

Quotable Quotes“The spirit realm is real and your children are interacting with it on a daily basis. For example, if you’re teaching your child to pray, you’re teaching them how to engage in the spirit realm.”
Krista Bontrager

“Christians are uniquely positioned to explain the spirit realm.”
Krista Bontrager

“Because we are created in the image of God, there is a spiritual component to us and a longing to understand the spirit realm. So that is not inherently bad. We want to disciple [our kids] in how to interact with the spirit realm so that they don’t get hurt.”
Krista Bontrager

“The most common scheme that the enemy uses is messages to our thoughts. The fiery darts of the enemy.”
Krista Bontrager

adminWe are all in this together, so sometimes our posts are a bit of all of us.

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In Part 1, we may have virtually scared the pants off our readers with our semi-dystopian view of the future. But everything’s going to be okay, mama. You’re fine. I’m fine. Everything’s FINE!

No, really, we’re all fine.

Let me ask you something: can you give me an example of any time the future wasn’t scary? I doubt it. On this side of heaven, the future will always be uncertain. So, what we can do is cling to that which we are certain of – absolute truth. And that truth is found in a person: Jesus. Seek truth, and you’ll find Christ and His promises. Seek Christ, and you’ll find truth and clarity.

Consequently, it’s no surprise that God’s number one enemy is working relentlessly to distort our view of truth. Because that’s ALL he can do, Mama Bears – he can’t touch truth itself. So, we need to get to work to protect our kids from the enemy’s schemes. I can’t emphasize how important this is. Sports and extracurriculars are wonderful but our primary responsibility during this small window of raising children is to train them up in the way they should go (see Proverbs 22:6). We understand how overwhelming all of this can be, so we came up with a short list of foundational lessons to help you out.

5 practical ways we can prepare our kids for AI:#1 Teach them the habit of asking “Is this true?”I am convinced that the enemy loves to exploit our natural tendencies so that we take them too far. If you are a mom of multiple children, you already know how each child is wired so differently! Some kids are naturally trusting, so our job will be to teach them not to be gullible. On the other hand, we need to teach our doubting children to walk that fine line of shrewd skepticism without slipping into the pitfall of cynicism.

That being said, we have a real problem in this culture with people believing something is true merely because, to them, it’s believable (or by the mere fact that it’s on YouTube!). I remember having a conversation with a friend during a highly controversial and widely publicized hearing. She told me she believed the man was guilty simply because she would not be surprised if he were! What?! Mama Bears, that is not how we establish truth.

Here are some questions you can teach your kiddos to ask when trying to determine if this piece of content is true:

What is the purpose of this content?
- Is it to sell me something?
- Is it trying to persuade me to agree?
- Is it trying to get me to click on something?
What are the sources used?
- Are there multiple sources or just one?
- Are the authors/creators credible?
- Can you find this information on other credible sites as well?
Does the content creator acknowledge their own biases?
- What worldview, religion, or political aisle is the author/creator coming from?
- Do they present a balanced perspective on the issue? (legitimate pros and cons)
- Who is funding this content and what is their goal?
Am I being presented with data or opinions (or a mix of both)?
- Are there statistics or facts included that can be verified?
- Is the author/creator making inferences on information? If so, are the inferences actually reasonable? Look for logical fallacies (or errors in their reasoning).

2 Teach them to be slow to speak…and slow…to share

Social media is designed to trigger our emotions and get us to act - even if that’s just to engage with a post by clicking “like” or “share.”
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How often do we take the time to process the actual reason we want to share something (whether that’s an online or in-person conversation)?

“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor (1 Corinthians 10:23-24).

We should ask ourselves: Is what I’m about to share truly edifying to the body of Christ or is it just building up my own image? Is it truly informative or is it propaganda? (See point #3 below) Will this help people prepare for the lies of the enemy or is it merely a way to humiliate my ideological enemy? Remind your kiddos not to allow internet algorithms to manipulate them into playing their game.1 #3 Teach them to recognize propagandaPropaganda is a tactic used to influence the public to buy into a specific point of view or political ideology. The strategy promotes emotionalism (getting people to form their opinions based on their emotions as opposed to using critical thinking) and presents information in a biased and often misleading way. Propaganda is everywhere — politics, social media, advertisements, etc.!2 In politics, we should learn to recognize it on both sides of the aisle. When your kids come across something in the news or even a video (ahem TikTok) or image (we see you Instagram) that seems to be promoting a particular narrative, remind them to evaluate whether or not they are being presented with actual information. What are the details of this story or event? What actually happened? Is the story providing information or merely someone’s emotionally charged opinion? If you’re not getting actual information, you’ve probably encountered propaganda.

4 Teach them proper expectationsDepending on the age of your kids, they are either using AI software or they will be eventually. Users need to understand the limits to this technology so that they are not deceived by it. In Part 1, I explained that not everything ChatGPT spits out is actually true information. There is good reason for this. As Rodney Brooks, Australian roboticist and AI expert, explains, “What the large language models are good at is saying what an answer should sound like, which is different from what an answer should be.”3

You see, a software program is spitting out an automated response based on complex algorithms. ChatGPT was designed to respond in a way that sounds like a human response. But it does not have reasoning capabilities like a real human. If you don’t keep that in mind, you could be easily fooled into thinking the response is true merely because it sounds correct. And it doesn’t matter whether we’re talking about ChatGPT or another AI tool. Because no matter how well AI will be able to imitate humans, it will always be something other than human.

5 Teach them to writeHumans have a tendency toward convenience, whether or not it’s good for them in the long run. This AI language bot stuff is relatively brand new, yet the amount of articles released expressing how high school and college students have already adapted to using AI to write their papers is staggering. One article from the Chronicle is titled, “I’m a Student. You Have No Idea How Much We’re Using ChatGPT. No professor or software could ever pick up on it.”4

Aside from the obvious ethical concerns, most students are not aware of how important the process of writing is to our brain development. Writing develops your ability to think critically. You have to plan, organize, develop, and reflect on your thoughts.

According to Dr. M Cecil Smith,

“Writing is a significant literacy activity in modern life that enables individuals to accomplish a variety of personal, intellectual, occupational, and recreational goals. It has been demonstrated, across a variety of investigations, that writing activities yield a number of intellectual, physiological, and emotional benefits to individuals. These benefits include improved [sic] memory function, decreased symptomatology [define], and greater feelings of happiness.”5

The temptation to abuse ChatGPT and other AI tech out of convenience (and intellectual laziness) is going to be strong. What we need to drill into our kiddos is the fact that if their critical thinking skills are not constantly being sharpened, they will be vulnerable to being manipulated and controlled. No one wants to be controlled. Help them to understand the importance of writing and developing their OWN thoughts, so that they can recognize when politicians, the media, or any other person is trying to manipulate them.

Final thoughtsIt might be tempting to shield our kids completely from the dangers of the virtual world – and there is totally a season for that. For those mama bears with littles, the young years are a good time to lay that foundation of critical thinking skills. But the world we live in is becoming increasingly dependent on technology and, at the appropriate age, our kids will need to be trained and prepared for it.

Consider how much of what makes up our worldview is now being delivered to us digitally. Mama Bears, this kind of training is not optional. Evaluating every message that we encounter can be exhausting. But it’s like strengthening a muscle – the more you practice it, the more you strengthen your mind and it becomes natural. Keep in mind that we are not designed to be informed about every single possible event or new piece of information on the planet. Because of the internet we have access to it all, but remind your kiddos that they are in control of what they allow to take up mental space.

We are not obligated to know everything about everything, and God never intended us to. But we would be wise to hold our opinions loosely on the things we haven’t been able to thoroughly research.
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When considering AI and how it will impact our kids’ futures, there is so much more to consider than we can cover here. AI tech is being used to scam people. It is raising serious ethical concerns. It could impact future employment opportunities. People could even start developing relationships with AI bots. (Super weird but not unheard of).6 We can see that awareness is undeniably important. But don’t let it completely overwhelm you. The world has always been a scary place with many uncertainties. But Jesus told us, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
By Alexa Cramer

1 We recommend the film, The Social Dilemma (2020).2 A classic example of propaganda is the Uncle Sam poster stating “I want YOU for U.S. Army!”3 Rodney Brooks, quoted in Victor Tangermann, “AI Expert Says ChatGPT is Way Stupider Than People Realize,” The Byte, May 21, 2023, https://futurism.com/the-byte/ai-expert-chatgpt-way-stupider?fbclid=IwAR3bU81sys9tSkoX_7q3lWA0pnMI3pD5UPwV-60rOczsYyBFgTmKVF8-zm0.4 Owen Kichizo Terry, “I’m a Student. You Have No Idea How Much We’re Using ChatGPT,” The Chronicle, May 12, 2023, https://www.chronicle.com/article/im-a-student-you-have-no-idea-how-much-were-using-chatgpt.5 M Cecil Smith, “The Benefits of Writing,” Northern Illinois University, https://www.niu.edu/language-literacy/_pdf/the-benefits-of-writing.pdf.6 Maria Noyen, “A woman who ‘married’ an AI chatbot is open to finding love in the real world, but says a future partner must accept her virtual husband is here to stay,” Insider, June 15, 2023, https://www.insider.com/woman-who-married-ai-chatbot-open-to-real-world-dating-2023-6.The post Is AI Dangerous? (Part 2) appeared first on Mama Bear Apologetics.

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I had never been to a Christian women’s conference before I attended my first IF: Gathering live stream at my church in 2018, so I really didn’t know what to expect. I wasn’t familiar with any of the speakers. I took some notes from the videos, and enjoyed the table talk sessions, but left unsure of what the exact takeaway was. Was I missing something? I left being told to “step into my calling,” but I didn’t know what that meant. In fact, I didn’t really know anything about IF at the time; few people did.

The first year the entire conference was shrouded in mystery; you had to hear about it through blogs and social media, and the speaker’s list was kept secret until the event. Apparently, the tickets for the first in-person conference sold out in 42 minutes.1

After talking with our Mama Bear team, I realized none of us really know much about IF, despite this being its tenth year. Their websites are beautiful. Their marketing is captivating. Their messaging is on point, but we want to know what they’re selling. What do they believe? What is the message? Who are the speakers? What is their mission?

If you’re going to follow a movement, you should probably know who you’re following and what you’re being discipled into.

After some background, we can ROAR together through the IF: Gathering so you can know what to expect if you’re considering attending (pun totally intended).

What the Heck is the IF: Gathering?IF: Gathering is an increasingly prominent women’s discipleship ministry founded by Jennie Allen. She is a NY Times Best-Selling author of several Christian books. IF is most well known for their annual Texas weekends loaded with popular speakers and worship leaders.

IF: Gathering also has several different arms of ministry: IF: Local, IF: Equip, IF Table, IF: TV, IF: Lead, and IF: Pray. Each of the IF ministry branches serves a slightly different function, but they are all part of the founder’s mission to make disciples and unleash them into the world.2 According to the website, through these ministries (and technology), IF has reached over 1 million women in 179 countries for Jesus since 2014.

IF: Local’s mission is “Together, we’re reclaiming discipleship as God’s means to change the world.” Local is more focused on gathering women where they already are (in the local church or community groups) and equipping them to have an impact. “We want to give them what they need to come around tables and to eat together, dream together, hope together, and lift up each other’s heads, and remember the story we’re a part of,” says Allen in a promotional video.

IF started when Allen heard a voice from the sky say, “Gather and equip your generation.” a few years before the first conference.

So why is it called IF anyway?The name comes from this idea, “If God is real, then what?”

Allen says, “If God is real, then we want more than anything to live like it. We want to be a part of this epic story, even if it is in the smallest of ways. Every one of our souls aches to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. We just have to remember that we already are.”

Allen is also very passionate about the Bible as shown with IF’s partnership with illumiNations “a collective impact alliance of Bible translation partners and resource partners working together to eradicate Bible poverty in this generation.”3

IF also has quite the list of sponsors and speakers each year. Some of the prominent past speakers include Jen Hatmaker,3 Sarah Bessey, Christine Caine, Lauren Chandler, Francis Chan, Latasha Morisson, Lysa TerKeurst, Priscilla Shirer, and even Joni Eareckson Tada. We will talk more about the speakers in the next installment. Not all of these speakers are currently part of IF. These are just some of the most familiar names.

