Children are free spirits sensitive to many outside influences, especially religious influence. Religions have begun to strengthen their child involvement; this is why they have begun placing more emphasis on children ministries. If religion is a major part of a child’s life, it will shape who a child becomes and how the child is raised. Religion directly affects how a child grows up and how they perceive people and situations in their life after their childhood. In order to understand how religion affects a child, it is important to view the various situations through a variety of religious perspectives and approaches. As suggested by Don Browning, in Children and Childhood in American Religions, “A careful investigation of religions in a comparative analysis can significantly advance contemporary attitudes toward children and provide a richer basis for concerted public action on their behalf” (12-13).
In Salvation, a short story by Langston Hughes, he depicts how religion affected his entire life. Hughes describes his aunts’ church during their revival, along with how the entire congregation “rocked with prayer and song” however, he still “kept waiting to see Jesus” (Hughes). Hughes never did see Jesus, but he got up and went to the altar anyway. He felt the pressure of an entire congregation and as a child; he felt he had no other choice than to pretend. The congregation inadvertently pressured Hughes into joining the church. Peter Pufall, in the book Rethinking Childhood, stated, “Throughout history religions have looked to children for the survival of both the community of faith and the faith itself” (57). In Hughes’s case, the overwhelming power of the church and the fear of going to the alter affected the rest of his life,...
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...ive the proper guidance to their children, so they can become well-rounded individuals in religion, if they choose, and in society.
Works Cited
Browning, Don S., Bonnie J Miller-McLemore, and Inc NetLibrary. Children and Childhood in American Religions. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2009.
Hughes, Langston. "Salvation." Free Inquiry 1999: 47. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 15 Apr. 2011 .
Klein, M. Diane., Deborah Chen, and Inc NetLibrary. Working With Children From Culturally Diverse Backgrounds. Albany, NY: Delmar Thomson Learning, 2001.
Pufall, Peter B., Richard P Unsworth, and Inc NetLibrary. Rethinking Childhood. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2004.
Stearns, Peter N., and Inc NetLibrary. Childhood in World History. New York ; London: Routledge, 2006.
The world has experienced many changes in past generations, to the present. One of the very most important changes in life had to be the changes of children. Historians have worked a great deal on children’s lives in the past. “While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about.”- Author Unknown
Edwards, Jonathan. "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Paul Lauter. Canada: DC Heath and Company, 1990. 584-595.
On the other hand we have a story that is also humorous; however, his literary devices achieve a more childlike tone and his story concludes with a sympathetic effect on the reader . In “Salvation”, by Langston Hughes he takes us back to his inner thirteen year old self and his experience with being “saved” in a church. He explains the internal struggle he faces when he is pressured by a whole congregation to “see jesus” and the ironic effect it has on his perspective towards Jesus.
James, Jenks and Prout (1998) argue that childhood is characterised by sets of cultural values whereby the ‘…western childhood has become a period of social dependency, asexuality, and the obligation to be happy, with children having the right to protection and training but not to social or personal autonomy’ (James, Jenks and Prouts 1998 pg. 62). Here, childhood is described in sets of distinguished features and these features imply that the concept childhood may vary from place, culture and time. Therefore suggesting that there is no fixed or universal experience of childhood, for example, childhood in the medieval UK will be extremely different to the childhood in modern UK and therefore it varies over time, place and culture. Since the definition and state of childhood may vary depending on our cultural and historical background, some sociologist claim that childhood is not just biological, but must have been socially constructed for a specific society needs at a particular time. In this essay, I will attempt to explore ways in which childhood is said to be socially constructed by looking at historical childhood and how it has led to construction of modern childhood in the modern society. I will also explore the agency of children as competent social actors able to construct their social world.
In the first three sentences of the essay, the speaker adopts a very childlike style. He makes use of simple words and keeps the sentences short, similar in style to that of an early aged teenager. But since the text is written in the past tense and the narrator mentions that he was 'going on thirteen' (181), we know the speaker is now older. After reading a little further, we find that the style becomes more complex, with a more select choice of words and longer sentences. The contrast between simple and complex styles is present all through the rest of the essay, and creates a more personal atmosphere. Another particularity of 'Salvation' is the fact that the story recounts Langston Hughes' own personal experiences as a young boy. This high degree of intimacy allows Hughes to supply the reader with some very concrete details and vivid descriptions. The beauty in Hughes? personal insights lies in their power to reach our senses. We can clearly picture th...
