Book World Live

Christine Rosen
Author, "My Fundamentalist Education: A Memoir of a Divine Childhood"
Tuesday, February 28, 2006 3:00 PM

Christine Rosen was online Tuesday, Feb. 28, at 3 p.m. ET to discuss her memoir, "My Fundamentalist Education: A Divine Childhood."

Read the review (Book World, Feb. 26).

Join Book World Live each Tuesday at 3 p.m. ET for a discussion based on a story or review in each Sunday's Book World section.

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Philadelphia, Pa.: Religious schools usually use their more disciplined approach to education as a selling point for parents to send their children to them. Yet sometimes some schools use too much discipline, although it seems to me many of these schools have responded to this. How did you find the teachers: were students expected to be well mannered, and how was discipline handled? Was corporal punishment ever used?

Christine Rosen: Thanks for your question. Yes, discipline was something the school emphasized from the beginning. Students who misbehaved received one verbal warning, and if their bad behavior continued, they were punished. In some cases this involved corporal punishment -- a paddling by the teacher or the principle -- but this was not a regular occurrence. I should note, however, that Keswick no longer practices corporal punishment. In retrospect, I'm grateful for the strictness of the education -- teachers were able to go about their work without constant disruptions from badly-behaved children, and there were none of the situations you read about in schools today, involving physical violence and extreme insubordination by students. With few exceptions the teachers I had were caring, devoted educators who, although willing to exercise firm control over their classrooms, rarely resorted to extreme forms of punishment.

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Portland, Oregon: Do you feel Christian Schools can be beneficial? I know your parents pulled you out of school, but don't you think it is still a safer experience than public schools?

Christine Rosen: I think for many parents, Christian schools are an appealing alternative to the public schools in their area. This was certainly the case with my parents. One major difference today is the rise of the home-schooling movement, which was not as widespread when I was growing up. As for whether or not Christian schools are safer than public schools, it really depends on the schools in question. But for parents who want a particular kind of education for their children, they are an excellent alternative (cost permitting) to public school.

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Boston, Mass: I was raised in a strict Southern Baptist household in a red state, and after a few years on my own I started questioning things as well. Now at 35, my beliefs are fairly liberal, and I do not consider myself religious. However, I am extremely grateful for the moral lessons learned growing up and wonder how I would impart those same lessons to any children I may have. It seems religion is an easy way to teach right and wrong because of the absolutes...what are your thoughts on the subject?

Christine Rosen: Excellent question. It's true that being raised in a particularly religion teaches children important lessons in ethics/morality/right-and-wrong. I think, however, that such lessons can also be taught by parents to children in a non-religious fashion. The key is to reject the relativism of so much contemporary moral thinking and to provide a consistent, correct example to your children. As well, moral lessons such as the Golden Rule have a basis in nearly all the world's major religions and are just as useful for secular parents as for religious ones. In a nation as religiously diverse as the U.S., it's perhaps all the more important to be able to teach right and wrong without tying it specifically to religion.

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Burke, Va: Hi Christine,

A quote from the Post's book review states, "She notes that she's left her fundamentalist education behind. She is married to a Jewish writer and no longer considers herself religious."

What do you consider yourself? Do you consider yourself a Christian?

Christine Rosen: This is a question I am frequently asked! I am still a Christian but I do not belong to a particular denomination nor do I regularly attend church. In this sense I live a secular life. But I also still read and study my Bible (King James Version, of course!) regularly.

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Tampa, Fla: I also grew up in St. Petersburg (Boca Ciega HS Class of '72) and I remember hearing little about Keswick (it's in NE St. Pete, near Shore Acres, isn't it?). Did Keswick say anything about the public schools like Bogie?

Also, do you think St. Petersburg is more or less friendly to Protestant fundamentalists now as compared to when you went to Keswick? I recall the Protestant churches being much more mainline back then.

Christine Rosen: It's nice to hear from another Floridian! At Keswick we did not have much interaction with public school students (our sports teams always played teams from other small Christian schools). But we were encouraged to seek out our public school peers and witness to them. I made many attempts to do so with kids in my neighborhood -- with rather sorry results, I might add. As for the environment for fundamentalist churches in St. Petersburg, from what I can tell it is about the same as it was when I was growing up, with one difference: the fundamentalist, Pentecostal, and evangelical churches have grown significantly since the 1970s, while mainline Protestant denominations have declined (as they have across the country).

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Toronto, Canada: Some American fundamentalists - I'm thinking of the Amish - have asked for the right to give their children a different education in order to preserve their way of life and protect their children against the influences of the larger American and global culture. Do you think that the protection of a fundamentalist lifestyle (which children are unable to fully understand) through alternative education is fair?

