Raising my son to be violent?

As I was preparing for the message on Sunday morning (Genesis 3:14-24), I came across a short blog by Dr Russell Moore, a well-respected pastor and professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Lousiville, KY. I have included it below so that you can read it for yourself. It's well-worth the read. I was definitely intrigued by the title of the blog "Why I'm Raising Violent 4 Year-Olds" partly because it sounds counter-Christian, but also because I think I know what he means. I don't want to raise a nice boy. I want to raise a boy who is a warrior in the battle against Satan and the dark forces of this world. By the end of my son's life, I want his hands to be soaked in blood from battles with the Enemy- blood not from his own violence, but blood that he's accepted from the cross of Christ. I want to raise a conquerer who will not love his life even when faced with (and by) death/Death. Take part, Little Warrior, in an age-old battle. Victory is sure to be yours with Christ your valiant King beside!

Revelation 12:10-12 & 17
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
"Now have come the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Messiah.
For the accuser of our brothers and sisters,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down.

11 They triumphed over him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.

12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens
and you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
because the devil has gone down to you!
He is filled with fury,
because he knows that his time is short."

17 Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God's commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus.





Why I'm Raising Violent 4 Year-Olds
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
by Dr. Russ Moore
....

This is because of my overall philosophy of childrearing. I am aiming to raise up violent sons.

I am not seeking to raise sons who are violent in the amoral, pagan sense of contemporary teenagers playing "Grand Theft Auto" video games or carjacking motorists. I want them to be more violent than that.

I want them to understand that the Christian life is not a Hallmark Channel version of baptized sentimentality. Instead, it is a cosmic battle between an evil dragon and the child of the woman, an ancient warfare that now includes all who belong to the Child of the Promise (Rev 12). I want them to forgive their enemies, not because they are good boys, but because they understand that vengeance against the Serpent comes not from their hand, but from that of the anointed Warrior-King (Rev 19), whose blood-soaked garments don't often transfer to the imagery of a Precious Moments wall-hanging. And I want them to exercise self-control of their passions, not because it is polite, but because they are called to struggle against the Evil One, even to the point of cutting off their own limbs rather than succumb to devices.

The "Star Wars" movie offered the opportunity to talk through these issues of cosmic struggle with my boys. And to place such themes in context of what they already know from the most blessedly violent bedtime stories they hear every day: the Holy Scriptures.