With some basic background on the IF: Gathering, let’s ROAR through what we know together.

R – Recognize the MessageBecause the IF: Gathering is a multi-year event stretching back ten years, they’ve shared a lot of messages, but we’ll just review what’s stressed repeatedly. And we agree with most of them!

If God is real, then our lives should be focused totally on Him, living radically for Him.
We should be in our Bibles daily and deeply.
IF wants to be part of equipping women to live out their purpose, making disciples.
Discipleship is how the world will change.
We can be part of changing the world through good works.

O – Offer discernmentIn true Mama Bear spirit, we encourage you to be discerning whenever you encounter a movement or a message (even ours) that claims to be Christian. Nothing–Christian label or not–is all safe. Just because they mention Jesus or the gospel, we can’t get complacent and check our discernment at the door.

Discernment is like a mental muscle. We need to practice it to stay sharp.

“But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” Hebrews 5:14 ESV

That is why we wanted to help you chew and spit through the IF: Gathering, holding fast to what is good and discarding what is not.

Truth #1 – God is real, so we should live radically for Him. Agreed!We love that IF is full of women who are passionate about Jesus, God, and discipleship. What better message for us to unite around? And the message is wrapped in the flesh of story. Many shared beautiful testimonies about how Jesus stepped into hearts and lives to radically transform them. I’ll admit, I cried more than once.

Truth #2 Be in your Bible – YES!Reading the Bible daily is one of the most important habits any Christian can cultivate. Learning how to understand it takes time and dedication, but it’s so worth it. We definitely want more people in their Bibles!

This is why IF’s partnership with illumiNations 12 Verse Challenge is so inspiring. The world’s most important Bible translators and publishers have come together to make sure that every person on the planet has access to a copy of the Bible in their own language by 2033. (I had no idea 3700 people groups still do not have access to any Scripture in their language.)

However, we would love to see IF speakers more clearly demonstrate how to correctly interpret and understand the Bible. Verses are sometimes taken out of context or read through a modern lens.

The Bible was written for us, but not to us. Understanding each passage in context both literarily and historically is important. I was sometimes concerned that speakers read too much extra-biblical perspective into the text that was not intended by the author.

Truth #3 – We should be about making disciples and equipping them to follow Christ. Hey, this is one of our primary goals too!Matthew 28:19-20 is known as the Great Commission – that we are to go into all the world and make disciples, teaching them to follow what Jesus has commanded.

IF does a great job of encouraging every Christian to remember that this world is not ultimately about us. And IF emphasizes how crucial fellowship and discipleship are for uplifting each other to remain faithful in difficult times. Literally, a million women have tuned in to hear about Jesus, to learn how to follow Him, and to live in Titus 2 relationships.

In whatever way that IF: Gathering is truly equipping women to live knowing that God exists, we’re here for it!

Truth #4 – Changing the world is an outcome of being changed, but not the purpose of discipleshipDisciples will live in counter-cultural ways that may change the world as an outpouring of the Holy Spirit’s work of sanctification in our lives. (Hello, William Wilberforce anyone?)

And we’re not sure we disagree with IF here, but we’d love to see more clarity on what Allen means when she says, discipleship is “how Jesus said the world would change.”

Is she referencing a specific Bible passage? What does she mean by changing the world? The passage from Matthew doesn’t seem to speak about changing the world but changing people through discipleship.

One reason this triggers our discernment meters here is out of caution that we are not focused more on this present world than the eternal kingdom of God. Some progressive belief systems believe a just and peaceful human society is the whole message Jesus really came to preach, so we want you to be aware of those kinds of beliefs.

Truth #5 We are to do good works.Ephesians 2:10 reads, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

But we would also like to see clarity on what they mean by good works. I’ve seen self-identified Christians be on both sides of the abortion issue, LGBTQ issues, or political issues, all believing they are doing God’s work.

Attendees should learn the biblical relationship between faith, good works, and discipleship. They need to learn how to understand our purpose as image-bearers of God. If they don’t get solid direction in these areas, they could miss the real gospel altogether.

Because we want to be part of building up ministries, we want to argue for a healthier approach and make some constructive suggestions.

Argue for a healthier approachWhen we argue for a healthier approach, we want to take the good that we’re seeing and make it even better!

Suggestion #1: Dig deeper into the “If God is real” sectionAs apologists, we LOVE the premise “If God is real… then what?” We want more ministries trying to open the minds of people who aren’t sure what they believe! We just wish IF gave them something a little more solid to close on. IF focuses on the “then what” part while not equipping women with answers for the most important part: is God real?

What a missed opportunity! The most important question anyone can ask themselves is, “Does God exist, and if so, which God is the real one?” How truly powerful this conference could be if the women left equipped knowing not only that God does exist, but that we can be reasonably certain that it is the Christian God of the Bible.

We would love to see the women attending equipped with apologetic answers about how we can know God is real, but this question doesn’t seem to get answered. (We know it’s not an apologetics ministry, but as apologists, we see the need every day for women to be equipped in this way. Perhaps the ministry could platform some apologists in future gatherings?)

The “then what” (radically living out our beliefs) would be even more powerful with women who are confident that what they believe is true. That is the kind of belief that the Apostles had, the kind of belief that affects not just this life, but eternity.

Suggestion #2: More Scripture and solid theological instruction.We need more solid Christian teachers, not just motivational speakers. Some of the IF presentations I heard were excellent, peppered with good, down-to-earth, and even some Godly wisdom. For example, one of the talks about nutrition focused on having a solid identity in Christ that fulfills the aching in our souls because our weight or appearance never will. Some of the talks about discipleship had tangible suggestions about how to find a discipleship relationship and what that should look like.

However, many of the IF talks, while inspiring, were too focused on us and emotionalism4 and how to live some grand adventure rather than teaching women how to be more deeply rooted in the Scriptures. We’re all for timely encouragement, but we also need solid theology.

Suggestion #3: Define your terms clearly and oftenDefinitions matter and clarity is kindness. Always assume some people in your audience have never heard any of the words we’ve mentioned above clearly defined. When teaching apologetics, we clearly explain how we define our terms and why we define them that way.

Good teachers do this often with important concepts. And nothing is more important than how we understand God, Jesus, the Gospel, and God’s purpose for our lives. With so many diverse speakers from different denominations and perspectives, clarity on these things is crucial before we can unify around the message.

If an attendee has accurate definitions of Christian tenets already, then great! She may leave the conference being encouraged to preach the true Jesus and share the true gospel. This is why one person could attend and see all sorts of red flags while another person leaves hugely edified.

But what about those who came with questions, doubts, or a background of bad theology? Were they given a solid explanation of the gospel? Did they meet the real Jesus? Do they know what they are supposedly being discipled into?

Allen herself has made some curious statements about Jesus.

On her website, Allen writes,

“Jesus is the friend you have always craved. He is the smile you would be looking for in a room because He isn’t worried about the messes in your life. He is more interested in talking, being, knowing, helping, freeing, serving, empowering, and releasing. That’s who He is, and as you go with Him over time, that relationship will grow.”

While I love how inviting this is, we never want to win people to an unclear version of Jesus because our real Savior is so, so good.

Jesus does desire a close relationship with each of us that satisfies the core longing of our souls, but is He not worried about the messes in our lives? This is a Mama Bear pet peeve; we’re not “messy,” we’re sinful. Our sin doesn’t stop Him from loving us, but He doesn’t leave us in it. It was big enough deal for him to die to save us from it.

And is Jesus more interested in being, empowering, and releasing? Whenever you see statements like this, stop and ask yourself what the speaker means. Being what? Empowering us to do what? Releasing what? Not only are these terms vague, but they are potentially troubling. We will talk more in our next installment about why we need to be wary about vague terminology.

That’s who He is? If I had no idea who Jesus is, this paragraph would leave me more confused than I started.

Now for the stuff that raises a red flag.

Red Flag #1 Many speakers hold concerning views on some crucial doctrines.While IF: Gathering.com uses the Nicene Creed as their primary statement of faith, some of the prominent speakers hold to some biblically unsound beliefs (like Word of Faith or New Apostolic Reformation), so we’re left wondering if they require speakers to hold to the statement of faith.

Also, since most people access the conference through videos or speakers, very few will even encounter the statement of faith, so it’s crucial speakers or conference materials clearly define the core beliefs of historic, biblical Christianity because we can’t unify as believers around unclear definitions of God or Jesus, especially when it comes to how we are called to live in light of the Gospel.

As I’ve attended the virtual conference a few different years, I’ve grown increasingly uncomfortable, struggling to put a finger on exactly what is troubling me. But as Natasha Crain and Alisa Childers just discussed in their most recent Unshaken Faith podcast, this is how attendees often feel when a Christian organization shifts focus or slides into progressivism. It’s subtle at first. Did I hear that correctly? They probably didn’t mean it like that. But before you know it, the slide is unmistakable.

But honestly, in between my first time attending and my last, what changed the most was me. I read the Bible multiple times, got involved in apologetics, and become more aware of different ideologies and doctrinal issues. I was able to recognize some troubling phrasing that hinted at speakers’ beliefs outside of their IF presentations.

We don’t want to tear down the work of fellow believers who believe they are doing what God called them to do. But as a ministry that “chews and spits,” we recognize the good but also point out things that may cause misunderstanding or confusion, especially when it has to do with the gospel. While some ministries might make a list of speakers to mark and avoid, we would rather critique arguments than people, so we will address how to discern these beliefs for yourself in the next installment.

R – Reinforce the Message Through Discussion, Discipleship, and Prayer1. When you and your children hear terms like “Jesus” “gospel” “unity” “God” or other biblical terms, ask them to pay attention to whether the speaker defined these terms, or if they have assumed that everyone understands what they mean. Then practice defining them together. Having theologically sound definitions handy in this culture is like having an escape route planned in a fire. Be prepared to take every thought captive 2. When you are with other ladies and hear vague terms or Christian buzzwords coming from the speaker, ask those around you if they know what it means. Can they define it? If your IF: Gathering has table talk, use this as an opportunity to find out what everyone at the table means by gospel, discipleship, or Jesus, etc. 3. Work with your kids and friends, practicing how to read the Bible in context, doing our best to understand each passage fully. Find verses that are regularly taken out of context. Ask your child to tell you what they think the verse means just by itself. Then go back to scripture and read it in context. Did the context change how they had originally interpreted the single verse? How did context change their interpretation? (FYI, Matthew 4:9 or Luke 4: 7i are great ones to start with!)

Nailing down issues with the IF: Gathering was really challenging. With hundreds of their videos on YouTube channel, there was so much to sift through, and I honestly saw a lot worth celebrating. Jennie Allen is a dynamic and passionate speaker. If we were certain we were on the same page about what we believe Jesus has called us to do, we’d be excited to join her.

But as one of my favorite quotes from Charles Spurgeon explains, “Discernment is not the ability to tell the difference between right and wrong; rather, it is telling the difference between right and almost right.”

IF: Gathering has a great mission, some impressive goals, and some really charismatic speakers, but we also saw some concerns that make us suggest you have your mind and heart prepped for discernment if you plan to attend.

Hopefully, our ROAR has helped you see how to recognize true messages and when something is almost right.

Please join us for part two of our series What to know before you go – IF: Gathering

Dear Heavenly Father,

We thank you for the work that you do among the diverse body of believers. Please grant me wisdom as I seek to grow in my faith and understanding. Help me recognize solid doctrine. May I have your eyes to see and ears to hear so that I may discern what is good and true from what is incorrect or false. Give me a humble and teachable spirit so that I continually grow as a follower of Jesus. Help me know how to make disciples and spread the true Gospel message.

