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How Young Is Too Young to Learn About Bigotry?
I was moved by a recent articulate, thoughtful article about how to prepare your children for the evil that exists in the world.
As a parent myself, I’ve been blessed to experience the kind of unconditional love that one feels for one’s child. And while I would never presume to equate any of my life experiences with those of Holocaust survivors, I have had to wrestle with how much to explain to my son when he sees videos, news articles and advertisements, or catches snippets of conversations attacking and denigrating our religion and those of us who practice it.
I believe, in my lifetime, that we will see a world where anti-Semitism, racism and bigotry no longer exist.
There is something profoundly unsettling about having something that is so precious to you, that fulfills and sustains and inspires you, twisted and distorted and mocked and—above all else—misunderstood. Scientology specifically has been such a punching bag in the media for so long, if you asked the average mainstream media consumer what it’s about they would likely parrot the blatant falsehoods they’ve heard propagated for decades. And for actual Scientologists who have experienced the wealth of positivity to be found within Scientology and our Church community, it’s especially frustrating to have what is so unique, helpful and profound twisted through lies.
As the author of that article struggles with the best method and timing to teach her young daughter about anti-Semitism, she comes to a striking conclusion:
“Slowly learning about the evil in the world means that a child will grow up with the knowledge and resilience to cope with difficult situations and hostile people.”
I completely agree. These days, I focus on preparing my son to live in a world where he might hear falsehoods about our religion and our Church. But I also wake up every day asking myself what I’m doing personally to ensure that that kind of world doesn’t exist for very much longer. And I’m incredibly grateful that there is such an abundance of workable tools in Scientology that make creating that better world an achievable reality rather than a pie-in-the-sky dream. I believe, in my lifetime, that we will see a world where anti-Semitism, racism and bigotry no longer exist. I believe it because I understand the root cause of these and I know there are solutions to get rid of them. And Scientologists spend every day applying those solutions, working to make that better world yours and mine.
