As the story doesn't ever say whether the seal hunter found an alternative profession, I guess we can take it that he chose noble starvation over his evil ancestral lifestyle.
Sheesh.
I'm right with you on the hunting thing -- given that I eat meat and wear leather, I don't feel I have any right to criticize those with the courage to do their own killing. And I'm not crazy about the idea of directing little kids to write simplistic protest letters on complex issues, either. When I was teaching Sunday school, I sometimes rewrote an entire lesson if I thought it was too stupid--in fact I did that with the very first lesson I taught. It was the Yom Kippur lesson in "Special Times," which featured a non-Jewish mom taking on the role of "God" by creating a literal "book of life" in which her children's good and bad deeds would be recorded. Creepy. With my DRE's permission, I was able to find a much better story which placed the holiday in a Jewish context.
Can you substitute a topic for the kids to write about where the moral issues are more clear-cut? Or, if you think they're mature enough for it, have a discussion with them about the issues around seal hunting?
I do think our religion is capable of honoring many points of view. But writers of Sunday school textbooks, like the rest of us, have their own blind spots. Fortunately there are awesome Sunday school teachers like us to improve on their work!
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Date: 2011-01-10 04:40 pm (UTC)Sheesh.
I'm right with you on the hunting thing -- given that I eat meat and wear leather, I don't feel I have any right to criticize those with the courage to do their own killing. And I'm not crazy about the idea of directing little kids to write simplistic protest letters on complex issues, either. When I was teaching Sunday school, I sometimes rewrote an entire lesson if I thought it was too stupid--in fact I did that with the very first lesson I taught. It was the Yom Kippur lesson in "Special Times," which featured a non-Jewish mom taking on the role of "God" by creating a literal "book of life" in which her children's good and bad deeds would be recorded. Creepy. With my DRE's permission, I was able to find a much better story which placed the holiday in a Jewish context.
Can you substitute a topic for the kids to write about where the moral issues are more clear-cut? Or, if you think they're mature enough for it, have a discussion with them about the issues around seal hunting?
I do think our religion is capable of honoring many points of view. But writers of Sunday school textbooks, like the rest of us, have their own blind spots. Fortunately there are awesome Sunday school teachers like us to improve on their work!