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Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Wisdom Booklet offends parents
Mr. and Mrs. Jones, ATI parents, have written to ATI Headquarters expressing concern at the inappropriate and offensive content of a Wisdom Booklet their family recently encountered. The family was progressing through the study of the Sermon on the Mount and was scheduled to study the Wisdom Booklet dealing with Matthew 5:27-28. Upon reviewing the Wisdom Booklet in their parent planning session, however, Mr. and Mrs. Jones realized that the subject matter was entirely inappropriate for family discussion. "We understand that Jesus had to talk about adultery," said Mr. Jones in his letter to ATI, "but frankly we were surprised that ATI would use the Wisdom Booklets to talk about the sex act in such a detailed fashion. Sharing this detailed information before a child is committed to a life partner is simply not healthy."
The Jones parents expressed concern over the Power Through Precision section, which defined phrases such as "sexual intercourse" and specific features of the human anatomy. Authority Through Accuracy was even worse, clarifying the distinctions between "adultery," "fornication," and "unnatural acts."
Mrs. Jones pointed out that they joined ATI in order to protect their children. "We knew our children would be exposed to lewd, defrauding concepts if they attended public school or youth group. Imagine our surprise when the attack came directly from ATI!"
After examining the content of the obscene Wisdom Booklet, Mr. and Mrs. Jones decided to skip it and go to the next one. They placed all copies of the offensive booklet in a safe location where the children would be sure not to stumble across the information. "We felt a little guilty, actually," said Mr. Jones. "It was like we had concealed copies of pornographic magazines. We finally had to cleanse our home of this dangerous influence."
The Jones children were slightly mystified upon noticing that they had skipped a Wisdom Booklet. "Then we noticed we had skipped over two verses in the Sermon on the Mount," said one child. "Mother said we didn't have to memorize these verses, so it was fine with us."
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18 Comments:
LOL! And I always thought I was sheltered.;-) But then one day at school (college, that is), a girl several years my senior expressed surprise that homosexuality was so well-grounded in historical fact...and I laughingly admitted to her that I had learned that long ago when I was home schooled. She wouldn't have understood how amusing I found it, though, that I learned it through curriculum that supposedly "shelters" kids so well. Not that I had a problem with that...I just found it funny. And that is one of the areas where I actually appreciate what I learned through the Wisdom Booklets because, in that case, they didn't exactly gloss over the truth.
Speaking of offensive... Do "ministry" and training center applications still ask how many bowel movements you have each day? And how often you urinate? Man, I couldn't believe my eyes when I found an old file full of completed applications with people's personal toileting information on them! When the files are kept by teenagers, it's a wonder how many other people saw and laughed over that information.
if i remember correctly, my family did study every booklet, but sometimes "glossed over" some things for the sake of the younger children. I think I remember my mom saying "dad said we'll skip this part." :)
Better to skip over a WB than attempt to go through the study but make your children feel guilty for asking questions on the subject! Unfortunately, that part of my childhood has been suppressed -- all I can remember is feeling so terribly guilty for asking what an "unnatural act" meant.
On a lighter note, it's official! Josh and Stephanie are definitely an item! This is a sad day for ATI girls everywhere... their visions of Josh Buckles riding in on a white steed have been dashed.
Hey, you... 2 posts up... you're talking about Josh Buchholz. I heard rumblings of the same... Congratulations, Josh!
Hunter, complete randomness. I like it.
Bryan - I am truly sorry for the shattered lives within your own family that has obviously occurred as a result of erroneous and pridefull teaching, but you have NO RIGHT to condemn any man - especially one with a heart as big as Al Smith. He LOVED the Lord with all his heart and just wanted others to share a love for music that pleased the Lord - NOT that it is the ONLY music that pleases the Lord!!! How dare you judge Al Smith or anyone that has been associated with the ATI Program!!!!
