Several people have told me or my parents that I am brainwashed by my parents’ views. This really makes me mad. Although I have been greatly influenced by my parents’ choices and decisions, I really CAN think for myself.
No, really.
My views are not copied from the same page that holds the views made by my parents. I have shaped and formed them through the fires of trial and mistakes. Yes they are similar, but I can think for myself, thank you very much.
My modesty standards are different than my mother’s. There is nothing wrong with hers, but I have decided for myself what I will and won’t wear, and she respects my decisions. Hers are neither higher nor lower than mine, simply different.
My thoughts on dating are also different than my mom and dad’s view used to be.
Although I have not gone into this view (just wait until next week…) I can promise you that it started out as something much different than it is now. God has opened my eyes to many things throughout the years, and I have changed with every lesson from Him.
Although several have said that I am not old enough to think and make decisions for myself, I can assure you that I am and I can. They may not always be the right decisions, but they are ones I can make all the same. I don’t understand how someone can say that I am not old enough to think for myself now (at sixteen), and yet the day I graduate I will somehow be old enough to make my own decisions. What magical transformation makes me more capable overnight?! If I don’t start trying out my beliefs before I turn eighteen, how will I ever be ready for the real world? The mistakes I can make now to learn a lesson will have consequences that are far less great than those I can make when I am older.
“I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw,” says Proverbs 24:32. I am not brainwashed, I simply have a very similar Christian worldview compared to that of my parents. I am not perfect by far, but neither am I stupid nor helpless. I lean on God for my worldview and my answers, and since my parents do as well, they become very similar.
I am not brainwashed. I am a student of Christ and a follower of my Lord.
8 years ago
Molly, being brainwashed by someone means to follow blindly and never question. You've questioned, explored, and chosen to agree with similar values and beliefs that your parents have. Your parents live their lives learning about the Bible and striving to be Christ-like. Personally, if I were to be told I'd been brainwashed by someone, which led me to do things and think things that were Christlike, I'd be flattered. Anyone criticizing you for being the "unique" teen that you are... is just insecure in their own ability to be as strong and brave in this world as you are. I love you.
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