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It is my belief that Christian leaders in the Reconstructionist and Homeschool Movements view their adult daughters as the biggest threat to their agenda in furthering their ideologies.
In this video trailer of The Return of the Daughters, you can hear the urgency of this movement, the fear-mongering blaming the feminists as the primary cause of the destruction of the idolized godly family image.
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Stay-at-home daughters – it should be a matter of choice
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I want to be clear what my beef is with this movement. It is not the idea of daughters staying at home if they choose to stay at home with their parents. It’s about an adult daughter not being allowed to make choices for herself. It’s the idea that if daughters don’t stay at home under their father’s “protection,” they are not being biblical – that the only right way is if a daughter has her father’s blessing on all of her choices, including marriage – and that marriage is very selective as the father wants to make sure that his future son-in-law holds to the same Patriarchal beliefs as he. I am sick and tired of the implication that young ladies who go to college are trying to perpetuate the feminist agenda and destroy families, simply for making the adult choice to further their education.
In studying the patterns of abuse in churches, the control tactics the proponents of this movement use are similar. Why does this issue have to be so black and white? Because it’s about control. We see love-bombing of daughters, building her up in her femininity, her homemaking skills, but there is no allowance for an adult daughter to question of authority, to have differing viewpoints, to have a mind of her own.
Make no mistake about it: if adult daughters are not sold on the concept of first being comfortable at being stay-at-home daughters, and then stay-at-home moms, the authoritarian position of the Patriarch, and thus, the entire Movement, is threatened.
Any diminishing of their role as Patriarch by a daughter challenging or questioning them would be looked at as disobedience and sin and divisive, just as in spiritual abuse patterns, any questioning of a pastor’s authority would be labeled as divisive. Do you see the parallels?
Their ideology is that husbands will be spiritual heads of the home, will rule over their wives and families and wives will humbly submit without question to everything they say. They will be reproducing babies and raising them with the same ideologies: boys will grow up to be men and heads of households and will rule their families spiritually. Daughters will grow up and embrace their “biblical role” as submissive wives/mothers.
But ask these folks what happens when abuse enters the picture? Does the wife and children get support? Or what about a death of a husband or disability or unemployment? Does the church assist these families in real and practical ways? Or is the family abandoned and the wife accused of sin when she attempts to earn income for her impoverished and broken family?
**
…O, treason of the blood!
Fathers, from hence trust not your daughters’ minds
By what you see them act. ~Othello**
Daughters who are allowed to think for themselves, make their own choices, are viewed as a threat.
It is my belief that daughters who go against this system, who go to college, learn how to think for themselves, are viewed as a threat. It is wrong to challenge, to question, undermine, speak out against this destructive movement.
I’m certain that Patriarchs know this real threat and that is why we are seeing so much so much effort into building up of daughters positively by glorifying the godly wife role and encouraging the relationships with fathers and daughters.
***
Patriarchal fathers must win their daughter’s heart at a very young age, win her approval and trust, in order to successfully perpetuate this cycle.
***
I am now convinced that for many Patriarchs, the agenda is not to honestly build the relationship between fathers and daughters at all. Daughters are being used to carry out what the father believes to be godly ideology and sell her on her role in continuing and supporting this dangerous ideology. This is often accomplished through purity balls, purity covenants, books, videos, conferences or retreats like this:
God’s Word speaks volumes to the relationship between fathers and daughters: His most sacred duty is her protection and preservation from childhood to virtuous womanhood. He leads her, woos her, and wins her with a tenderness and affection unique to the bonds of father and daughter. Success in his life mission is directly related to the seriousness and compassion with which he seeks to raise her as an industrious, family-affirming, children-loving woman of God.
She, in turn, looks to her father as a loving picture of leadership, of devotion, and of care. Her relationship with her father will help to define her view of the worth of a woman, the meaning of fulfillment and contentment, and her vision for virtue. When these relationships are realized and cultivated, the generational mission of the Christian family is secure.