In the name of Jesus, I ask these things,

Amen

By Jennifer DeFrates

1 “‘IF:Gathering’ Of Evangelical Women Focuses On Social Justice In Austin, Texas,” The Huffington Post, February 13, 2014, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/if-gathering-evangelical-women_n_4776930.2 Ifgathering.com/our-vision/3 Although Jen Hatmaker spoke for IF in the past, she no longer does. Jennie Allen wrote about this here: https://churchleaders.com/news/289924-the-founder-of-ifgathering-responds-to-jen-hatmakers-position-on-same-sex-marriage-jennie-allen.html.4 See the Mama Bear Apologetics book chapter 10 on Emotionalism.The post The IF:Gathering: What the heck is it? (Part 1) appeared first on Mama Bear Apologetics.

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In this episode, Amy talks with Katy Faust, founder and director of the children’s rights organization, Them Before Us, about how children have a right to both their mother and father, how God’s design for marriage protects children, how divorce impacts children, and how to help kids understand why marriage is important. (Note: If you watch the vlogcast on YouTube, Amy’s video is frozen for a while. It’s a glitch on our end, not yours. :))

Main Points Covered* Them Before Us (TBU) makes a secular case for the rights of children by appealing to God’s Word, which is universal to everyone regardless of whether they are a believer. * TBU seeks to demonstrate that parenting laws cater to the desires of adults rather than the best interests of children. * By middle school, your kids need to know the why behind what we believe, especially regarding marriage. * Seeing, modeling, and teaching the beauty of God’s design is important because you become what you behold. * Children of divorce are more likely not to marry because they’re unsure if marriage can last. * Marriage is more than just a piece of paper. * Children born out of wedlock aren’t doomed, but they will have significant obstacles in their path. + In the Christian worldview, we don’t make kids sacrifice for us [adults]. + How to help your children have a healthy worldview of marriage + Preschool through Elementary: Expose them to as much truth and beauty as possible. - Uphold the complementary differences between mom and dad. - Tell them how you are committed to each other even through hard times. + Middle school - Introduce challenging topics to the kids: sex, marriage, parenting, fathering, etc. without fear. If you aren’t speaking, someone else will. - Explain the biblical versus the secular definition of marriage. * Practical tips for if you have gone through divorce + When possible (and safe) nurture a good relationship with the divorced spouse + Don’t vilify/ bad mouth in front of the child. + Children naturally feel protective of their parents. + Even in cases where one parent is clearly at fault, it’s important to explain the situation carefully so as not to hurt the child in the process. + It’s okay to validate the feelings of loss the child might have.

Mentioned ResourcesThem Before Us

Mama Bear Apologetics (book)

Mama Bear Apologetics Guide to Sexuality

Quotable Quotes“Being able to appeal to natural law, social sciences, and the testimony of people allows [kids] to stand firm even if they’re standing alone,” Katy Faust

“Understanding the ‘why’ behind what we believe inspires reverence.” Amy Davison

“Praise God for step-parents who step into the place of an absent parent.” Katy Faust

“Keeping kids from being taken captive by the lies of culture doesn’t happen on accident, it happens on purpose.” Katy Faust

“Whenever possible, allow your children to behold the beauty of marriage within your home so that they know what to become in their own marriages” Katy Faust

“You become what you behold…and culture is forcing us to behold all manners of dysfunction.” Katy Faust

“God’s world will always reinforce God’s Word.”

Questions or ideas? Send us an email at askthemamabears@gmail.com.

Donate to the podcast on our website.

adminWe are all in this together, so sometimes our posts are a bit of all of us.

The post 82. The Impact of Marriage and Divorce on Children: A Conversation with Katy Faust appeared first on Mama Bear Apologetics.

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(Welcome to Part 3 of our Enneagram series! If you haven’t done so, check out Part 1 where we give a “Crash Course in the Enneagram” and Part 2 where we ask “Is The Enneagram Even Accurate?”)

Let’s face it. Personality tests are fun. Even the cheesy Buzzfeed quizzes that tell you things like “Which fast food restaurant matches your personality?” are amusing. (Mine is KFC.) So it’s not really surprising that the Enneagram has gained so much popularity. It is entertainment mixed with the promise of enlightenment and life change. Even more, it makes thinking (or in some cases obsessing) about the self a virtuous spiritual practice. But since learning about ourselves and why we are the way we are is not in and of itself a bad thing, the messages of the Enneagram can be confusing! As usual, there are truths mixed with lies. So, join me as we ROAR through the Enneagram.

RECOGNIZE The Message – What statements are the authors trying to make?1. Want to know God? Know yourself.The Enneagram is based on the foundational assumption that at the soul level, every human is pure and good. The idea is that by better understanding that pure, untouched part of you, you will be able to see how God sees you. Since God is perfect, you (at your core) are His perfect creation, and when you understand yourself in that way, you will be able to see that perfection in God.

When we discover our true selves, we are told we will have deeper insight into what it means to love others. We will supposedly better understand grace and compassion. Since these things originate with God, we will in turn know God better.

Want to know your “true self?” Identify your “false self.”If the big idea of the Enneagram is that people are inherently good, how does it explain your tendency to struggle with sin? Easy! Your negative personality and character traits are not a part of who you truly are. That is just your “false self” peaking through. (Phew! What a relief!)

This (mythical) “true self” is steadily tainted beginning in childhood as life knocks us around. If you think about it in terms of nature verus nurture, this philosophy assumes our nature is all good and how we were nurtured determines which bad habits and traits we adopt.

A foundational claim of the Enneagram (whether it is being taught by a professed Christian or not) is that every person has ONE main sin/fear/weakness since childhood, and it can be pinpointed by their Enneagram number. The information that number reveals is meant to help you understand how this weakness motivates everything you think and do.

For example, let’s say you get angry and yell at your kids. Your number will supposedly reveal to you why that emotion was triggered. Perhaps you were trying to accomplish something good, but your children kept interrupting you. Maybe you caught them doing something a bit dangerous, and you overreacted in fear. Underneath the negative reaction, you should be able to look past your “false self” and see who you really are, which is the good intention behind the action. The idea is that the “false self” gets triggered by your fear or weakness when trying to protect your “true self’s” good intentions.

When the Enneagram is being couched in Christian language, teachers often relate the discovery of your “false self” to humble yourself before God. They might explain that understanding our own shortcomings increases our appreciation for God’s grace. But beneath these notions is the underlying idea that our sin is not part of who we truly are. (Ahem… Psalm 51:5 “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” Just sayin.)

Want to be your best self? Manage your sin.The point of using the Enneagram and identifying your number is so that you can recognize the root of your sin patterns and struggles. Once you understand why you do the things you do, you are supposedly empowered to break free of those cycles. Then you may follow your path to the healthy version of your number by working to develop those healthy traits. According to Ian Morgan Cron and Susanne Stabile, “Learning to manage your deadly sin rather than allowing it to manage you is one of the goals of the Enneagram.”1

OFFER Discernment – What the authors got right… and what lies snuck inAs is true of most of the messages we encounter in this world, these messages contain a mix of truths and lies. Let’s first affirm the truths that are taught in the Enneagram:

Truth #1: Knowing God involves knowing and confessing your sinThe Christian worldview does not holistically affirm the idea that “knowing yourself” is the way to know God. But there is a partial truth there because being able to recognize our personal sinfulness can help us to better understand who God is.

Think about it this way. If the Fall never happened, and humanity was able to live blissfully in the Garden of Eden forever, there is much about God we would never understand. We would never be able to grasp the concept of His grace. We would not have learned of His justice. We would not understand sacrifice or the depth of His love for us by what He would be willing to do in order to redeem us. So, even after the Fall, those who never recognize their sin will likewise never understand those aspects of who God is.

The more we become aware of the darkest parts of our soul, the more appreciation we have for the character and attributes of God.
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When I recognize how far I’ve fallen, I am all the more in awe of God’s grace for me. As I acknowledge my sin before the Lord, I gain an increasingly intimate relationship with Him. In other words, I know Him better. Truth #2: Some sin patterns do originate from childhood experiencesThe enemy preys on the vulnerable and exploits our weaknesses. We do not need to buy into the entire philosophy of the Enneagram to recognize that sometimes our sin is a response to being sinned against. Even personality traits may be developed as a result of experiences earlier in life. For example, when I was a child, I was extremely gullible. I had a huge imagination so when someone tried to trick me, I often fell for it. I also became embarrassed REALLY easily. At some point, I had enough of being embarrassed and I decided never to fall for someone’s tricks again!! I allowed myself to become suspicious of others, always assuming that someone was trying to pull one over on me. In some ways that “suspicious” attitude carried over into adulthood. The point is, part of what makes us who we are today is definitely developed through life’s circumstances. Being able to acknowledge those experiences that influenced certain character traits or sin patterns in our life can help us break free of them.

Some Christian proponents of the Enneagram justify its use because they believe a Christian uses the Enneagram differently than, say, a New-ager. They believe that if you are purposely using it to seek Christ, then it is safe to use. The problem is that any use of the Enneagram promotes false ideas. These lies are inherent in the “tool” itself.

Lie #1: You have a “false self”Remember at the end of Moana when (spoiler alert) the monster version of Te Fiti is about to attack Moana until she sings “This is not who you are”? The idea was that Te Fiti wasn’t really a monster. She was just acting like one! She was living in her “false self.”

But do we have a false self? As believers, we know that our identity is found in Christ. We gain an entire spiritual family. We are called to love our spiritual brothers and sisters, and to live in unity with them. We are to live a lifestyle of obedience to God. It’s not just a hat you wear, like “mom” or “wife” or “insert job title.” It is a WHOLE thing. But we also know that we go through moments and seasons of life when we do not act like our identity is in the Lord. We still sin and often need a reminder of who we are. Christians using the Enneagram are told that sinning is what it means to live in your “false self.” But the “true/false self” dichotomy poses some problems with a Biblical worldview:

Problem 1: The Enneagram does not distinguish between believers and non-believers. It assumes that everyone has a “true self” that is inherently good, whether or not they love the Lord. But why would God have any wrath or punishment at all for humans if at our core we were good? We were all made in His image with the capacity to love and do good works, but our sinful nature is just as much our “true self” as any good character traits we exhibit! Let’s look at what Scripture says:

“Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people because all sinned.” Romans 5:12
“Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins.” Ecclesiastes 7:20
“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” 1 John 1:8 (Yikes!)

Our sinful nature is a part of us, for better or worse, until those of us who put our trust in the Lord receive our redeemed bodies (1 John 3:2).
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No, we are not inherently pure and perfectly good. Thankfully, though, Christ offers to cover us in His own righteousness. Problem 2: The Enneagram uses “true/false self” language, but the Bible uses “old/new self” language. Rather than passively discovering the “good” within us, we are told to “put on the new self” (Ephesians 4:24). It is a daily and active pursuit of rejecting our old ways of sin and walking in our identity as saints.

Problem 3: The Bible reveals that sin comes from a hardened heart (Ephesians 4:18), not a false identity. If the root of our sin is misdiagnosed, we will not receive the correct solution.

Lie #2: “Managing your sin” is the same thing as ridding yourself of sinThe Enneagram is said to be a “map” that guides you into awareness of when you are operating in your “false” versus your “true” self. You are always somewhere on the map, and you are never free of your “false self.” Rather, you need to keep it in check, or “manage” it. While the quote from The Road Back To You unapologetically uses the phrase “managing your sin,” other “Christian” Enneagram influencers sometimes use language that is biblical-sounding but they mean the same thing. So imagine Jesus healing the man by the Pool of Bethesda (John 5) and then saying, “See you are well again. Go and manage your sin better!” No! He told the man to “sin no more” (v. 14).

In a biblical worldview, sin is humanity’s problem. So it is more than slightly important how believers view the definition of sin. (It’s like… really important actually). In The Road Back To You, we get to witness the blatant “linguistic theft” of the word sin. Cron and Stabile quote Richard Rohr’s new definition of sin as, “…fixations that prevent the energy of life, God’s love, from flowing freely. [They are] self-erected blockades that cut us off from God and hence from our own authentic potential.”2

Ummmm… no.

