Friday, May 20, 2011

Parents and the "Rapture"

I learned about this whole rapture thing a few weeks ago from an article on NPR.  And the thing that immediately jumped out at me was that I felt extreme sorry for the children of some of the parents who wholeheartedly believe that the rapture is coming on May 21, 2011.  When I read things like:

Now they are in Orlando, in a rented house, passing out tracts and reading the Bible. Their daughter is 2 years old, and their second child is due in June. Joel says they're spending the last of their savings. They don't see a need for one more dollar.


"You know, you think about retirement and stuff like that," he says. "What's the point of having some money just sitting there?"


"We budgeted everything so that, on May 21, we won't have anything left," Adrienne adds.
It makes me very angry.  I don't really care if these two people mess up their lives because of some irrational belief, but it makes me angry that they would let their unreasonable certainty potentially make life even more difficult for their child.  They have a moral obligation to care for their child in the best way possible, and what they are doing does not constitute that.  What happens after May 21 comes and goes, and they are still here like everyone else?  They will have just wasted their money and a better life for their daughter because of something they never had any good reason to believe.  It's irresponsible and inexcusable.

Another example of this kind of behavior was brought to my attention in a New York Times article about the rapture.  Parents in this story have quit their jobs and started telling at least some of their children that they are going to hell.
“My mom has told me directly that I’m not going to get into heaven,” Grace Haddad, 16, said. “At first it was really upsetting, but it’s what she honestly believes.”
To have this kind of attitude towards their children is absolutely sickening.  Especially when the children didn't do anything to deserve it.  I cannot understand how anyone could possibly think this way.  But wait, it gets even better.
While Ms. Haddad Carson has quit her job, her husband still works as an engineer for the federal Energy Department. But the children worry that there may not be enough money for college.
So these kids don't just have to worry about their mom saying pretty terrible things to them for no good reason, but they also have to worry about not having enough money for college because their mother was irrational and irresponsible.  I'm not even a parent, and I know that there is something wrong with this situation.  You can't just abandon your responsibilities as a parent because you believe that the world is ending.  The situation is so bad that it's affecting the children.  One of them said:
“I don’t really have any motivation to try to figure out what I want to do anymore,” he said, “because my main support line, my parents, don’t care.”
If one of your children is saying something like this, then you are doing something wrong as a parent.  Shame on you Abby Haddad Carson.

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