Christine Rosen: An important question. I think, perhaps, that the fairness of such a decision is not the right way of thinking about it. After all, is it any more "fair" for parents with extreme political views to raise their children to believe those? One of the reasons I wrote this book was to try to dispel the stereotype of fundamentalists as people who brainwash their kids. Yes, many of my old school friends remain devoted fundamentalists (and send their own children to Keswick), but others left their faith behind entirely, or are non-fundamentalist Protestants. Each one took a different path to that choice. But we weren't brainwashed. As for the "protective" function of such communities -- it is real, and I benefited from it as a child. As an adult, however, I found it too restrictive. For those who want to remain part of a particular community (like fundamentalist or the Amish), I think they have every right to rear their children in that community.

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Arlington, Va. via Tampa, Fl.: Ms. Rosen,

I haven't read your book, but I certainly intend to after reading the review. I was excited to learn that you went to Keswick Christian, because I attended a Christian school in Tampa (which I won't name), and we competed against Keswick in sports (I remember the gym vividly). I'm sure we had very similar experiences in school. I was wondering if you look back on these years with fondness, or if you regret that your parents sent you there, and would you consider sending your own children to a similar type of school? I hope to find a school one day for my children that has the same safe, cocoon-like environment that I experienced, but without all of the emotional manipulation that I felt (like feeling guilty for not wanting to be a missionary, a job which was extolled in every chapel service).

Christine Rosen: Great question! And I'm glad to hear I wasn't the only kid who didn't fulfill my missionary expectations! I do look back on my years at Keswick with fondness, largely because the school did an excellent job of educating their students and we were able (for lack of a better way of putting it) to really be kids in a safe environment. Would I send my own children to a school like Keswick? Probably not. For one thing, we have a mixed religious household (my husband is Jewish). But there are also many schooling options that provide a smaller community-based setting without the religious instruction -- many secular private schools do that, for example, as do some of the charter and magnet schools. My older sister sends her daughter to just such a school in California, and has found that it offers all of the benefits that a school like Keswick did (small class sizes, devoted teachers) without some of the drawbacks (screening of scary films about the Rapture and Armageddon).

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Annandale, Va: I was wondering if you have been paying attention to recent issues in the news that involve politics, science, and religion. Do you feel that the increasing role of religion, particularly Christianity is playing in politics and science is appropriate? Is it ethical for a faith-based organization to be dictating how science should present data, and how policy-makers interpret that data, based on nothing more than how they feel?

Christine Rosen: Thanks for this question. I have been following the controversy, especially with regard to intelligent design in the public schools. I am firmly opposed to the teaching of creation science or intelligent design in public school science classes - largely because of my own experience learning creation science. I think the only place such courses belong is in a history of ideas course. Of course it is not ethical for a faith-based organization to be "dictating" how science should present data, no more than it is ethical for an environmental activist organization to do so. We have to rely on policy makers to seek out objective sources of data when making such decisions, even though, given the influence of special interest groups of all stripes, that is a considerable challenge.

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Arizona Bay, Ariz: Is Darwin completely left out of Religious schools? If so than shouldn't "intelligent design" i.e. creationism be left out of public schools? If Darwin is taught in Religious schools it'd be interesting to hear how the subject is taught.

Christine Rosen: I can't answer for all religious schools, but at Keswick, Darwin wasn't left out completely. He was mentioned, but as the man who tried to push God out of the true story of Creation. Friends of mine who stayed through high school at Keswick learned a little more about Darwin, but creation science was considered the true story of the earth's origins. I did learn a bit more about Darwin when I was a high school student at another school (it was evangelical but not fundamentalist). In that case, we learned about evolution, but with an overlay of theology that encouraged us to consider the flaws in Darwin's theory.

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Courthouse, Va: The Post review indicated that your parents were not fundamentalists, but chose to send you to Keswick. Why?

Christine Rosen: Thanks for your question. My parents were not fundamentalist (they were Protestants; we attended a non-denominational Christian church in St. Petersburg which was fairly mainline in its theological orientation). They chose to send us to Keswick because they were dissatisfied with our local public school, and because it was, quite frankly, one of the less expensive options for private school in our area. The other options were a Catholic private school and a secular private school, but neither of those were appealing alternatives. As well, they liked the school's philosophy of encouraging academic rigor and discipline.

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Munich, Germany: Did you ever do any missionary work?

If you were to decide to head out into the third world to help the poor, what type of organization would you now chose to work with?

Christine Rosen: Thanks for writing in. No, I never did any overseas missionary work (something I dreamed about doing as a child). I did make a concerted effort to be a local missionary -- witnessing to neighborhood kids, for example. And I read a great deal of "missionary lit" -- stories about missionaries throughout history and their many adventures. I am, however, continually impressed and grateful for the mission and relief work that the churches do today. It is often the case that when organizations such as the U.N. and the Red Cross leave a region because it has become too dangerous, the only people who remain are the dedicated missionaries and Christian relief workers.

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Washington DC: Can you explain more about the stress on gender roles that changed your parents mind about keeping you in the school?