Is it any wonder that Satan is on the prowl seeking to tear the hearts of daughters from their fathers, and driving wedges of indifference between them — fathers with no time for their little girls, and young ladies who have replaced the love of their fathers with the acceptance of peers and inappropriate romantic relationships? The Vision Forum Ministries Father & Daughter Retreat is one step on the journey of recovering the preciousness of this relationship so crucial to the kingdom-building work of the Church. (from Father & Daughter Retreated Sponsored by Vision Forum)
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Sadly, I also think that some fathers are unknowingly climbing aboard this fast train of destruction. They don’t understand the system in which they are caught. They believe what they are doing is good for their families and daughters and don’t understand the price it will have on their family. It really is not about a relationship between father and daughter, but an agenda.
As I have been following trends in the Homeschool Movement, what I am seeing is that those fathers who tightly control their daughters and their lives – do not allow them to have educational and work choices, do not allow them to make important life decisions, do not allow them to think for themselves spiritually or own their own faith – will likely lose their daughters in adulthood.
They may in fact lose a relationship with their daughters forever.
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Spiritual Sounding Board 
This reminds me so much of the Soviet Union around the time they built the Berlin Wall…
“We never had to build a Wall to keep our people in.” — JFK
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I see nothing attractive in the “godly wife role”.
It’s just a domestic animal “with benefits(TM)”.
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It is hard to believe that in this day and age that this stuff would be SO appealing! When you twist things to be either ‘biblical ‘or ‘NOT biblical’ and then press your agenda, you have most Christians listening from the start–and without much, if any, thoughtful discernment.
JA, in reading your previous post, it struck me that women who are uneducated will even be a problem for their apparent regime and goal of ‘take over’ since more than half of the population would be incapable at so many levels. Yet, with this as their goal, the total followership of the females of the tribe, then they think that they can do it.
Keep half the Christian population QUIET and UNWORTHY TO SPEAK OUT for starters! Employ this kind of ‘stinkin’ submission’ that they espouse for females–for their brand of ‘Christianity’–and at every level. This is far from the biblical ideal found in the pages of the New Testament text! This bizarre regime, based on flawed theology, needs to be exposed, pushed back, and fought at every turn!
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The difficulty is that there is an element of truth, which makes it hard to clearly see the lie. I really appreciate the way you question what happens to those who don’t fit the mold? What happens if a girl is not “pure” when she marries? What if a girl does not marry? What if she is not able to bear children? These are all things that happened in the Old Testament. I’m curious to know what my Jewish friends would say about this.
Recently, my daughter moved home, after four years away at college, and I started looking more closely at the way we had raised her, and her views on life. (we are learning a lot)
My husband and I fit into the gender roles pretty closely, but we have taught both our girls and boys to be independent. Both were encouraged to continue their education. Both are encouraged to find work to support themselves. However, I’m sensing in my husband a reluctance to “let” his little girl actually go out and support herself. She hasn’t found a job yet.
Also, now that my children are grown, I’m beginning to be aware of an attitude in my husband that I did not recognize before. My children went to public schools, and I was very involved in the schools where they attended. My husband was in favour of my involvement as long as it benefited our children. Now that my children are no longer there, my husband resents the time I spend outside the home, helping others.
Recently, our adult daughter told her dad, “you don’t respect Mom enough. If I thought a man would treat me the way you treat her, I would not think it was worthwhile to be married.” I was surprised. I knew he said things that hurt my feelings, but I had not realised how disrespectful he is – until she pointed it out. I realised it’s not just me, being oversensitive. It’s not my fault. What does he really believe?
He raised our daughter to be independent, but will he really let her go, if she doesn’t marry? I don’t know.
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One other thought. So much of American Christianity is based on the idea of being “safe.” If I follow the rules well enough, I will be safe. If I raise my kids right, then they will be safe. If I control everything well enough, then i and my family will be safe.
Unfortunately, we live in a broken world. There is no “safe.” Jesus chose to go to the cross, and He invites us to follow him.
He does not ask us to suffer for the sake of suffering, in order to somehow become more pious. No. He asks us to not be afraid of suffering, because He has conquered it. Can we trust Him? Can we trust our children to Him?
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Nancy, thank you for sharing your personal story and thoughts. I’ve noticed something similar in talking with my adult children. I’m thankful that they have been honest with me and caused me to look at how they were raised. I still have little ones at home, and so I have been adjusting certain aspects of parenting based on their feedback. Parenting is a humbling experience. Whoa!