You xers talk about all the legalism and judgementalism and pride that the institute and those within its ranks seem to possess. I think you better take the log out of your own eye before you begin to besmeerch someone else's character and heart. You don't know the heart of MANY people in the program; there are people TODAY trying to effect positive change from within ATI. Only God knows our hearts and whether or not we have pride, or criticism or sarcasm or love. And based on the venom I see posted here as comments, I would suspect that many who do post here are filled with hatred and contempt not love and forgiveness.
Let go of it and move on!!!! You'll be in "chains" the rest of your life if you don't.
the last two posts were QUITE amusing. the "al smith syndrome" - ha! and then "How DARE you say anything against Al Smith!" -!!! OK what about Rudy Atwood?! Both Rudy and Al have exhibited arrogance on at least one occasion each, that I know of. Arrogance is unseemly for a Christian. Let's call a spade a spade. They're not any better than the rest of us. Thank you.
RE: The post two places up...
That has to be a joke. I'm an Xer myself, but no wise godly ATI supporter should exibit such rage and anger... So many ALL CAPS and exclamation points!!! It's hard to read it without hearing the writer SHOUTING!!! Learned well from Al Smith, maybe? =)
And you are a real ATI supporter, would you please tone it down a bit? I have trouble explaining to my kids who read this site as part of their homework (homeschooled, but not ATI) why you were exibiting such anger and rage. We'll do a full study on it later to take advantage of this teachable moment, but I don't want them to read those kinds of comments from ATI supporters and immediately lose all respect for the program and it's members. Thanks!
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I think you better take the log out of your own eye before you begin to besmeerch someone else's character and heart.
**Besmeerch-Is that like besmerch? I love that word. Its fun to say like Sheboygan or Haagen Dazs.
Isnt this a bit like preaching to a mirror? The whole 'you better take the log out of your own eye bit?' Kinda hard to preach that at the blog while you are engaging in said behavior yourself.
Only God knows our hearts and whether or not we have pride, or criticism or sarcasm or love. And based on the venom I see posted here as comments, I would suspect that many who do post here are filled with hatred and contempt not love and forgiveness.
** Based on the venom I see in your post I would have to suspect that you are filled with hatred and contempt not love and forgiveness.
Sweetness, perhaps you should adjust your coke bottles and notice the humor. Loss of humor is a sure sign of misery, misery often time brought on by allowing ones self to be controlled and feeling helpless to stop it.
Im terribly sorry that you feel the need to attack humor with hatred.
Let go of it and move on!!!!
** Uh huh. Okay. Ill get right on that.
See dictionary.com ...To stain; sully: a reputation that was besmirched by slander
Besmeerched. Maybe I'm just a poor speller. Gee, no room to be human here either.
Human equals lots of caps and "How dare you's?"
Im all for human. All for freedom of expression.
Would be nice if that was reciprocated.
I wouldnt want to besmirch(besmeerch, besmerch) your posts. :P
I am looking into ATI myself and am happy to know they are not shy to bring up these subjects in the family environment. I think in this day and age it is important for families to be open and honest about these subjects. If we as parents do not educate our children the right way someone out there will educate them the wrong way. It is impossible to shelter them from everything. We must empower them. Knowledge is power.
I am looking into ATI myself. I am so amused at this website. You know what happened to me when I finally got saved? I read the bible all the way through and was shocked to find what it ACTUALLY said. Murder, adultery, daughters having sex with their dad (after getting him drunk), brother raping sister, homosexuals trying to sex up angels! The Bible was actually talking about real life things that are relevant today? I was shocked! I am ok with age-appropriate learning, but avoiding the issues until it's too late isn't healthy either. The booklets are for all ages and it is up to the parent's discretion what should be taught to which child and at what age. ATI is not responsible for training children... Parents are. Right? So how heavily a parent decides to engage in a certain program, its curriculum, or following its founders is up to them. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord so we can take what good there is from the program and let the rest fall to the wayside.
Leading one's life based on the beliefs of late iron age desert-dwelling tribesmen isn't exactly a sound decision.
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