Christine Rosen: A very good question. In fundamentalist churches and at Keswick, the hierarchy was almost entirely male. I didn't really notice this as a child, but as I became older -- especially in junior high school -- I did begin to notice. It was at about the same time that we started hearing more from our teachers about harlotry and the particular "lusts of the flesh" that women represented and women's unique responsibilities for maintaining purity. In these lessons, the emphasis was often on women's role in the home and in the church -- a role always subordinate to their husbands and their ministers -- and one that did not, much to my disappointment, include much mention of roles outside the home. We were never told that women could not hold jobs outside the house, of course, but the underlying message was that a more traditional role for women as wives and mothers was best. My parents, raising three daughters, thought that this message might not be best for us as we got older. They wanted us to feel that we could do whatever we chose to with our lives -- even if that included nontraditional roles.

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New York, N.Y.: Your school had an interesting attitude towards discipline; one that does seem to have mostly passed on. Were you ever paddled or disciplined at school, and did you feel it was justified (if you were disciplined at school)?

Christine Rosen: I was never paddled, although my younger sister did feel its sting once. However we all lived in fear of the paddle -- one hung on the wall behind the principal's desk in his office as a reminder to students who thought about misbehaving. And on occasion students were paddled for infractions that seemed minor to me (such as breaking the line and running ahead when we were walking back from chapel). But you're correct that this attitude has changed -- in fact, Keswick no longer paddles students. I was disciplined on more than one occasion. This usually involved having to stay in during recess or after school to write Bible verses on the chalkboard (usually for infractions such as talking out of turn or passing notes in class). In each of these cases the punishment was thoroughly justified and seemed to suit the crime!

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Albertville, Ala: Was your school segregated or integrated? Was race one motive for sending children there?

Christine Rosen: Thanks for this question -- a very good one. Our school was integrated, but was predominantly white. I don't know if race was a motivation for sending students there (it wasn't for my parents). As elementary school students it wasn't an issue for us as students (there were African-American, Filipino, and Asian students in my class). But in talking to some of these minority students as adults, I have heard things that make me question the judgment of some teachers at the school. One Jamaican girl in my sister's class, who had the most beautiful singing voice in the school, was told she wouldn't be allowed to play a role on stage in the school's performance of "The Sound of Music" because there were no black people in Austria. This is especially ludicrous when you consider that the year before, the school had put on a rousing performance of "Fiddler on the Roof," that involved dozens of southern fundamentalist children dressed up like Orthodox Jews in a shtetl.

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South Carolina: I haven't read your book, but I plan to, as I find the religious fundamentalist mindset confusing and often hypocritical. I was wondering if you have read Jon Krakauer's 'Under the Banner of Heaven' and your thoughts on the similarities and differences between Mormon fundamentalism and Christian fundamentalism, and if any good can come from either mindset.

Thanks

Christine Rosen: Thanks for your question. I read Krakauer's book and did find it interesting for comparative purposes. The insularity and mistrust of mainstream culture is present in both communities, to some extent. But Krakauer's book doesn't really have much to teach us about regular Mormons because it is a book about an extreme event -- a brutal murder. It would be unfair to extrapolate from that event and condemn the Mormon church. Growing up as a fundamentalist, I can say that there were many good things that came from the experience -- a knowledge and love of scripture, music, and poetry. A strong sense of the need for moral boundaries and respect for right and wrong. I think many kids who grow up Mormons (even if they do not remain in the church) could say the same. Does that mean that there are not cases of extreme views or worse happening in these communities? Of course not. But extremists can be found in almost any subculture.

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Tampa, Fla: FYI: Catholic schools teach evolution in biology and science classes, not intelligent design or creationism. My sister went to St. Pete Catholic (class of '78 or so) and learned evolution there, and not intelligent design. The parish schools and other Catholic schools here in Tampa Bay area still teach evolution. I understand mainline Protestant schools also teach evolution, as do Greek Orthodox schools.

The resistance to teaching evolution seems to be a fundamentalist Protestant thing.

Christine Rosen: You're absolutely correct. The Catholic Church made its peace with evolution and its schools reflect that. It is true that the more conservative wings of Protestantism are the ones that teach intelligent design/creation science instead of evolution.

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Harrisburg, Pa.: You have also done research into the history of eugenics. Would you please outline for us what your research has shown?

Christine Rosen: Yes I have done research on the history of eugenics (and wrote a book, "Preaching Eugenics," which was published in 2004). I won't get too much off-topic to discuss eugenics, (people who are interested can read articles I've written on the subject at the website of the Ethics & Public Policy Center where I work -- www.eppc.org) but I will say that my original interest in the subject stemmed from my early confrontation with religion and science in my elementary-school science class at Keswick!

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Christine Rosen: Just want to thank everyone who wrote in this afternoon - -I appreciate your questions and enjoyed our chat!

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