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“God’s Word speaks volumes to the relationship between fathers and daughters”
Where, exactly, are these “volumes”? I am hard pressed to think of a single biblical command or doctrinal statement specifically about fathers and daughters. I can think of a few historical examples (e.g., David, Tamar and Amnon; Jephthah and his daughter; Laban, Rachel and Leah), but they aren’t relationships one would hold us as good examples to follow.
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Hmmm. You have a point there, Another Tom. I was trying to think of examples, too, and came up short.
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This good news bears repeating twice in the context of these topics!
Malala Yousafzai to be named honorary Canadian citizen in throne speech
Tuesday, October 15th 2013, 8:01 pm
the canadian press
OTTAWA – Malala Yousafzai (YOO-suhf-zeye), an advocate for girls’ education and the target of a Taliban assassination attempt, will be made an honorary Canadian citizen.
A senior government source confirms that Wednesday’s throne speech will confer the honour on the 16-year-old international figure.
Yousafzai was shot in the head in her native Pakistan by the Taliban in October, 2012 while she was on a bus going home from school.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper met with Yousafzai in New York on Sept. 26 where she discussed her efforts to promote education for women and girls.
Harper also invited her to visit Canada.
Yousafzai, who now lives in England with her family, was the youngest ever nominee last week for the Nobel Peace Prize, which was won by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
Her memoir, ”I am Malala” was published last week.
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For a biblical dad who honoured his daughters, there’s Job.
“12 The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. 13 And he also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. 15 Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.” Ch 42.
BTW, I named my youngest Keren. She is indeed the ‘most beautiful in all the land.’ Well, I think so.
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So Job violated the rules of patriarchy by giving daughters an inheritance. He did not give it to their husbands!!!!!
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Good call, An Attorney.
I find it touching to read that Absalom named his own daughter ‘Tamar,’ the same name as his sister (2Sam14v27).
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Dear “Nancy” (re: October 15, 2013 @ 3:45 PM)
I agree with you. Our job is not to play it safe, or to follow a formula for the perfect live, but to follow Jesus.
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Sunday school song: “Hide it under a bushel? NO! I’m gonna let it shine. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.”
Is this the plan? Teach children from an early age to love others. While at the same time never let them shine brightly for Jesus. Raising useless lights to never shine in the world. That’s glorifying God? That’s following Jesus?
How is God pleased by this? Seems they are trusting in man (male only) & not God. While all is called “gospel” & “for God’s glory”, it sounds more like appearances, & not the real thing in these camps, IMO.
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Nancy
Really liked this thought – Well said…
“He does not ask us to suffer for the sake of suffering, in order to somehow become more pious. No. He asks us to not be afraid of suffering, because He has conquered it. Can we trust Him? Can we trust our children to Him?”
Wow – “NOT to be afraid of suffering.”
“He has conquered it.”
“There is NO safe.”
“Can we trust Him?”
2 Tim 3:12
Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
Luke 9:23
And he said to them all, If any man will come after me,
let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily,
and follow me.
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I’m so angry about all the hype we bought into. That we used our kids to further this Reconstructionist agenda. It really upsets me. We fell for the trap. Ugh.
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Julie Anne
” We fell for the trap. Ugh.” 😦
Yeah – BUT – You’re NOT likely to fall for any more religious traps…
By following Mere Fallible Humans. 😉
Your “Creepo Meter” has become fine tuned to Strange B. S.
Pro 3:5-7 KJV
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart;
and lean NOT unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and HE shall direct thy paths.
Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.
(Strange B. S. – aka – Strange Belief Systems. 😉
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“While all is called “gospel” & “for God’s glory”, it sounds more like appearances, & not the real thing in these camps, IMO.”
I thought something similar. The “Return of the Daughters” clip is an advertisement, or PR campaign. It is a slick presentation depicting how wonderful this lifestyle is. (Don’t forget Voddie’s opinions on spanking shy children who do not acknowledge him.) Now, for ladies who choose to remain eternally infantile in Daddy’s home, that is their choice. What you won’t see depicted in their slick videos are the women who feel trapped in this lifestyle. Not exactly truth in advertising.
If one believes the notion that this is a Biblical lifestyle, then one must also concede that many Muslims and Hindus practice a Biblical lifestyle. This is a cultural lifestyle. It should not be idolized and presented to Christians today as being the correct “Biblical” way to live.