Underneath this new definition is the assumption that sin doesn’t really have anything to do with God other than blocking his love energy from getting to us. And the result is that we fail to meet our potential. It’s all about “me.” This doesn’t sound like New Age self-help talk at all…

The Bible, on the other hand, defines sin as “lawlessness” (1 John 3:4). It is breaking God’s Law and rebelling against Him, bringing forth death (Romans 6:23). We are told to leave our life of sin, to put off the old self and put on the new self. Jesus gave us this graphic illustration in Matthew, “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell” (Matthew 5:29). When you manage something, you are attempting to keep it under your control. It’s kind of like if you decided not to have sex until marriage but you’re okay with fooling around because it’s not as bad. But that’s not how it works. Jesus calls us to do whatever it takes to rid ourselves of sin, not to merely manage it.

Finally, notice that with the Rohrster’s definition of sin, there is no need for a Savior to atone for our sins. There’s nothing about Rohr’s view to account for God’s justice and our standing before God. Without a proper understanding of what sin is, you actually lose the Gospel.

Lie #3: If you find it helpful, then it’s usefulThis lie doesn’t necessarily come from the Enneagram itself, but it is an assumption made by those who teach it. This particularly comes from professed Christians who try to justify the use of the Enneagram. Many people seem to not care where the Enneagram came from. Nor do they care whether it is accurate or Biblical as long as they feel that they benefit from using it.

Relevant Magazine (a Christian magazine) has published several pro-Enneagram articles on its website. One article reads, “The question is not where did it come from, but to what end is it put? Is this wisdom in the service of Christ or not? Is this insight helping you love God and your neighbor more or not? For the Christian, this is the decisive question.”3 In other words, you must try it first, and if it helps you love God and your neighbor better, then keep using it!

People don’t normally go straight from church to seances. #enneagram #church
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Typically, a person will begin with mere curiosity but become hooked when their experience seems to affirm the “truth” of whatever it is that they are dabbling in. Someone might visit a psychic just for fun, but they might find the “insight” they received to be surprisingly helpful. It just takes one good experience for the enemy to get a foothold and without realizing it you can begin walking on a path deeper into the occult. Likewise, for many people, the Enneagram starts out as a fun personality test. But from curiosity to fascination, in consuming books, podcasts, and sermons centered on it, the Enneagram can take the form of an entire worldview. A worldview that is not shaped by the truth of God’s Word and contradicts it (as we have demonstrated in lies 1 and 2) is not useful for the Christian.

But what is the risk, in practical terms? Professed-Christian Enneagram authors and coaches use your supposed number to explain to you why you struggle with sin, and how to stop. Some of them, like Beth McCord, will use the Christian language of putting that sin to death and allowing Christ to bring you to life. It comes across as theologically sound! But these “coaches” are using a tool to diagnose sin that is not at all based on truth. (See “Is the Enneagram Even Accurate?”) So even if you feel that your “coach” (or author or podcast host) is hitting the nail on the head, you risk forming a false perception of yourself and your sin. The enemy would love for us, for example, to identify as an Enneagram 6 whose core “sin” is fear and completely ignore our actual sin of gluttony.

ARGUE for a Healthier Approach – What does God’s Word say about the truths we identified?For the mama bears who have young kids, you might not worry about them trying to use the Enneagram anytime soon. In fact, by the time they grow up, the Enneagram might be totally uncool and outdated. Be assured, though, something else will come along to distract Christians by then! There is nothing new under the sun. The point is, we need to prepare ourselves and our kiddos to think critically about whatever we are allowing to take space in our minds. We are not magically protected from being deceived just because we are Christians. There are plenty of warnings in the Bible for us to be discerning and to test everything against Scripture.

That being said, God gave us a sense of self, so it is natural to be curious about ourselves! Seeking to recognize how He wired us with different personalities, strengths, and weaknesses is a worthy goal. Being able to self-assess and acknowledge patterns of sin in our lives is necessary for growth. And it is not inherently wrong to use tools to assist us in these efforts. The Strengthfinders assessment is a wonderful (paid) option. It can help you identify both your strengths and the potential pitfalls of those strengths. Each strength exists on a spectrum, so you are not boxed into a particular “personality type.” Bonus point for Strengthfinders: It is NOT in fact a product of automatic writing. We also recommend the Spiritual Gifts test, which is free. (Yay!) This test will help you identify which areas the Lord may have naturally gifted you for joyfully serving in the body of Christ.

Let us not, however, forget the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives. At times, the Spirit will gift us with the ability to complete a specific task or project that we are not naturally suited for. And as far as dealing with our sin, He offers us something so much better than the Enneagram. Since the Enneagram claims you are “one number” for your entire life, it is actually claiming you will have to deal with your particular “sin” forever.

But ask yourself, where is the work of the Holy Spirit in this belief system? Where is freedom from our sin? Believers, we have a Helper! #enneagram
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An Advocate who works in us to renew our hearts and our minds and transforms us from the inside out! The Enneagram fails to account for the Holy Spirit, and I would argue it seeks to replace Him. How? Users claim that the Enneagram can convict you, guide you, increase your knowledge of God, and grow your compassion for others. Remind you of someone you know? It should. All of those things are roles for the Holy Spirit. Can the Holy Spirit use things like personality tests? Sure He can. But let’s get real: He’s probably not going to use one that has occult ties and came to someone by automatic writing while they were in a trance. That’s just straight-up demonic.

So let’s remember that we are not on our own here. We are not left to follow some arbitrary number chart to work ourselves into becoming better people. We have God Himself working in our hearts and guiding us. That is awesome!!

REINFORCE through discussion, discipleship, and prayer– Make it stick, yo!1. Some people engage in practices that feel helpful but ultimately cause harm. Ask your kids how many examples they can come up with. (Emotional binge-eating, drugs, alcohol, hiding a lie, joining a cult!!) 2. Talk with your kids about similarities between yours and their personalities. Discuss ways that their differences have been a blessing to your family. 3. As humans, we are made in the image of God but we don’t always reflect that image perfectly. Ask your kiddos, does a toddler need to be taught how to throw a fit? (No!) What are things we do sometimes that don’t reflect God’s image but that come naturally to us? (Lie? Hit our sibling? Steal a cookie?) Is it easier to do that or to do the right thing? Recognize that in our fallen self, we will always have to deal with that nature, but the Holy Spirit helps us. (Quick note: Always having to deal with our “sin nature” is not the same thing as being told you will always have to deal with a particular sin or struggle.) 4. Do a fun scavenger hunt in the Bible searching for mentions of the Holy Spirit, and make a list of the different roles He plays in our lives. Here are some verses to get you started: John 16:13, 1 Corinthians 6:11, Romans 15:13, Ephesians 1:17-20, and John 16:7. (P.S. There are a LOT more!)

By Alexa Cramer

1 Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile, The Road Back To You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery (Westmont, IL: IVP Books, 2016), 31.2 Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile, The Road Back To You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery (Westmont, IL: IVP Books, 2016), 30.3 See Todd Wilson, “When the Enneagram Goes to Church,” Relevant Magazine, March 18, 2021, https://relevantmagazine.com/faith/christianity-and-the-enneagram/.The post The Enneagram Part 3: Let’s ROAR, Mama Bears! appeared first on Mama Bear Apologetics.

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In the first part of this series, we looked at the history of the Enneagram. Many people are unaware of how the Enneagram was developed and how it made its way into Christian circles. We encourage you to check out “A Crash Course in the Enneagram” if you haven’t already. In it, we showed you that the Enneagram was not in any way designed by means of science or psychology. It was created through mysticism and divination. Regardless of its origins, however, many Christians claim that the Enneagram has greatly helped them because it seemed accurate. But does it really work? Is there any objective reason to believe the Enneagram is accurate? Before we dive into scientific studies, let’s first consider whether that answer even matters.

Does it matter if the Enneagram is valid?When asking if it works, we need to define what we mean by that. Clearly, the writers of The Road Back To You believe the Enneagram works if they decided to write entire books dedicated to how it works and how it will benefit the reader. Yet, take a look at these quotes from their first book:

“If its sketchy origins weren’t enough to spook the mules, there is no scientific evidence that proves the Enneagram is a reliable measurement of personality. Who cares that millions of people claim it’s accurate? Grizzly Man thought he could make friends with bears, and we know how that turned out.”1

“At best, it is an imprecise model of personality… but it’s very useful.”2

Evidently to Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile, it is unimportant whether the Enneagram is an accurate assessment of someone. They believe it is still worth using. The question is why. The book operates on the assumption that the Enneagram is useful. I am finding the same thing from other Christians who promote the Enneagram. No one seems to have an answer for why they trust it.

In fact, Richard Rohr (read more about him in the first part of this series) says, “I know some of you won’t like the determinism of this but – and I don’t know why it’s true but – you’re one number and you’re gonna be that till the day you die. I don’t know why.”3

But if a tool is to be accurate, it must be based on truth. #enneagram #science
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But if a tool is to be accurate, it must be based on truth. If it is not based on truth, how can it guide the user in any meaningful way? Further, it is one thing to admit that this “tool” is not scientifically supported; it is another thing to learn whether the science debunks it entirely. If it can be proven that the Enneagram does not accurately assess a person’s traits, then it cannot be any more helpful than vague horoscopes which sound close enough for the person to read into the situation and “be helped” by them. The Enneagram Institute contends, “…if people misidentify themselves, the Enneagram will do them little good. It will be no more than a fascinating curiosity — or, worse, a way of obtaining insight into others while avoiding insight into themselves.”4 In other words, a person must properly identify with a number in order to make use of the Enneagram. Therefore, whether the Enneagram is accurate should absolutely matter, because if it’s not, the numbers would have no significant meaning for anyone.

Let’s take a look at what we can learn from actual scientific studies that have been done on the Enneagram.

Is the Enneagram accurate?The Enneagram makes many claims that can be scientifically tested. With this information, we can determine whether it actually works. The few scales that have been developed to evaluate the reliability of the Enneagram types have yielded poor results, except supposedly for one. According to The Enneagram Institute, they have had the Enneagram “independently scientifically verified.”5 In the process of this “verification,” however, scientist Jay Medenwaldt notes: “Not only did several questions fail to group with other questions for that type, some grouped with the wrong type. Rather than stating that The Enneagram Institute incorrectly predicted personality for those types, [Sara Ann Scott] simply used these questions as items for the other type and The Enneagram Institute did not change any of their claims.”6

In short, the 9 Types are not an accurate way to categorize people for one very important reason: the traits within the types overlap, showing that the 9 Types are not distinct from each other like they are presented. That in itself debunks the entire claim of its usefulness.

Claiming that a person is one number and not another is the foundational claim of the Enneagram.
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Further, any attempt to demonstrate the consistency of test results (whether people get typed as the same number consistently) has failed. (Our very own Mama Bear-in-Chief, Hillary Ferrer, can attest to this. She’s taken the Enneagram three times and has been typed as a different number each time.) People receiving different results is no surprise because, as stated above, the types are not actually distinct categories that people typically fit into – which again, is the main claim upon which the “usefulness” of the Enneagram is based.

