Unfortunately Ben Cassel’s letter, “Sacrosanct Relationship”, (2/2/24) expresses a stereotype of all Christians which is as unfair as stereotypes of any minority or any religious prejudice of other religions. His misjudgment is inexcusable, just as it would be for anyone to stereotype all teachers based on the teachers that are fairly frequently in the news for sexually abusing their students.
However, sadly, part of the fault belongs to fringe minority Christian groups like Westboro Baptist Church, infamous for their “God hates fags” deplorable rhetoric, which he referenced.
Ben and everyone else should realize that the vast majority of Christians deplore such behavior and rhetoric. I might even go so far as to say such “Christians” are not followers of Jesus. When Jesus encountered someone in sin, he always treated them with love and compassion, except for the religious hypocrites, such as the Pharisees and Sadducees. He was very harsh with them, as I believe he will be with Westboro Baptist and those like them.
Christians believe that none of us lives completely as God desires (sin). (I understand that not everyone believes this.) None of us is perfect but all are deserving of respect, love, and compassion. Most Christians try, but always fall short, i.e., sin. They as well as those who don’t try to live as God desires (also sin), are all people to be loved.
That said, regarding the rest of his view, most Americans believe that children are the responsibility of their parents, not the state or the schools. I understand and agree with the desire to protect them from harm. However, children from the most loving and non-abusive families, may lie about potential dangers at home just to get their way, even if they lack the maturity and judgment to really know what they want. They may well be making a decision that they may strongly and tragically regret later when they mature.
Parents know their children far better then any teacher, school, or state and absolutely should be involved in any major decisions or events in a child’s life. Our justice system is founded on the belief that a person is innocent until proven guilty. So a parent is not guilty of being a bad and abusive parent until proven as such. Admittedly that is difficult in a child’s situation, but we also can’t unfairly presume the guilt of a parent based on a child making unfounded accusations, just as John Doe should not be deemed guilty just because
I say he is, but without evidence.
While I’m glad that teachers have compassion for their students, they, and school administrators, need to realize that parents are the authority over their children and cooperate and defer to them.
Bryan Felber resides in Chula Vista.