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Strange BS = SBS
I’m thinking I’m glad I didn’t name this blog Spiritual BS 🙂 SBS. SSB is better, yeah!
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Someone just did a pingback on an old article of mine regarding J. Rushdoony and the Reconstructionist Movement. This article is very interesting: http://thejesusevent.wordpress.com/2013/10/16/evidence-against-a-christian-america-supplement-to-series-on-american-christian-exceptionalism/
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Mrs R and I have a back-at-home-daughter. The daughter “returned”! She doesn’t earn enough to make her own place financially feasible. In our close “neighborhood” live 2 different forty-something men in travel trailers in front of their parents’ homes. All three are employed and work hard. The 30 year-old “girl” next door just got married to an older man with a special-needs teenager. The divorced Mormon woman on the other side has 7 married daughters and over 40 grandchildren. (Presumably, on the next planet she’ll be back with her abusive Ex, since they’re sealed for eternity!) I see our neighborhood as reality in modern America, and Returnofthedaughters as a fantasy world. Our daughter would love to be married and have children, or even have a boyfriend, but she can’t seem to find someone. Guess her Patriarch is just deficient, since he hasn’t arranged something!
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“If one believes the notion that this is a Biblical lifestyle, then one must also concede that many Muslims and Hindus practice a Biblical lifestyle. This is a cultural lifestyle. It should not be idolized and presented to Christians today as being the correct “Biblical” way to live.”
BTDT, Wow! This statement turns their whole foundation upside-down! I watched the video & their concern is culture. Their answer? You are absolutely right! It’s not Jesus. It’s culture & it is the same culture as Muslims & Hindus, etc.
A Amos Love brings it home. Jesus says follow me & I will make you fishers of men. Lights of the world. Salt IN the world.
Not insulated from all religious opposition, hidden away from challenge, never having to answer questions & think about what you believe.
Their answer is isolation & force. They call that following Jesus. What baloney.
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JA, I was ignorant about certain teachings, ignorantly going along. Even though it was short-lived, I’m disappointed in myself for believing a lie. Sitting like a good frog in water that gradually boils, thinking it’s all Biblical & good. No more. It’s a new day. 🙂
I admire people like you & Paul Dohse, who have gone thru terrible persecution by church pastors. And instead of walking away, you are helping to change what’s wrong in the church, to hopefully usher in healing & health.
And instead of isolating yourselves into safe places of protection after these horrible experiences, you speak up for justice & right. You sound the alarm so that people like me will hear & see the truth.
That’s following Jesus.
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A Mom – I tell you what, I am not going to be well liked among this group. I’m as mad as you and not done speaking out. I went to the homeschool conventions 20+ years ago because they were “Christian,” only to find out they are all proponents of Reconstructionist theology, bringing in key speakers that endorse their Reconstructionist/Dominionist ideology, sold books that only endorsed this same ideology. I had no idea that I was perpetuating this stuff with my children using that curricula. I’m sick. I would throw the junk all away except now I may use it for blog fodder.
Thanks for your encouragement and support.
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Fred Rogers,
Give your daughter a hug for me. This life is tough!! Personally, I think the Patriarchists try to convince normal people, such as yourself, that they have the answers to all these situations. They do not. But hurting people sometimes fall for what they’re selling. I know I did.
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BTDT- Will give her hug! She once said something like, “It’s not fair! I don’t party– I don’t sleep around– but the women who do– find a man! I just want someone who loves Jesus and loves me. A few years ago she fell for a YRR man who seemed to love complementarianism more than her or Jesus, since he immediately began *teaching* her from Grudem/Piper, etc.
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Fred – – That relationship sounds scary. Yikes!
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I love the last line in the video:
Something like: “…I don’t care what others think. I want to live by God’s standard.”
Well, the Bible has very high requirements for women.
Proverbs 31 alone…
1. Run a profitable import/export business
2. Manage a staff
3. Purchase commercial real estate from her profits
4. Purchasing raw goods for manufacturing
5. Runs a manufacturing facility
6. Active selling her manufactured goods.
(Notice that “profits” and “earnings” and “selling” are mentioned many times in this passage.)
Christians ought to make sure their daughters all get MBA’s if they take Scripture seriously.
