Honour your abusive parents

[whitehorse]

Ok so our head God Yahweh said along time ago

 

"Honour your mother and father and you will live long in the land"

 

But! If you have abusive parents, how do you honour them as they are? The problem I had with this verse is that honour would entail a reverence for such parents who'd treat you with respect and decency. Who'd love and protect you, who'd guide you and care for you as they would their own bodies.

 

But! This was not so, I was hamstrung by them all my life and had to walk away from them.

 

So how do Christians in similar circumstances honour parents like that?  

[knightcore]

In my experience most Christians require you to honor them despite this. Most of the people who have walked away from their parents that I know are later converts and their parents aren't Christian so it's viewed as walking away from a bad influence. Because OBVIOUSLY there's no way that a true Christian could EVER be abusive.

[rjn]

The Bible was written in a time and place that was very tribal and where children (as well as wives) were more or less deemed to be the property of their guardians. It has no bearing what so ever in a modern society.

 

IOW: It's bullshit. Screw it.

[whitehorse]

 

Just tell them you are not going to be their pissing post.  In my estimation, respect is a 2-way street.  If one does not respect you, why should you respect them?  I have put my own parents verbally in their place.  Now, that being said, if you are financially dependent upon them in any way, you may want to bite your tongue for self preservation.  However, once you are completely independent from them, LET THEM VERBALLY HAVE IT BETWEEN THE EYES IFIT IS NECESSARY, if you are physically attacked, FEEL FREE TO KNOCK THE SHIT OUT OF THEM if it is in clear self-defense. 

I am totally non dependant, live in a 5 star hotel and work there. Before that I was totally dependant and stuck on wellfair.

 

Who says turning against the all mighty head Lord doesn't pay.

[whitehorse]

 

In my experience most Christians require you to honor them despite this. Most of the people who have walked away from their parents that I know are later converts and their parents aren't Christian so it's viewed as walking away from a bad influence. Because OBVIOUSLY there's no way that a true Christian could EVER be abusive.

Oh they are true Christians, even though they're not actually Christians.

 

"There good people" 

 

And that's Christian enough.

[whitehorse]

 

The Bible was written in a time and place that was very tribal and where children (as well as wives) were more or less deemed to be the property of their guardians. It has no bearing what so ever in a modern society.

 

IOW: It's bullshit. Screw it.

I got them good, and that little dog of theirs.

 

He he.

[Rounin]

There's also the "turn the other cheek" aspect of Christianity. In fact, one particular kind of Christianity I've been reading up on lately promotes sacrifice and suffering as something we should actively seek, regardless of whether it does any tangible good, because supposedly, sacrifices appease God. Honouring one's abusive parents would be right in line with this kind of thinking, as it would be an enormous sacrifice, and a very humbling experience. Don't ask me why God would want this of us, but do let me know if you find out.

[whitehorse]

 

There's also the "turn the other cheek" aspect of Christianity. In fact, one particular kind of Christianity I've been reading up on lately promotes sacrifice and suffering as something we should actively seek, regardless of whether it does any tangible good, because supposedly, sacrifices appease God. Honouring one's abusive parents would be right in line with this kind of thinking, as it would be an enormous sacrifice, and a very humbling experience. Don't ask me why God would want this of us, but do let me know if you find out.

I think that you can only honour someone who acts honourably, anything else would be fake love.

[MikeT]

This one was used against me by my parents from time to time. In fact they would be very unreasonable to the point of winding me up and then would quote this scripture when I finally snapped and reacted. I was told by another young person in the church back then that there is another scripture which warns against provoking your children - probably Ephesians 6:4 from my Google search.

[sdelsolray]

On 5/29/2017 at 6:02 AM, whitehorse said:

Ok so our head God Yahweh said along time ago

 

"Honour your mother and father and you will live long in the land"

...

 

The relevant religious scriptures contain this sentence/imperative.  Assuming some god uttered it is a mere assumption.  The evidence supports the conclusion that the sentence was created by a human being and subsequently propagated by other human beings.

 

On 5/29/2017 at 6:02 AM, whitehorse said:

...

But! If you have abusive parents, how do you honour them as they are? The problem I had with this verse is that honour would entail a reverence for such parents who'd treat you with respect and decency. Who'd love and protect you, who'd guide you and care for you as they would their own bodies.

...

Yes, the sentence does not seem to take into account situations where one or the other parents are abusive.  To me, this demonstrates that the the author of the sentence was not a clear thinker, and certainly did not consider all possibilities.

 

On 5/29/2017 at 6:02 AM, whitehorse said:

...

But! This was not so, I was hamstrung by them all my life and had to walk away from them.

...

 

What occurred to you was not within the scope of the sentence, was beyond the comprehension of the sentence's author and, accordingly, the sentence (as an absolute) should be ignored for several reasons, including being incomplete, being narrow, being inaccurate, as well as pretending to be all-encompassing when, in fact, it is not.

 

On 5/29/2017 at 6:02 AM, whitehorse said:

...

So how do Christians in similar circumstances honour parents like that?  

I don't know, and, quite frankly, I don't care how Christians deal with conflated nonsense.  I am not addicted to or infected with any strain of the Christian god virus.