Help your kids look at different cultures through the lens of Christianity. On today’s Home School Heartbeat, Mike Farris and Dr. David Aikman continue their discussion of studying world history and culture from a Christian perspective.
Mike Farris:
Dr. Aikman, last time, we talked about how important it is for homeschooling parents to understand a country’s culture when teaching history. How would you encourage Christian parents to study cultures that are different from their own?
Dr. David Aikman:
Well, the first thing, Mike, it might sound paradoxical but I think it’s very important for Christian parents to have a good understanding of their own country and their own culture and how we develop things like political freedoms and religious freedoms and so on. Only when you have that in the back of your mind are you in the position to take a critical look at other countries. I think you have to know your own faith very well, and I think you have to have a fairly good grasp of other people’s faiths. And being a Christian, I think, gives you an advantage because you take seriously when people say they believe certain things, you accept that they probably do. Whereas the secular media often says, well they don’t really believe that, they’re just saying that because they’re socially disadvantaged or something like that. Belief systems or non-belief systems do have an impact on the way cultures behave towards their own citizens or behave towards other citizens. I think Christians should be more alert to the kind of trigger points of change or crisis that take place in other cultures and they should be ready to observe those even before they start happening.
Mike:
David, thanks so much. I look forward to talking to you more next time. I’m Mike Farris.