According to Medenwaldt, who is working on his Ph.D. in Social Psychology at Baylor and writing a book on the topic that will be published by Lexham Press next year,

“The Enneagram system, the experts who profit from it, and the scales used to type people have been tested in several ways and every single test contradicts the grand claims of the Enneagram. The types seem to correctly identify how some people are, but in general, they are inaccurate and overly simplified descriptions of people. The secondary aspects of the system, including the directions of growth, which is the alleged mechanism for spiritual growth, seem to be no more accurate than random chance.”7

What if my experience contradicts the science?For people who have used the Enneagram and found it to be insightful, the scientific results mentioned above may not be incredibly convincing. It can be difficult to override personal experience with data. Some people may genuinely be able to say that certain aspects of their life have improved since beginning to use the Enneagram. That being said, consider whether a good experience necessarily means that God has given you permission to continue. As Hillary Ferrer writes in Enneagram Shaming is Not the Way Forward, “There are almost always short-term ‘benefits’ to dabbling in the occult. It wouldn’t entice anyone otherwise.” The enemy is not opposed to hooking us in with something genuinely good if it means he can entice us onto a destructive path. This is why as Christians, we are called to submit to Christ, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6). But since the word “truth” is too often a victim of “linguistic theft” in our culture, let’s take a quick look at what the Bible means by “truth”:

The New Testament word aletheia (or truth) and its derivations retain the Hebrew idea of “conformity to fact” expressed in ‘emet (or truth). According to New Testament scholar Roger Nicole, “The primary New Testament emphasis is clearly on truth as conformity to reality and opposition to lies and errors.”8

In a word search through the Lexham English Bible, we find the word “truth” translated from aletheia 153 times in the New Testament alone. Suffice it to say, truth should be an important part of being a disciple of Christ. Why does God’s word put such a strong emphasis on truth? I believe it is because the truth is freeing (John 8:31-36), and also because it protects us from manipulation. When we are rooted in objective truth, it is much more difficult to draw our minds toward “hollow and deceptive philosophy” (Colossians 2:8).

When we don’t take the time to slow down and ask critical questions, we might miss our own biases. #enneagram
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We live in a chaotic culture where we are constantly having to process new information and make quick decisions. Sometimes our brains like to take shortcuts to help us out. When we don’t take the time to slow down and ask critical questions, we might miss our own biases. Many psychological phenomena are happening that work together to give some people a strong sense that the Enneagram works. In his article, “The Enneagram, Science, and Christianity – Part 2,” Medenwaldt lists several types of biases that may contribute, including coincidence, confirmation bias, and poor self-evaluation.

But it’s not just our own biases that we have to battle. We must also be watchful for manipulative tactics that some teachers of the Enneagram might be using. (In fact, we should be watchful for manipulative tactics that any teacher might use about anything!) In the “Crash Course in the Enneagram,” we uncovered the true recent history of the Enneagram despite several teachers claiming it has ancient roots. Claiming something has ancient roots is actually known to be a tactic used by so-called “psychics” because it “steer[s] the client to view the reading as a psychic experience, involving some precious source of wisdom.”9

Another strategy that “psychics” use during cold readings that the Enneagram also seems to use is something called “The Rainbow Ruse.”

“The Rainbow Ruse is a statement which credits the client with both a personality trait and its opposite…Rainbow Ruse statements are wonderfully safe, since the majority of personality traits are neither static nor quantifiable. Very few people are outgoing all the time, or introverted all the time. Most of us manifest both tendencies from time to time according to circumstances.”10

Here is an example of how “The Rainbow Ruse” is applied using the Enneagram in The Road Back to You:

“Remember that Eights are imposing, commanding personalities who need to be ‘the boss’” (53).

And on the next page…

“Eights have a tender side. If you’re fortunate enough to have an Eight in your life, you know that beneath all that intensity and anger energy there is a heart brimming with tenderness and love” (54).

Part of the appeal of the Enneagram is that it supposedly accounts for our fluid personalities. This makes it very relatable! I wonder if any mamas can relate to this: Before I was a mom, I was quite extroverted. Now that I am almost always surrounded by littles, I’ve become more introverted. Anyone else? Different seasons of life or even just different circumstances can bring out opposing personality traits. This is a principle that is generally true. But if you’re not thinking about that general principle, these statements can feel like they are specifically describing you or someone you know. It then becomes much easier to buy into the Enneagram’s explanations for why someone acts the way they do.

ConclusionIn the first installment of this series, we looked at the New Age origins of the Enneagram and its sketchy development. In this second post, we confirmed that there is no objective reason to trust it. Stay tuned for a third post where we will ROAR through the worldview behind the Enneagram. We will evaluate the messages and discern the truths we can affirm from the lies hidden (or not-so-hidden) within.

Mama, in this world we are constantly being tempted to become distracted from truth and from the Lord. We are sheep that tend to stray! We cannot become complacent and be “tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.” (Ephesians 4:14) We need to consistently practice tuning up our critical thinking so that we can model that for our kids. Yes, it can be mentally tiring. We are bombarded by messages left and right almost every minute of our day. And it gets worse over time as tech companies figure out how to get more media in our faces (and in our kiddos’ faces). It is critical for our kids to be in the habit of evaluating the messages they hear, and “monkey see, monkey do!”

Objective truth protects us from being manipulated. It is a gift of common grace that the Lord provides for us all.
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We have the ability to evaluate the truth as revealed in both nature and in His Word. Praise God for that! Let us be people that care about what is true.

Stay tuned next week for our final installment in this series! We’ll be ROARing through the Enneagram!

By Alexa Cramer

1 Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile, The Road Back To You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery (Westmont, IL: IVP Books, 2016), 11.2 Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile, The Road Back To You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery (Westmont, IL: IVP Books, 2016), 20.3 Richard Rohr, “The Enneagram: The Discernment of the Spirits (Introduction),” beginning at 20:00, YouTube, December 18, 2018, https://youtu.be/AmZnedWQGM0?t=1199. 4 The Enneagram Institute, “Misidentifications of the Enneagram,” https://www.enneagraminstitute.com/misidentifications-of-enneagram-personality-types.5 The Enneagram Institute, “The Riso-Hudson Enneagram Type Indicator,” https://www.enneagraminstitute.com/rheti.6 Jay Medenwaldt, “Is the Enneagram Legitimate for Spiritual Growth?,” November 16, 2021, http://www.jaymedenwaldt.com/2021/11/enneagram-spiritual-growth.html. Jay spoke on this topic at the 2021 Evangelical Theological Society meeting.7 Jay Medenwaldt, “Is the Enneagram Legitimate for Spiritual Growth?,” November 16, 2021, http://www.jaymedenwaldt.com/2021/11/enneagram-spiritual-growth.html.8 See Douglas Groothuis, “The Incompatibility of Standpoint Epistemology with the Christian Worldview,” The Center for Biblical Unity, https://www.centerforbiblicalunity.com/standpointepistemology?fbclid=IwAR2gBQXS4ZRJk1cDRQL7a7vrUIdl6nGsuDZe0rJuo1EZjX0WpjQeOoxnlLA.9 Ian Rowland, The Full Facts Book of Cold Reading (London: Rowland Limited, 2005), 27.10 Ian Rowland, The Full Facts Book of Cold Reading (London: Rowland Limited, 2005), 32.The post The Enneagram Part 2: Is It Even Accurate? appeared first on Mama Bear Apologetics.

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We interrupt our regularly scheduled 3-part series on the Enneagram to address some hurts that may be caused by the timing of this series. We had no idea it would turn into such a cultural moment — thanks in no small part to Jackie Hill Perry publicly announcement about the Enneagram days before we released the first blog. We are still going to talk about the scientific validity of the Enneagram (part 2), and we are still going to do a final ROAR through the Enneagram (part 3). But before we do, I feel a burden to speak to our mama bears who are feeling hurt, ashamed, angry, or even stupid at the sudden outcry against the Enneagram. To you, I want to say: “There is therefore now, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). Repeat it until you believe it.

Make no mistake, I do think the Lord is breaking a stronghold within the church that has been there for far too long. But in the midst of this, we need to address the Christian who asks, “What do I do if I feel like I was really helped by the Enneagram?” The enemy loves to jump in on what God is doing and surround it with a cloud of confusion and shame. If you, or someone you love has been a champion of the Enneagram and feels like someone just released a tsunami of condemnation on your head, here are some thoughts for you.

I do think the Lord is breaking a stronghold within the church. But in the midst of this, we need to address the Christian who asks “What do I do if I feel like I was really helped by the #Enneagram?”
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1. Occult temptations always start by “working”There have been a few times in my life when I dabbled in things that I later concluded to be occult. Each time, I forged ahead because there was just enough science (or theoretical science) for me to justify my interest. Each time, in His own way, the Lord made sure that I was no longer able to justify my study. I remember when it finally occurred to me that “occult” doesn’t mean “not true.” It’s not synonymous with “doesn’t work.” Occult means secret or hidden. There are almost always short-term “benefits” to dabbling in the occult. It wouldn’t entice anyone otherwise. Don’t feel ashamed because you were enticed by something that seemed good and true. Know that…

Remember: #occult doesn't mean 'not true' or 'doesn't work.' It means hidden (or even forbidden).
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2. God can reap where He doesn’t sowI have heard from a few friends saying that they felt like the Enneagram saved their marriage. They had gone to church classes and counselors and conferences trying to better understand themselves and their spouses. The Enneagram was like this “aha” moment where they could finally connect. To this, I want to say “Praise God that He reaps where He does not sow!” When a marriage is saved or a relationship is improved, all glory goes to God. God can use all things. However, we need to be aware that this is a grace that was extended to us because we serve a good God, not because God is giving us permission to follow something that is not from Him. And as we saw in part 1, the origins of the Enneagram have all the earmarks of occult activity through trance and automatic writing.

3. It’s not what you did, it’s what you do nowIf you have felt helped by the Enneagram, be grateful to God… and move on. As I said in point #1, occult fascination always begins by hooking us in with things that feel true, good, beautiful, or that “work.” Pay attention now to how difficult it is to take the information that God revealed to you about yourself, and disconnect it from the Enneagram. Yes, it may have been during your time studying the Enneagram that you had aha moments. The question is, do you believe that it was the Lord who revealed those things to you or the Enneagram? If you are trusting God, you can trust that He will continue to refine you without any more help from the Enneagram. If you keep feeling pulled back to the Enneagram, ask yourself why? What are you trusting in? Pay attention to how often you still want to assign people a number or how often you excuse something because of your number. This isn’t to shame you. It is to help you realize that there may have been a bigger spiritual stronghold than you realized. Any tool that is truly of God will push us back to Him and His Word, not back to the tool.

How do you help people in your life who are feeling shamed for studying the Enneagram?I know it can be tempting – especially for those who were uneasy from the start – to yell “HA! I KNEW IT! Told you so!!!” to someone whom they’d previously debated on the topic. But that is not how we as Christians should engage with those who are just escaping deception. Be honest: did you stay away from the Enneagram because you were sooooo much more spiritual or because it didn’t work for you to begin with? We’ve all been deceived at some moment or another. Be kind to others, for you have no clue how long it will be until you will look the fool. Treat them the way you will want to be treated when you are blinded by something that you thought was good. Do not rub each other’s faces in folly. We all need God’s kindness which leads to repentance. Whatever you do, do not make repenting more difficult for someone. Trust me, you don’t want to tempt God to unsaddle you from that moral high horse you’re on.

Instead remember, mama bears, “Above all, love each other deeply because love covers over a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8). For it is love which binds us all together in perfect unity (Colossians 3:15).

We have all been #deceived at one time or another. Don't rub each other's faces in it. Rather put on love, which binds us all together in perfect #unity. (Colossians 3:15)
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Hillary Morgan FerrerHillary Morgan Ferrer is the founder of Mama Bear Apologetics. She is the chief author and editor of Mama Bear Apologetics: Empowering Your Kids to Challenge Cultural Lies and Mama Bear Apologetics Guide to Sexuality: Empowering Your Kids to Understand and Live Out God’s Design. Hillary has her masters in Biology and has been married to her husband, Dr. John D. Ferrer, for 15 years. Don’t let her cook for you. She’ll burn your house straight to the ground.

www.mamabearapologetics.comThe post Enneagram Shaming is Not the Way Forward appeared first on Mama Bear Apologetics.

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Personality assessments are often used for career advice, relationship advice, to help work environments, and for self-improvement. In recent years, the Enneagram has sky-rocketed in popularity, especially, it seems, in the evangelical church. Even prominent Christian influencers like Beth Moore1 and Andy Stanley2 have shown their support for it. The reason? The Enneagram aims to fulfill not only the typical uses for personality assessments but also to serve as a guide in spiritual development. It has been embraced by many Christian individuals and even entire churches. We’ve seen a boom of Christian-labeled Enneagram books, including Bible devotionals based on it.3 We also see a growing number of podcasts devoted to the Enneagram.4 And to top it all off, those seeking a career in it can now become certified Christian Enneagram coaches.

