Parents Are Not Monarchs

A person's age does not make them knowledgeable, worthy of deference, or sound thinkers.  This is obvious to any rational mind.  It is likewise logically apparent that having children does not make one a good or intelligent person.  Thus, a rational mind will not think that the state of being a parent says anything about the intellectual, spiritual, or moral authority of a person.  But this is not how many Christians treat parents!  The timing of this post is ironic.  Though I have been meaning to write about this subject for some time, I have recently heard about how John Piper, a thoroughly inept thinker as it is, actually said that until his children know better he is God to them.

What an asinine statement!  Parents are not deities.  Parents are not monarchs.  They should not be extended any special exemption from criticism simply because they have children, even from criticism by their own children.  Whoever is right has the right to speak.  This is not what is taught by most Christians, of course.

Parents never have the authority to determine moral facts.  They cannot make something obligatory or sinful by saying it is anymore than a government can do the same.  This does not stop many parents I have known from teaching their children blatant errors, imposing legalism on them, and reacting to criticism from their children as if being a parent automatically makes them correct.  Retreating behind the pathetic assertion that "We are just doing what we think is right," they continue to pretend like parenthood gives them an immunity from having their errors refuted.

Conservative Christians, ironically, would likely label a government tyrannical if it did to them what they might do to their children--that is, micromanage their lives where there are no divine laws.  Conservative evangelicals are often full of hypocrisy, and the realm of parenting is no exception.  A large number of parenting practices advocated by some Christians--almost always the conservative type--are arbitrary, irrational, and extra-Biblical, reflecting nothing more than the meaningless preferences of fallacy-prone parents.  Whether the practices pertain to dating, entertainment, or a myriad of other things, they are held up as good, meaningful, or intelligent, when they are nothing but the product of ignorance and stupidity.

Parents are clearly obligated to teach their children to abide by the commands of Yahweh (Deuteronomy 4:9).  To go beyond this, and demand that their children submit to extra-Biblical preferences, is itself a sin (Deuteronomy 4:2).  When they step outside of their own obligations to teach their children the truth, and not fictions of their liking, they are not defended by Scripture or reason.

No one--not a member of a government, a parent, a spouse, a friend, or a stranger--has the right to demand that a person abstain from something that is not sinful, irrespective of his or her feelings.  Why the hell is this so difficult for many to admit?  Parents are not monarchs--not that monarchs have any authorities in their own arena that parents do not also have in theirs.  Not even monarchs have the right to demand that others abide by their mere preferences.  Their wills are not inherently authoritative.  As such, wherever they err they should be opposed.  A parent should never impose fallacious constructs or legalism on his or her children.