You may have noticed this post is a couple days late. That’s because my original post was *gasp* shrouded in CONTROVERSY.
Sort of.
My original post’s argument went like this: (1) a declaration that the children of evangelical celebrities are, on average, worse people than children of normal evangelicals; (2) a personal anecdote about a jerk evangelical celebrity kid who I went to high school with; and (3) speculation on why evangelical celebrity kids are worse people.
Before I post anything, though, I ask my wife to review it to make edits and stop me from saying anything stupid. And this time, Danielle’s “anything stupid” detector was blaring.
First, she thought I was stereotyping, and painting evangelical celebrity kids with way too broad a brush (and very little grace). Second, she thought I was simply wrong. She knows lots of people with “normal” evangelical parents who are just as much of a jerk as the celebrity kid I described. Why was I just harping on the celebrity kids?
After my requisite self-righteous defense of my work, I realized she had a point. She may even be *looks over both shoulders* …right.
And that led me to staring wistfully out my bedroom window as I turned the issue around in my head and wished I knew how to whittle.
But then I thought I should throw it out to you all. Here are the questions I’ve been mulling:
—Have you ever met the kids of an evangelical celebrity? I may have a weird background, because I went to a Christian school in Colorado Springs—the place where evangelical celebrities all sent their kids. So I’ve met way more than my fair share….
—Is it fair of me to make declarations on the “average” evangelical celebrity kid, or is that inherently unfair to the many evangelical celebrity kids who are legitimately good people?
—Let’s assume I’m right about the “average” evangelical celebrity kid. What explanations are there for kids with famously righteous parents going off the rails?
—Now let’s assume I’m wrong about them. Is there a reason why people like me would assume evangelical celebrity kids are jerks, even if it’s not true?
There you have it. Now please mull with me…
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Photo by Dean Terry