Matthews, Kenneth. "Guardian of the Human Spirit': The Moral Foundation of Nineteen Eighty-Four." Christianity and Literature 40.2 (Winter 1991): 157-167. Rpt. in Children's Literature Review. Ed. Jelena Krstovic. Vol. 171. Detroit: Gale, 2012. Literature Resource Center. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
Langston Hughes found himself in a world of misunderstanding. His confusion leads him to believe that there is no Jesus. This is part of the growing process. Learning from your own experience is the most important part of life. Conflict and struggle are also important aspects of life. They define each and every part of a human’s living day. Therefore, the narrative techniques used throughout this essay truly help the reader visualize what the author sees, feels, and hears.
Brandt, Anthony. "Do Kids Need Religion." The Presence of others: Voices and Images that Call for Response. Ed. Andrea A. Lunsford, John J. Ruszkiewicz. New York: St. Martin’s 2000. 191-198.
When Hughes was thirteen he attended a revival with his Aunt it was his turn to "see Jesus," his entire community and church all waiting expectantly for the moment when he was finally saved from sin. Unfortunately for Hughes, salvation did not occur. His fellow peers that he would be delivered, to Jesus convinced him. He was so caught up in the idea that when it did not happen, and when it did not, he felt like an outcast amongst his religious community. People crying, and praying for him at his feet, Hughes did not want to be the reason for all the madness happening around him. He stood up and acted as if his salvation had come to him, although deep within he knew it had not. "My aunt came and knelt at my knees and cried, while prayers and songs swirled all around me in the little church. The whole congregation prayed for me alone, in a mighty wail of moans and voices” (Hughes 111-112). Influenced by the wales and the cries, Hughes started to feel as if he was the problem, that something was wrong and it was up to him to fix it. As the congregation prayed for him alone, and his aunt cried and prayed by his feet, a wave of social pressure came to him at once. To stop the crying, and the constant praying there was only one thing to be done, although he knew he was never actually saved, he stood to his feet, and the religious community and church all rejoiced as they
Instructor’s comment: This student’s essay performs the admirable trick of being both intensely personal and intelligently literary. While using children’s literature to reflect on what she lost in growing up, she shows in the grace of her language that she has gained something as well: an intelligent understanding of what in childhood is worth reclaiming. We all should make the effort to find our inner child
Until the early 1960s, religion was accepted in most public school systems across our nation. One of the main purposes for school in early America was for religious purposes (Prothero). Benjamin Franklin stated, "It is religion and morality alone which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand." Thomas Jefferson stated, "The question isn't what religion is true. The question is what religious traditions do we need to know something about in order to be an effective citizen." Something that can be beneficial to our nation should not be taken away. Even though religion offends some people, it should be allowed in public schools because of its influence on America and western civilizations, and its ability to help form closer relationships.
James, A. (1998). From the child's point of view: Issues in the social construction of
The beliefs and ideas of childhood is formed by each individual culture’s own morales and values. The way children are raised and viewed amongst society depends largely upon the expectations of people as they develop into adulthood. The representations of Native American in My People the Sioux by Luther Standing Bear invokes a less civilized idea of childhood compared to the idea of the white childhood presented in The Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder through themes of obedience, independence, and civilization.
Holt, J. (2013). Escape from childhood. In J. Noll (Ed.), Taking Sides: clashing views on
There are proponents of the debate that childhood is disappearing which will be discussed in this section which include Postman (1983), Elkind (1981) and Palmer (2006). In considering these points of view which are mostly American, one must firstly set in context what is meant by the disappearance or erosion of childhood. This key debate centres on Postman (1983) who wrote “The disappearance of childhood” which is a contentious book about how childhood as a social category which is separate from adulthood is eroding. He defines a point where childhood came into existence, which was treated as a special phase in the middle ages based on the work of Aries in his book “Centuries of childhood” (1962, cited in Postman 1983). According to Postman, a major influence on how childhood was perceived differently to adulthood was the invention of the printing press and literacy in the mid sixteenth century. That is to say children had to learn to read before the secrets of adulthood in particular sex and violence was available...