Christians run the gamut when it comes to their opinions on the Enneagram. Some passionately use it, study it, and preach it like it’s Scripture. Others believe it is straight-up demonic. And a whole lotta people are somewhere in between who don’t know about it or just don’t care one way or the other. Unfortunately, misinformation about the Enneagram abounds. More importantly, this entire Enneagram movement is revealing some underlying ideas that many Christians seem to have adopted uncritically. In this culture of information overload, it’s very easy to buy into false ideas without realizing it. So, while we’re talking through the Enneagram, this series is really about worldview training.

We’ll start out with this crash course so you know what the Enneagram is and where it came from. Then, stay tuned for a post on whether the Enneagram is scientifically accurate, and a final post where we will ROAR through its messages.

Christians run the gamut when it comes to their opinions on the #Enneagram. Some preach it like it’s Scripture. Others believe it is straight-up demonic. Unfortunately, misinformation about the Enneagram abounds.
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What is the Enneagram?Today the Enneagram is typically viewed as a personality typing system like the popular Myers-Briggs or Big 5. According to Enneagram proponents Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile, “The point of it is self-understanding and growing beyond the self-defeating dimensions of our personality, as well as improving relationships and growing in compassion for others.”5 What makes it unique, supporters say, is that it does not focus merely on personality traits. Rather, the goal of the Enneagram is to help you discover your main motivation – the part of you that drives your traits and your decisions. This part of you is said to be false. You need to learn to see your true self so that you can better connect with God.

How does the Enneagram Work?The Enneagram is a diagram composed of nine points that look sort of like a star. Each point is assigned a number one through nine. Each number represents a “type,” which is associated with a supposed “sin” that is said to be the main driver of our personality. (Some Enneagram teachers prefer to use the words “vice,” “passion,” or “weakness” instead of sin.) Each person has one main “sin” that drives all of their personality and behavior for life – apparently regardless of sanctification.

Along with that “sin” comes a list of typical personality traits. So, every human can supposedly identify with one main number. Each number, however, has “wings.” You may only have one wing that accompanies your main number, and that just means you might share some of that number’s characteristics. Your wing will be either the number before or after your main number. For example, if you are a “7,” then you could either be a “6 wing” or an “8 wing.” A 7 cannot be a “9 wing.”

Further, depending on whether you are “under stress” or feeling “secure,” you may exhibit traits from other numbers as indicated by the arrows. The arrows are meant to guide you to become the healthy version of your number by showing your Direction of Integration and your “Direction of Disintegration.”

So, how does this practically play out? Once you know your number, if you are exhibiting the negative characteristics that are typically associated with the number as indicated by your Direction of Disintegration, you know you are in trouble! You can follow your Direction of Integration arrow to see the traits you are supposed to develop.

According to the Enneagram Institute: “Ultimately, the goal is for each of us to “move around” the Enneagram, integrating what each type symbolizes and acquiring the healthy potentials of all the types. The idea is to become a balanced, fully functioning person who can draw on the power (or from the Latin, “virtue”) of each as needed.”6

Where did the Enneagram come from?Hell.

Just kidding. But I’ll be honest with you, the origin of the Enneagram is quite – uuh – sketchy! Contrary to popular belief that the Enneagram is ancient, the furthest back we can trace it is to George Gurdjieff, an Armenian mystic who died in 1949. (The exact year of his birth is unknown but it is was probably the 1860s or 70s.) Gurdjieff believed that one must experience an “awakening” in order to behold true reality. (That doesn’t sound like literally every New Age teaching ever, does it?) While he never actually wrote specifically about the Enneagram, his mentee P. D. Ouspensky took Gurdjieff’s ideas about the Enneagram and expounded upon them in two of his books.7

So, what the heck was the Enneagram at its inception? Gurdjieff saw the Enneagram as a super-duper mystical tool for understanding all of reality. He believed all the laws of the universe are contained in this diagram. Gurdjieff used the diagram to create mathematical formulas, a musical scale, and even a series of dances.8 At its origin, The Enneagram had nothing to do with personality types. I know, I just blew your mind.

Enter Oscar Ichazo (1931-2020). Oscar Ichazo was a “philosopher” who employed the use of psychedelic drugs in order to have spiritual trips. He spoke of receiving instructions from an entity named “Metatron.”9 Alarm bells should be ringing, mama bears! It is unclear exactly how Ichazo encountered the Enneagram, but he had a profound influence in how it is used today. Ichazo believed that each of us has a divine essence, our true self. He believed that from childhood as we experience life, we develop aspects of our personality, or “ego fixations” as Ichazo named them, in order to protect our true essence. These “ego fixations” give us a false sense of self, and our goal should be to find the path back to our true self, which is pure and good. Ichazo assigned an “ego fixation” to each point on the Enneagram.

Now here’s where the gossip gets juicy. Claudio Naranjo (1932-2019), Oscar Ichazo’s student, took the Enneagram and added personality types to the nine “ego fixations” on the Enneagram. So, just to be ultra clear: the personality typing system of the Enneagram was not added until the 1960s. What’s more shocking is the method Naranjo claimed to come up with the types. Brace yourself! In a video interview, Naranjo says he used automatic writing, a self-induced trance for the purpose of spirit contact. This is where he claims most of the typing information came from and, of course, he used observation to confirm it. Sounds legit, right? Yeah. I don’t think so, either.10

How did the Enneagram turn into a “Christian” thing?Two words: The Rohrster.

“The Rohrster,” as I like to call him, refers to Franciscan Friar Richard Rohr. But let me back up a minute first. For many years, the Enneagram had gained popularity in the New Age Movement.11 Books had been written about it, but mostly by New Age authors. It wasn’t until 2016 that Christian publisher InterVarsity Press released Cron and Stabile’s book, The Road Back to You, which introduced the Enneagram to the broader evangelical church. The real explosion in popularity happened the next year when a second Christian publisher (Zondervan), put out The Sacred Enneagram: Finding Your Unique Path to Spiritual Growth by Christopher L. Heuertz. Fun fact: all three authors of the first two Christian-labeled Enneagram books are disciples of Richard Rohr.

Richard Rohr learned about the Enneagram from Bob Ochs, a Jesuit priest who was a student of Naranjo. Rohr is Roman Catholic, but his teachings are problematic – and that’s putting it lightly. Here are just a few examples:

He is a perennialist: He believes all religions lead to God.12
He is a universalist: He denies the need for salvation, insisting all are already saved.13
He is a panentheist: He believes God both transcends creation and is also in creation itself. Essentially, everything in nature is god.
Finally, related to his panentheism, he sees “the Christ” as something separate from Jesus. He writes: “Christ has existed ‘from the beginning,’ so the Christ cannot be the same as Jesus.”14

These are foundationally unChristian beliefs. They actually fall right into the New Age Movement, which Mama Bear Lindsey Medenwaldt wrote about on our blog. These beliefs are contradictory to what the Bible teaches about God, His nature, and our need for salvation. Many people are understandably unaware of Rohr’s heretical beliefs. Rohr comes across as gentle, kind, and positive (and we should all be like that, see 1 Peter 3:15). He seems open-minded and radically inclusive. Unfortunately, Rohr and his mentees are experts at using Christian words but with their own redefined meanings. This is what we at Mama Bear like to call “linguistic theft.” (We’ll break down an example in a future post). But the point here is that The Rohrster’s teachings are not leading people to the God of the Bible.

Further, Rohr doesn’t seem to care about objective, verifiable truth. He and other Enneagram proponents continue to claim that the Enneagram has ancient roots in Christianity and other “traditions,” a word Rohr prefers over “religions.” They claim this even though there is no evidence to back it up. What’s worse, Naranjo admitted in a video from 2010 that he and Ichazo purposely misled their followers (to put it nicely) about the Enneagram’s ancient origins because their followers would “trust it more.” Facepalm.

All that being said, Rohr is at the root of the Enneagram being “Christianized.” That in and of itself is a problem. And to exacerbate the issue, many Christians are not aware of the need for discernment when it comes to books labeled “Christian.” But just because a publisher says something is Christian doesn’t mean it is.

Caution about taking personality assessments too farSome people might check out the Enneagram, get assigned a number, and then never think about it again! But there is a growing number of people who use the Enneagram as a tool for spiritual formation. Some read books, listen to podcasts, and even use Bible devotionals devoted to the Enneagram (as if the Bible reads “differently” for a 1 than a 6 or something…?).

It can be helpful to have ways to describe ourselves to others so that we can promote empathy and understanding when another person is wired differently than us. But we need to always first be calibrated to God’s truth. Our identity is first and foremost not in any of our personality features but in Christ.

And, of course, the next question we should be asking is, “Is the Enneagram accurate?” If it’s not even accurate, then why engage with it in the first place? We’ll be answering that, along with other questions in our next blog, so stay tuned!

By Alexa Cramer

1 E.g., @BethMooreLPM, Twitter, Nov. 23, 2022, https://twitter.com/BethMooreLPM/status/1595516482955497474.2 “June 2019: Enneagram for Leaders, Part 1,” Andy Stanley, June 7, 2019, https://andystanley.com/podcast/enneagram-for-leaders-part-1/.3 See Tyler Zach, The Gospel for Helpers: A 40-Day Devotional for Caring, Empathetic Supporters: (Enneagram Type 2) (Enneagram Series) (2022); Elizabeth Bennett, The Individualist: Growing as an Enneagram 4 (60-Day Enneagram Devotional) (Whitaker House, 2020); and Eve Annunziato, Jackie Brewster, Hearing God Speak: A 52-Week Interactive Enneagram Devotional (Ink & Willow, 2021).4 See e.g., The Christian Enneagram Podcast; Enneagram and Christianity; Typology; Love Thy Neighborhood Presents: The EnneaCast; Your Enneagram Coach, The Podcast; and The Enneagram of Personality.5 Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile, The Road Back To You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery (Westmont, IL: IVP Books, 2016), 24.6 “How the Enneagram Works,” The Enneagram Institute, https://www.enneagraminstitute.com/how-the-enneagram-system-works.7 P.D. Ouspensky, In Search of the Miraculous (Harper 2001); P.D. Ouspensky, The Fourth Way: An Arrangement by Subject of Verbatim Extracts from the Records of Ouspensky’s Meetings in London and New York, 1921-46 (Vintage, 1971).8 Gurdjieff Movements, Konya performance, 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=740PhEOdx1M.9 Don Venoit, Joy Venoit, Marcia Montenegro, and H. Wayne House, Richard Rohr and the Enneagram Secret (Wonder Lake, IL: MCOI Publishing LLC, 2020).10 For more details on the origins of the Enneagram, see Marcia Montenegro, “The Enneagram GPS: The Gnostic Path to Self,” Christian Answers for the New Age, March 2011, http://www.christiananswersforthenewage.org/Articles_Enneagram.html.11 You can read more about the New Age Movement on our blog here and here.12 “The Perennial Tradition,” Center for Action and Contemplation, 2017, https://cac.org/daily-meditations/the-perennial-tradition-2017-12-03/.13 “Universal Salvation,” Center for Action and Contemplation, 2017, https://cac.org/daily-meditations/universal-salvation-2017-04-07/.14 https://universalchrist.cac.org/.The post The Enneagram Part 1: A Crash Course appeared first on Mama Bear Apologetics.

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I’ll never forget the Christmas I turned 9. That spring, an American Girl® catalog made its way into our mailbox. When I spied Molly with her glasses and brown fringe bangs, a staple of my 90’s girlhood, I knew I had to have her. So, my mom and I made a pact. If I read every book in the American Girl: Molly series (I was a struggling reader at the time), I would get the doll.

I devoured every single page a dozen times over that year. The “Look back in History” section at the end of each book sparked a fascination about World War 2 that even my own children share. No six books marked my childhood more deeply than the adventures of Molly and, as promised, that Christmas I found her waiting for me under the tree.

