Don't cut off your parents.
Yes, it is exceedingly difficult to “honor your father and your mother” when they have objectively failed you as parents. This is a heavy cross to bear, and those who bear it deserve our sympathy. But it is not heavier than the cross of Christ, who was more innocent than any one of us.
“No Contact,” by contrast, is not heroic. It is often the easy way out, and out with it goes the Fourth Commandment. If respect for our parents is rooted in fear of God, then “No Contact” is like sedevacantism, where we avoid a “bad pope” by insisting there’s no pope, or like a petulant breed of atheism that insists God is too mean to exist.
Even the most reprehensible parent can be talked to—maybe only once a month or twice a year, and maybe with much guardedness. But it must be done—conscientiously, resolutely, with unwavering attention to self-protection and protection of the innocents under our authority.
We’re not insular Jews or Amish. Our faith is contact. If we shun it in our own families, we’ll falter in it everywhere else.
LEAP OF FAITH: The “Text With Jesus” app allows users to message AI-generated biblical figures, including Mary, Joseph and Moses. The app's creator says most users are embracing the new way of worship while critics slam it as blasphemous, calling on people to open a Bible instead.
“Ironically, this woman, who could be seen as the antithesis of the Christian life, is desperately telling the world that all her success is empty, and what she wants is to be loved by a man and have his children.” https://t.co/XXFb8kO3wL
My children, I have heard your complaints about sitting in pews, so I eliminated them altogether.
In fact, I just got rid of the church. Now no one can be rude!