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Anonymous2 – – Stop the presses – – you are in my head for my next blog post! haha!
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JA- Eventually, I told him that if he wanted my “blessing” he did NOT have it. He moved on and married someone else a year later.
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I think she deserves a sympathy card, Fred.
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Fred, You mentioned he was YRR/comp. They are taught to marry as soon as possible. She dodged that bullet.
Tell her to live her life, pursue her interests and chances are she might meet someone with character and integrity for her outside of the church which might even be safer these days.
What really bothers me about this movement more than anything are the great brains that our culture is deprived of because they are not developed and used in helping our society. How many of these young women might be doctors, entrepreneurs or researchers for a cancer cure? How many would be great teachers? I could go on and on.
Anytime we hold a certain segment of society down whether it is in slavery, gender roles, ethnic discrimination, etc, we hurt ourselves in the long run because we are denying ourselves their contributions to society. We also create a dependent class of people who must look to others for their own welfare.
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anonymous 2,
My mom used to refer to Proverbs 31 all the time since she was in real estate. :o)
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“God’s Word speaks volumes to the relationship between fathers and daughters”
Including her duty to shave Daddy and groom his hair?
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“Including her duty to shave Daddy and groom his hair?”
I thought shaving/hair grooming privileges were reserved for strong women with agendas, as per Samson’s Delilah.
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Mr. Fred Rogers, You & your daughter are the smart ones.
I have a very smart single friend. We talk several times a week & we have known each other for a long time. She is absolutely amazing, a giant in the faith, a living example I look to for encouragement. It’s unfortunate that over the years she has been marginalized in the church. I think her two strikes are single & woman. She doesn’t make a big deal about it, I’ve never heard her complain. But it sure bothers me.
She is pretty & magnetic. Christian men are attracted to her & she has dated. However, she’s very upfront about obeying Jesus (she ministers to homeless, Hospice patients, I could fill a page). She is an inner-city school counselor. It never goes past a few dates. Men get that she actually follows Jesus & they get what that means for them if they were married, IMO. They seem to somewhat admire her, but that’s not what they’re looking for in a wife.
I’ll be completely frank: I don’t think there are many men (or women) out there looking for someone who’s dedicated to serving Jesus Christ or would take a backseat to Jesus Christ.
Why is it this way, IMO? Men have been basically taught that the wife’s job is to serve them. Rules on roles. Instead, they should be taught that following Jesus, single or together with their wife, is the abundant life.
The devil is having a field day.
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JA ~ that article re: evidence against a Christian nation was interesting. I hadn’t seen it before.
“American Christian Exceptionalism often starts with an indoctrination of children. Among the pioneers of this movement are Verna M. Hall and Rosalie J. Slater, associates and friends of RJ Rushdoony. Slater’s “A Teachers Guide for Christian History”, explains this indoctrination as a means towards (re)establishing America as a Christian Nation in order that it might fulfill its God-given destiny: “A nation which is humble enough to begin with its children in the constructing of its foundations for liberty may once again have the opportunity to lead nations to Christ.” “
Just when I think I’ve cleaned off my shelves of all this reconstructionist teaching I find more! I have that Hall/Slater curriculum from my early days of homeschooling ~ big red books. I had no idea that Hall/Slater were connected with Rushdoony! Explains a lot!
I remember reading those books, but never bought the whole curriculum but I know many who did.
In fact, the woman that “introduced” homeschooling to me recommended that curriculum as well as Mary Pride’s quiverful books on having all the babies you can.
The pressure to conform was huge. The attitude that “we can do it all better” was pervasive ~ such pride!
Also, if we didn’t homeschool/quiver/no Sunday school we just didn’t fit in to their church.
I so wish I could go back in time and do things differently and give the red flags I felt some attention ~ I’m trying to do that now at least.
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Monique – – I, too, have those big red books. I, too, read Mary Pride. Cut yourself some slack. There was not much available then – – we were both probably seeking accurate historical history and this was presented to us as the real stuff and they duped us. Because it was labeled as “Christian,” who ever would have though Christian homeschoolers had an agenda? Remember, back then, it was not as easy to homeschool. At that time, we were worried about family members and neighbors who might report us to authorities for homeschooling. HSLDA was feeding us the scary stories. To feel free to homeschool was our biggest concern. Getting Christian curricula was the easy part. Now I am realizing that most of the curricula had this Reconstructionist influence.
