What rebellion?

I have developed, in one sense, a certain sympathy for Joyce Arthur, one of Canada's better-known pro-abortion activists. This comes from having recently received a copy of her bio (admittedly about 10 years old) that used to appear on her website.

To ensure accuracy, I'll quote what I hope are representative excerpts from this bio, and follow with comments of my own.

Parents: Uneducated Dutch immigrants who got off the boat in 1950. During the war, my father's parents hid Jews in their home. My paternal grandfather was a minister of the Dutch Reformed church. Mum and Dad were religious, but didn't really learn how to seriously indoctrinate their kids until it was too late for me. (All my younger siblings got sucked in, permanently.)

I have spent a good deal of my professional life with members of the various Reformed Churches (Dutch origins). There are certainly groups within that broad umbrella which have a legalistic, fundamentalist-type of mentality towards the content and practice of their religion. Joyce Arthur refers to her upbringing as having elements of indoctrination. She is not the only person from those circles who has described their upbringing thus, although it would be a small percentage in my experience.

I, too, was raised in a small, fundamentalist Protestant faith group. There is no question that both their understanding of biblical teaching, and their preferences regarding personal morality and behaviour, were rigid and constantly reinforced. These would have differed from Ms Arthur's group, but the same pressure to conform would have been brought to bear on us both.

Religion: Canadian Reformed, a small, strict offshoot of the Christian Reformed church. We believed everyone except us was hell-bound. The Bible was literally and divinely true, every word. Went to church religiously, twice every Sunday. Attended catechism classes weekly from age 6 onward. Always hated going to both. My father was an elder in the church.

It may be that Joyce's view of her denomination was really just her local church, or even her own family--I'm in no position to say. But she certainly grew up with the idea that true religion was a closed-system with no regard for those "outside the fold." My upbringing was not a whole lot different.

School: Brooke Elementary School, Alvinston, Ontario. Grade 1 to 8 (no kindergarten in those days). Memories of grade school somewhat negative and painful. I guess I was a nerd or something. Had friends, but we all shared the experience of getting picked on and persecuted by the snobby, more popular students.

Joyce's experiences were a bit like mine. Having been brought up a certain way, I was taught that certain of my schoolmates' activities were sinful; e.g., going to movies. It became more acute in high school where I couldn't participate in dances either. Rock music was also discouraged. Therefore, growing up feeling alienated by my religion and required behaviour are additional points I have in common with Arthur.

Adolescent angst: I was the proverbial bad apple. Broke the 5th commandment over and over again. Parents gave me up as a hopeless case. Rebelled, rebelled, rebelled. Then I rebelled some more. From age 10 on, annoyed the church pastor with my arguments over evolution, the Bible, women's rights,etc. Discovered boys at age 15 and lost no time losing my virginity. Discovered drugs and alcohol about the same time. My last school year at home was spent permanently grounded, until I "repented." I bought a backpack, kept it in my school locker, and brought something from home everyday, until I was all packed and ready to go. Then one day, I went. I never went back home again, except for occasional visits after some of the wounds had healed.

This would be the point where my reactions and Arthur's begin to differ. While many in my fundamentalist circle did rebel in various self-indulgent and potentially self-destructive ways (this was in the 1960s when drugs and promiscuity were the big attractions), I went in a completely different direction (for the Lord alone knows what reasons).

I had always felt that genuine rebellion was not the mere aping of the broader culture. This was just personal insecurity and a need for conformity in the guise of rebellion. It takes no brains or creativity. H.L. Mencken could have had the 1960's youth culture in mind when he wrote: "No one in this world, so far as I know ... has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people."

My own inclination was to keep what was good from one's past, reexamine the rest, and rebel against close-mindedness, arrogant belief, and dismissiveness of others' ideas. It is true that Joyce did argue theological points with her pastor to no avail (been there as well). I have no idea whether her objective to was look for a better theology or to simply dismiss theology out of hand (I'm guessing the latter, given her desire for a hedonistic lifestyle and her subsequent membership in the Freedom from Religion Foundation).

But in the final analysis, where has her so-called rebellion taken her? In one sense, a long way. She is a professed atheist (I like to write on religion-related topics, and would one day like to write a novel about the origins of Christianity without an historical Jesus.) She writes off religious beliefs about life as irrelevant.

But in another, very important way, she is no different than the parents against whom she rebelled so angrily in her teens. Consider this statement:

Kids: none—by choice. Kids are great if they're well-behaved AND intelligent; otherwise, the novelty wears off very quickly.
This is exactly how her parents felt about her apparently.

But more significantly, Ms Arthur has adopted the same approach to life issues and life generally as did her parents toward religious issues and life generally. There is a body of thought that is self-evidently correct (Calvinistic thought as properly understood; women's rights as properly understood); is constantly reinforced in the right circles (a pro-Reformed faith group; a pro-choice faith group); and brooks no criticism (look at virtually anything on Arthur's blog). Arthur is the same arrogant, dismissive kind of person that she accused her parents of being, holding to positions that make sense in her watertight world, however illogical they appear on the outside.

What rebellion?

Ms Arthur is obviously an intelligent and hard-working person who commands respect in some circles. It is a pity that the combination of hard bitten rebellion toward her upbringing, combined with the same rigidity and close-mindedness that she claims was role modeled by her parents, has made her what she is today.

I would wish the same experience for her as was the case with a Jewish friend of mine at seminary (I have a seminary degree in Old Testament studies). For reasons I no longer remember he became dissatisfied with his life. At the same time he was introduced to a much different kind of Christianity than was Joyce's experience. At the point that he would describe as his conversion, he said that it was as if "my mind opened and a great wind blew through." He considered this to be the presence of the Holy Spirit, of course.

While she won't thank me for it, I will pray for Joyce Arthur that her mind will also open. It is always a shame to see a good mind wasted.