As I grew, so did my collection of accessories and books. The official American Girl guides taught me everything from how to handle bullies and babysitting to understanding my developing body. I looked forward to the day when I could make that same pact with my daughter. But God made me a boy mom, so the adventures of Molly, Felicity, and other original American Girls remain a cherished memory on my shelf while Diary of a Wimpy Kid reigns supreme at my home now.

But it isn’t those books that are caught in the cultural crosshairs. American Girl’s newest book, A Smart Girl’s Guide to Body Image, follows in the footsteps of its predecessors by giving girls practical tips on how to deal with everything from diets to clothes to body boundaries.

Only now there’s more on a girl’s plate than bullies and pimples. Our daughters are now faced with a new battlefield: the question of their identity.

Throughout Body Image, ideas that once moonlighted in the lecture halls of a women’s studies program are now pumped straight into the hands of first graders. Girls ages 7 to 11 are taught that gender expression is how they dress to match a masculine, feminine, or in-between stereotype. Their gender identity (their internal perception of themselves) might differ from their biological sex that had been “assigned” (via chromosomes and affirmed by a doctor) at birth.

Nothing says 'American Girl' these days more than teaching girls as young as 7 how to ask for puberty blockers. #AmericanGirl
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Girls who are sure they’re transgender (though they don’t explain how a girl comes to know this) are then encouraged to speak to a parent, a trusted adult, or a school counselor who can connect them to a doctor to help them decide what’s best for their bodies. The book says that it might start with changing clothes to match what feels most “true to you.” Then, if they haven’t started puberty, they can start “medicine” to delay development. Even if puberty has begun, “…doctors can still help.” So can the organizations listed at the back of the book.

What most girls won’t notice is the careful balance of doublespeak. On page 68 they’re encouraged to love their bodies which, “isn’t [like] a dress you can trade in for a trendier version, it’s the only one you’ve got!” Only after telling our daughters that it’s ok to want to change them (p. 38). Sure, Body Image denounces diets as “toxic” and ineffective (stop fat-shaming you bigot!), but hormone blockers and irreversible surgeries with life-long side effects? Nah, that’s embraced as part of the process of accepting your true self!

In one section they tell girls how to accept their bodies and just a few pages later, they instruct them on how to permanently alter their bodies if they are not happy. Doublespeak much? #AmericanGirl
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But what is true? What, then, is a girl? The book doesn’t say. That’s the problem. When womanhood is reduced to a cultural stereotype, it’s obliterated altogether. Being a girl becomes a caricature, a fantasy. One that comes with clothes and accessories, just like the doll under my Christmas tree all those years ago. But side effects are too numerous to be swept under the gender-affirming rug: infertility, painful sex, later inability to orgasm, cancer, depression, altered vocal range, and more. (That baritone voice does not go away, ladies.) And remember, these are “medicines” that are being given to a healthy body. Healthy bodies should not need medicines.

Parents are rightfully outraged, but we can’t let our frustration distract us from the fact that there are people who genuinely believe that gender theory is true. Not because of politics, but because affirming-only doctors and psychologists assure them that it’s the only option. For many, the arguments sound right.

While reading the outraged comments following the 1-star reviews for the guide, I was struck with a sobering aspect of being a faithful witness. We have to be careful that we don’t allow our haste to stop the chaos to blind us to the captives lost in its midst.

There are a few things we Christians need to remember:

We can’t expect the world to reflect the WordI get it. Back in our day, the biggest girl issues were teen pregnancy and bulimia (which are definitely big issues), but this isn’t 1995. The only reason the world seems more wholesome in the rearview mirror is because of a combination of childhood ignorance and the fact that the majority of kids’ entertainment reflected Judeo-Christian values of the body and family. Boy, has that changed! And most parents didn’t see it coming.

The world acting worldly, however, was no mystery to the early church. In John 15:18-19. we’re warned that followers of God are aliens in this world.

Just like we need a map to navigate a new city, our families need the shrewdness of a serpent so as not to fall victim to false and worldly teachings found in the media–all of which are conversations the world is already having with your children.

If something is of the world, we should expect it to conform to the world’s pattern, which American Girl has done. In reality, this latest book shouldn’t have shocked us. If anything, we should have wondered what took them so long.

Christians can shape cultureArt reflects culture, but it also shapes it. Why, then, do we feel like we are bound to the world? Just as the church needs an apologetic revival, so, too, do we need a revival of Christian art.

Clothing designers who can make attractive outfits that don’t objectify women and girls, we need you. Artists and writers who can make a clever plot line that doesn’t involve degrading jokes and porn scenes, we need you. Creators who can make toys that nurture the imagination and uphold the beauty of God, we need you. Investors who see the need to shape culture and can support those artists gifted by God to do so, oh, how we need you!

I once had a friend explain that a calling is found when we see a need and are able to meet that need. Our culture desperately needs Godly influence. There are countless people able to fill that need. It’s time for the church to start fulfilling that calling.

Righteous indignation doesn’t replace Christ-centered outreachThere is nothing wrong with being grieved at the state of the world, especially with regard to the aggressive promotion of secular culture to our children. But even righteous indignation has to be kept in perspective. Yes, we can be angry. But in our anger, sin crouches at the door (Psalm 4:4, Ephesians 4:26).

There is nothing wrong with being grieved at the state of the world, But even righteous indignation has to be kept in perspective. Yes, we can be angry. But in our anger, sin crouches at the door. #AmericanGirl
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For one, being willingly ignorant isn’t just for the ungodly. Christians, too, can make wrong conclusions based on false assumptions. We have to realize that these companies are operating from a worldview entirely different from Christianity. And sexuality is a huge cash cow. This is just the first time our kids are being marketed to as consumers. We cannot be silent, but we also must take care that our approach reflects Christ.

We cannot be silent, but we also must take care that our approach reflects Christ. #AmericanGirl
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When Jesus dealt with unbelievers, He exercised great patience, but He never compromised truth. It’s only with believers who manipulated the church for their own gain that He flipped tables and used a whip. But in reading many of the comments in the reviews of the newest American Girl book, some of us have gotten this backward.

We can’t expect secular culture to submit to a standard they never agreed to. We can show them how their standard doesn’t accomplish the love and protection of a girl’s body that they claim to promote. We can graciously point out the faulty logic of using gender stereotypes to ground gender theory. We can show how the suicide rate within transgenderism is often misrepresented and based on false metrics.1 And that hormone blockers nearly always lead to artificial hormones. Whereas if children are allowed to progress through puberty normally most will naturally accept their biological sex.

True, this doesn’t have the immediate cathartic effects of beating someone over the head with online holy outrage. It requires patience, the willingness to listen, and to recognize hurts and needs while seeking to love according to 1 Corinthians 13. This also raises an important question: will we continue to ring like a clanging gong when the world acts worldly? Or will we use this opportunity to spark conversations that have been needing to happen for a while now? Will that talk reflect the truth and grace of Christ? Or will it reflect the same anger on which the world is currently fueled?

Perhaps this isn’t the answer you were expecting, but that wasn’t my goal. My goal was to put to use some of the skills I learned from a story about a girl who had to be brave during war. A girl who learned to sacrifice for others and stand up for what is right even when it seems like the world was falling down around her. To stand for truth in a time of uncertainty.

These are the thoughts of an American Girl.

Amy DavisonAmy Davison is a former Air Force veteran turned Mama Bear Apologist. She is currently a grad student at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary studying apologetics and philosophy. She and her husband Michael (also former Air Force) have been married for over 15 years and have 3 kids. Amy is the Mama Bear resident expert on sex and sexuality, and she’s especially hoping to have that listed on her Mama Bear business card.

saltngrace.com/about/1 There are often comorbidities within mental health that aren’t considered while attributing all suicidal thoughts, self-harm, suicide attempts, and completed suicides are assumed to be the same thing. See Appendix in Preston Sprinkle’s Embodied, 227-41.The post Thoughts from an American Girl about American Girl® appeared first on Mama Bear Apologetics.

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Note: This blog is about having children, but we here at Mama Bear recognize that married couples without children are families. Children are not required to make a family complete. We are simply noting the decline in birth rates and some lies and truths related to that trend.

By: Bonnie Robinson

A staggering number of adults today are veering away from having kids. The birth rate has been trending downward since 2019, according to the Pew Research Center. They also report a significant uptick in people of childbearing age who say they probably won’t have any kids. What’s influencing their decisions? Well, there are the usual deterrents: kids cost a lot, kids are a lot of work, kids are a life-long commitment, etc…, but there is another force at work. When we analyze this trend, we uncover a heap of lies that Satan has been propagating for a few decades.

It’s common for young people today to put off having children, claiming they want to “experience life first.” They have been deceived into believing that life without children is more fulfilling; in fact, that life with children isn’t really any life at all. Some adults might want children, but they’ve been bullied into believing having children is selfish and are shamed into a life of childlessness. They’re told that having children is adding to an already overpopulated earth with depleting resources and dangerous climate change. Anyone who openly champions traditional views about having children and raising a family might be accused of misogyny and trying to force women back into the 1950s.

How did having children become such a heated controversial issue? I don’t know, but somehow, here we are. The attacks against children are intensifying.

Lie #1: Families with Children are for Losers We’ve seen a steady degradation of fathers in the media for decades; Ward Cleaver and Andy Griffith were replaced by Al Bundy and Homer Simpson. Fathers have been reduced to bumbling buffoons; just dad bods with dad jokes.

Mothers, especially stay-at-home moms, are seen as “not college/career material” and therefore “less than” as if moms become moms because they can’t figure out any other way to contribute to society. Most recently, culture has been trying to erase the identity of mothers altogether by redefining and reassigning the title with more “inclusive” terms such as “birthing person.”

Kids have sadly taken the brunt of this degradation; they’ve been depicted as snotty little brats that suck the life out of you and ruin all your dreams – and much worse. I’ve seen comments on social media refer to children as “viruses,” “parasites,” and — perhaps the most disturbing because it is borderline obscene – “crotch goblins.”

Mothers, especially stay-at-home moms, are seen as “not college/career material” and therefore 'less than' as if moms become moms because they can’t figure out any other way to contribute to society.
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Lie #2: Families with Children are for Racists? (Well, that escalated quickly)Single and childless is viewed by our culture as the superior life choice for those who wish to be carefree, empowered, and successful. To choose marriage and family makes you a loser, and even worse — a racist. Author Andray Domise claims the nuclear family is the “most brutal social structure…force[d] on the present-day Black family.” Domise continues to describe the nuclear family as a “colonizing force of white supremacy.” Non-traditional families are embraced and celebrated, particularly families in the LGBTQ+ communities; but one father, one mother, in a monogamous relationship, raising a houseful of littles is apparently one of the most oppressive forces in Western civilization and must be dismantled for the good of society and the environment.

Raising a houseful of littles is apparently one of the most oppressive forces in Western civilization and must be dismantled for the good of society and the environment?
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Lie #3: Procreation is Not only Immoral, It’s CriminalEnvironmental activists go beyond depicting kids as booger-nosed, vomit-producing, stinky-diaper factories intent on destroying their parents’ careers. They now claim that bringing children into this world might even be immoral! In an article called “Why Choosing to Have Children is an Ethical Issue,” philosophy professor Christine Overall argues, “When it comes to choosing whether to have children or not, there is a moral right and wrong to the choice…”

Stop Having Kids, an antinatalist group that promotes procreation as an immoral and unethical choice, claims, “None of the unborn wish to be born, but plenty of the living wish they were dead.” According to their mission statement, they “advocate for focusing time, energy, and resources that would have otherwise been allocated towards supporting new life into caring for and improving the lives of already existing individuals and places.” Their homepage says, “There is an unconscionable amount of needless suffering, injustice, and death in the world — with birth serving as the catalyst for it all.”

The BirthStrike Movement, another antinatalist group, was started by a husband and wife team in Ontario in 2021. The U.S. Sun quoted co-founder Spencer Rocchi as saying, “Having a child, especially in the developed world, is one of the most harmful things you can do, if not the most harmful thing you can do.” According to his wife, Agnieszka Marszalek, “There’[s] climate change to think about, world wars, fights over resources like water in years to come, rising political tensions…” The growing child-free movement suggests having children is not only immoral, it’s criminal. Children are a threat to society. Their solution? Total bans on reproduction.