If you read enough of this material, you will finally get the code words: providential, generations, dominion, etc. It’s pretty sick and I’m angry about it. Do you remember Christian Liberty Academy? They had it. How about Beautiful Feet books? They used the book, American Providential History book which was also based on this stuff.
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Julie Anne,
I think as much as anything, a daughter getting a higher education is a blow to the patriarch’s ego. It says, “Daddy didn’t teach me well enough.” And that cannot happen.
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Lydia wrote: “My mom used to refer to Proverbs 31 all the time since she was in real estate.” I knew a family who went to a church that made a big deal of the proverbial Proverbs 31 woman. The wife considered fields and purchased them. She was in real estate. But, irony of ironies, the family was driven out of the church because the woman had a job that wasn’t “housewife.”
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Fred Rogers, tell your daughter to not give up hope! I’ve said the same thing she’s said many times (“It’s not fair! I don’t party– I don’t sleep around– but the women who do– find a man! I just want someone who loves Jesus and loves me”) and I’m 31, getting married in January to an amazing man who loves Jesus and me, and doesn’t believe any of that patriarchal nonsense. The pain of waiting is forgotten and it’s #worththewait
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On these lines, “Each for the Other,” by Bryan Chapell is a great book about male / female relationships in marriage (and a little bit in child-rearing), and it’s the first book that hasn’t made me physically ill on the topic.
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The Patriarchy movement is hamstrung by the fact that Dominionists do not have Civil Law on their side. They can’t discipline their daughters (or sons or wives) the way they wish without running afoul of many civil rights laws. Therefore, they will never cease working for a theocracy similar to Sharia law and modelled on the Massachusetts Bay Colony governance.
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Julie Anne, I agree with you that the father/daughter relationship has become a key to the propagation of the Reconstructionist and Patriarchy Movements. It’s weird and, frankly, creepy. I wrote an extensive article over a year ago on an article by the daughter of Steve Schlissel, a friend of and sometimes writer for Chalcedon. The subject of Sarah Schilissel’s article was that father’s own their daughters. Her statements, reasoning and examples are sickening and only tend to prove that these poor females are….well, brainwashed is the word that comes to mind. [Link: http://www.homemakerscorner.com/patriarchy-fathers-own-daughters.htm Be forewarned – you may not like some of my views. 🙂 Sometimes I don’t myself. LOL]
I was a stay-at-home daughter myself, so for me it isn’t so much the practice as the philosophy behind it that is the biggest problem. I thought about going to college, tried to go to Bible institute and looked for a job at one point, but nothing worked out. The Lord repeatedly just closed the doors. We were influenced by the Patriarchy movement, I admit, but we were never doctrinaire. It was mostly wading around the edges And, in many respects I have to say that I chose to stay at home and if it hadn’t been for my parents and brothers help, I never could have done it. I taught piano lessons for awhile, helped my mom some with homeschooling my two youngest siblings, wrote (a lot), and eventually helped my parents with an online piano parts business (they paid me and I paid S.S. to gain some points). Having done all that myself, though, I now have a friend in her 30s who was raised with a big dose of “stay-at-home-daughters-are-God’s-will” who is now going to college with a view to attaining some work to support herself, and I am supporting her in those efforts. What is she supposed to do otherwise? She isn’t married and is the only child of parents in their 70s. Time is running out and she needs something!
The quote from Vision Forum Makes. Me. Sick. Ugh!! It’s like trying to eat saccharine straight, with all his overly sugary talk. Bleh!! After watching some video footage of Doug Phillips, he distinctly reminds me of the Sunday School show off – “Look at me! I know all the answers! See how smart and cute and clever I am!” That’s the persona that I saw anyway.
I think a lot of this stems from what I call “reactionary Christianity” – where Christians see something wrong in the culture and instead of checking to see what God says about it, they assume that the extreme opposite position is the “right way to please God”. I see this all the time. It is disheartening. The thing that impresses me more and more about God’s actual revelation of Himself is how moderate it is. Moderation is a point between two extremes according to Samuel Johnson’s dictionary. I think of Philippians 4:5, Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. (KJV)
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