Like Cindy Brandt, I fell in love with “Woke Baby” from the Women’s March. Also like Cindy, I nonetheless wondered, “Should children be involved in the work of activism such as public protesting?” Cindy says yes, and in a recent post gave three reasons why she believes this is the case. (Cindy also has a great post about protest as mission.) While I found Cindy’s posts to be helpful and provocative, I also felt a bit triggered. This had nothing... Read more
‘Woke Baby’ easily takes home the award for one of the best signs at the Women’s March, holding up a sign filled with crayon squiggles while perched on her father’s shoulders. The image went viral as thousands found it delightful a baby as young as 22 months old could exercise her “unique” voice. But for those who are opposed to the cause, I imagine it’d be uncomfortable to see a child participating in the march, which brings up the question:... Read more
“You, you, when God made YOU, God made you all shiny and new. An incredible you, a you all your own, a you unlike anyone else ever known.” In my work with Unfundamentalist Parenting, I have found that much of the damage fundamentalism has done to us as adults is because we were not given the freedom to be truly ourselves as children. For someone like myself, an Asian Christian girl, I was taught to be compliant and deferential–I wasn’t... Read more
One thing I’ve discovered during my time as an UnFundamentalist Children’s Pastor is that there isn’t exactly a plethora of spiritual children’s books out there. I mean – there are some, and a few I would venture to say are INCREDIBLE – but by and large, most are out-dated, espouse harmful theology, or have illustrations which leave much to be desired. I wanted to change that. That’s where Sully comes in. Sully’s Light started out as a class project for... Read more
Image: Pixabay When I wrote How I Kissed Evangelism Goodbye, my main point was that evangelism turns people into projects instead of treating them with dignity. I believe it is counter productive to loving others when evangelists try to convert others when instead, we should love them by listening and learning from them. If we pull back the lens and take a look at the broader landscape in which this type of evangelism takes place, we can see that it... Read more
“Some believe it is only great power that can hold evil in check. But that is not what I have found. I have found that it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.” ~ Gandalf Welcome to The Kindness Rebellion at Unfundamentalist Parenting! Our tagline with Unfundamentalist Christians is simple: Above all, Love. But as we know, love is can sometimes feel nebulous, especially when it is... Read more
Karissa Knox Sorrell asks in the unfundamentalist parenting group: Do you have any advice on dealing with tween attitude in an unfundie manner? I have an 11 year old who likes to talk back and give attitude. I actually think her spunk will be beneficial to her in the future, but I also don’t feel like I can let her get away with outright disrespect of others. I have told her both of these things, but I find myself struggling... Read more
I recently wrote for Sojourners that those who see the upcoming presidency of Donald Trump as a threat to civil liberties and a setback in social progress will need to rise “from the margins, from the outside, from the ordinary moments of our lives.” Resistance is best activated from the bottom up, driven by those with less power, and centered by voices largely unheard. Already, a month or so after the election, sprouts of resistance is rising (surprising some in... Read more
This article is written in response to the following post & comment on our Facebook page: I am new to the group and not really sure where to start. I have been following the UnFundamentalist Christians page for awhile. I went through a period over the last couple years where I just walked away from everything. But I know I believe in something. My husband is more possibly agnostic at this point. But my daughter keeps asking to go to Sunday... Read more
Image: Canva If I were to sum up the core difference between fundamentalism and unfundamentalism it would be to ask this one question: where does the power lie? Fundamentalist governments are authoritarian, the power lies at the top, ruling with an iron fist. Fundamentalist churches operate in the same top-down flow of power, but will use spiritual justification to maintain that hierarchy. Fundamentalist parents hold the power they have over their children, and raise them without giving them a true... Read more
Unfundamentalist Parenting
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