The growing child-free movement suggests having children is not only immoral, it’s criminal. Children are a threat to society. Their solution? Total bans on reproduction. #family
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It’s sobering to recognize that children are being viewed this way by a growing segment of our population. These anti-birth views are having a major influence on the pro-life movement as well, attempting to bring a supposed nuance to what it means to be “pro-life.” They advocate that the more “pro-life” position is to abort the pre-born in favor of the already born and in favor of the mother. Even some professing Christian communities are beginning to embrace the killing of unborn babies as a moral alternative to giving birth. Rebecca Peters, a Presbyterian minister, asserts, “…there is certainly nothing Christian about forcing women to continue pregnancies against their will.” While these lies have deeply infiltrated our culture, we can be thankful we do not have to live by lies; we can know the Truth. God speaks clearly on the issues of family and children.

Truth #1: God Invented Families with ChildrenNewsflash: marriage and family were God’s designs from the beginning of creation. The very first instruction given to Adam and Eve was to have children (Genesis 1:27-28). In fact, genealogies make up a significant number of pages in both the Old and New Testaments, demonstrating how important the family is to God and His plan. Scripture also reveals how the God-given roles of dads, moms, and children are used to exemplify Christ and the gospel to the world.

Fathers should strive to be like Christ, leading, protecting, providing, serving, loving their wives (Ephesians 5:25-33), and diligently discipling their children with compassion (Deuteronomy 11:18-21 and Ephesians 6:4). Mothers, likewise, are called to love, serve, and respect their husbands, taking care of their homes, and faithfully instructing their children in the faith (Titus 2:4-5 and Proverbs 31:26-27). Children are to obey and honor their parents (Ephesians 6:1-3, Deuteronomy 5:16).

We cannot let the world convince us that the nuclear family is oppressive or an extension of white supremacy. On the contrary, safe, loving homes build safe, supportive communities. The nuclear family is not a product of colonialism or Western civilization. It is the absolute first institution both created and blessed by God. As stated in the Mama Bear Apologetics Guide to Sexuality, it’s a great design… when followed!

We cannot let the world convince us that the nuclear family is oppressive or an extension of white supremacy. #family
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Truth #2: God Has Plans for Children (both Born and Unborn)Despite much debate in our society about when life begins, the Bible teaches that God cares about babies even before they are born. The stories of many biblical heroes began at the earliest stages of life. God doesn’t just express His plans for children who are born (Jacob, Samuel, David), but also children in utero (Psalm 139:16), and sometimes even before conception, like Isaac, Samson, John the Baptist, and Jesus (Jeremiah 1:5, Isaiah 44:28)! Faith hall-of-famers — Esther, David, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego — were young people “born for such a time” (Esther 4:14). God foreknows the events surrounding our lives and uses obedient followers, no matter how young, to further His plan and bring the message of salvation and redemption for all people.

Truth #3: Children Make Everything “Extra” – in a Good WayIf we return to the story of Adam and Eve, we learn that children are a direct gift from the LORD (Genesis 4:1). Many people don’t understand the unexplainable joy that children can bring. Experiences we might take for granted — like fuzzy caterpillars, puppies, and ice cream cones — are magnified when seen through the eyes of a child. These continue to multiply as children grow up and produce grandchildren and even great-grandchildren! Did you know that the Bible describes children as an inheritance from the Lord (Psalm 127:3)? Parents get to enjoy this amazing blessing from the Lord not only here on this earth but for all eternity if their children walk with God.

So take heart Mama Bears! Wise King Solomon said that having many children brings much happiness (Psalm 127:5). Let’s learn to recognize and reject these secular views and seek to restore a biblical perspective on children. They are a treasure worth investing in — whether they are biological, foster, adopted, or spiritual.

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I was in my mid-20s living in San Diego. I joined some people from a nearby church and went to a Pride parade to pass out water, give hugs, and hold signs saying “We are sorry the church hasn’t loved you the way Jesus would” (or something along those lines). All of a sudden, I […]

The post Does Jesus Ever Talk About Homosexuality? appeared first on Mama Bear Apologetics.

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Introduction: The idea for this episode came from one of our listeners who encountered the 13 Black Lives Matters principles in her child’s classroom. Wanting to know more, she reached out to Mama Bear. Amy knew exactly who to talk with – Monique Duson, co-founder of The Center for Biblical Unity. In this episode, Amy […]

The post MBA 73: A Look at Black Lives Matters with Monique Duson appeared first on Mama Bear Apologetics.

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“They’ve started protesting.” My son paused his channel surfing and turned up the volume. We watched in silence as a crowd of screaming women threw themselves against the doors of an Arizona courthouse. We had discussed the fallout of overturning Roe v. Wade since Justice Alito’s argument was leaked to the press two months ago. So […]

The post Prepping Your Teens for Roe v. Wade Discussions appeared first on Mama Bear Apologetics.

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For the past month, our local stores have been gradually stocking gear for the next holiday: Pride Month. Rainbows have become the pumpkin spice of late spring. Your toddler can now rock a trans rights tee-shirt. Even Mittens the cat can have an oh-so-fabulous scratchpad to boast their owner’s pride. Cuz nothin’ says equality like […]

The post Prepping Your Kids for Pride Month appeared first on Mama Bear Apologetics.

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Two days ago, a judicial cowpie hit the proverbial fan when a supreme court justice document in favor of overturning Roe v. Wade was leaked to news outlet Politico. This 98-page behemoth (which you can read here) was written by Justice Samuel Alito. He argues that the right to abortion passed under Roe v. Wade […]

The post The Dobbs SCOTUS Leak: What Happened, What it Means, and Why it Matters appeared first on Mama Bear Apologetics.

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Oh Lord, my God. My rock. My redeemer. We have so much blood on our hands. You say in Your Word that the blood of the innocent cries out to you (Genesis 4:10). Bloodshed pollutes the very land in which we live (Numbers 35:33). Oh, my God, our land is polluted with the blood of innocent […]

The post Praying Together Over the SCOTUS Decision to Overturn Roe v. Wade appeared first on Mama Bear Apologetics.

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A clip from Skillet frontman John Cooper has recently been making the rounds on social media. In it, Cooper is heard saying that “it is time to declare war on this idolatrous deconstruction Christian movement.” And just like that, the Christian community split. One set of people claims that Cooper is causing further harm to […]

The post Is Deconstruction the Same Thing as Doubt? appeared first on Mama Bear Apologetics.

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Since the launch of Mama Bear Apologetics Guide to Sexuality, we have seen dozens of questions from you, our amazing Mamas and Papas out there. We love this aspect of ministry because our calling has always been to meet you where you’re at and, through God’s wisdom, get you to where you’re going! One […]

The post When Adam and Steve come to Dinner: How to explain Same-Sex Marriage to Kids appeared first on Mama Bear Apologetics.

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Discipleship is not a word you hear that often outside of the occasional sermon series on the Apostles. In fact, I’m willing to bet an overpriced latte that you’ve never heard your church use it to refer to how we should shepherd our children’s understanding of biblical sexuality. But parents, there is no better way! […]

The post Sexual Discipleship Is Not Indoctrination…Here’s Why! appeared first on Mama Bear Apologetics.

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DISCLAIMER: We talk about some sensitive issues in today’s podcast. If there are younger ears around, you may want to pop in some headphones before you listen. INTRODUCTION: Today’s guest, Monica Cline, used to work for Planned Parenthood as a comprehensive sex educator. She is the founder of the organization, It Takes a Family, […]

The post MBA Episode 66: Tales from a Former Comprehensive Sex Educator – with Monica Cline appeared first on Mama Bear Apologetics.

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Listen to the blog post here: For almost a week in late 2020, my 11-year-old son practically went viral on the Internet, and he doesn’t even know it. Let me tell you why. You see, he had walked out onto our back deck and, cool as a cucumber, announced to my husband and me that […]

The post How My Son’s Confession of Faith (Nearly) Broke Twitter appeared first on Mama Bear Apologetics.

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Boy-howdy, satirical music is really cheesing off the masses this past month! Just after posting an article roaring through Matthew West and the modesty debate (you can read it here), another tongue-in-cheek ditty decided to kick up a fuss. Only this one was by the San Francisco Gay Men’s Choir (SFGMC). In a Broadway-esq ballad […]

The post “We’re Coming for Your Children”– Five Ways the San Francisco Gay Men’s Choir Video Wasn’t Satire appeared first on Mama Bear Apologetics.

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In Matthew West’s latest satire song, “Modest is Hottest,” this dad of teen girls is smacked with the realization that his babies aren’t babies anymore. How should his daughters navigate the saucy side of TikTok and the pending arrival of boys at the front door? By dressing like a librarian, of course! Or Amish. Either […]

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This has been quite a week, has it not? Or heck, this has been quite a year. Even the weather is rebelling. I’m sitting outside in short sleeves and flip flops, and I’m hot… in Iowa… in November. John is usually snow blowing the driveway by now. (Not that I’m complaining! This Texafornian girl is […]

The post Revival or Persecution? Preparing for Persecution appeared first on Mama Bear Apologetics.

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[For those of you who might be new to my world religion series, the purpose of this series is to help Christians be better informed about others’ beliefs in order to have more productive conversations. As you engage with others on these topics, be sure to do so with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15).] […]

The post A Crash Course in Wicca appeared first on Mama Bear Apologetics.

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A few weeks back, our Facebook page had a flurry of comments suggesting great sources to use when you have “the talk” with your kiddos. (And our executive director, Lindsey, just had this exact conversation with her oldest girls, so trust us when we at Team Mama Bear say we value your input and recommendations, […]

The post Forget “The Talk,” Mama Bears. It’s all about Discipleship appeared first on Mama Bear Apologetics.

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For the past month, #cancelnetflix has been trending on social media. Why? It all comes down to a new French film titled Cuties. (A grand jury recently issued an indictment against Netflix because of this film. Read about it here.) I read many of the reviews, but one of the curious things that I noticed […]

The post Cuties: 5 Lessons We Totally Lost in Our #CancelNetflix Culture (And no, we are not endorsing Cuties) appeared first on Mama Bear Apologetics.

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So you want to watch The Chosen, but aren’t sure if it’s legit? That was the main question that I had when I first saw The Chosen advertised on my Facebook News Feed. (If you haven’t heard of The Chosen, it’s a multi-season series about the life of Jesus. The first season was released in […]

The post 5 Questions Everybody has About “The Chosen” appeared first on Mama Bear Apologetics.

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By Teasi Cannon Ah, Sunday morning! When Christian children everywhere rise early, yelling through the halls with gleeful anticipation, Wake up, everyone! It’s church day! Wait, what? This isn’t your reality? No need to worry. I’m not sure it’s anyone’s reality. In fact, I’d say most would laugh out loud reading that little snippet because […]

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I have a good friend and apologist who posted on Facebook the other day. It wasn’t her normal careful, reasoned response. It was angry and belittling — not at all like her. I sent her a private message that said something along the lines of, “I love you, friend! Do you think your recent post […]

The post Resisting the Urge to Grow Cold appeared first on Mama Bear Apologetics.

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I (Hillary) titled this podcast/blog about a thousand times because I couldn’t quite figure out how to summarize our main message. The messy art of kingdom community? No. I hate the word messy. It’s so misused. (But this topic is legit “messy” if there ever were one.) Grieving with those who grieve? Yes, but that’s […]

The post MBA Episode 51: We Will Not Be Divided: Grieving with Those Who Grieve, and the Necessary Process of Building Kingdom Community appeared first on Mama Bear Apologetics.

Hot topics Archives - Mama Bear Apologetics: Recent Episodes

Hot topics Archives - Mama Bear Apologetics

2. GOOD & EVIL aren’t black and white.

3. LOVE can save some demons.

4. SALVATION happens when you embrace your authentic self.

5. IDOLIZING pop stars can consume you.

2 Teach them to be slow to speak…and slow…to share