{"id":5157,"date":"2015-05-29T08:50:26","date_gmt":"2015-05-29T15:50:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=5157"},"modified":"2015-05-29T08:50:26","modified_gmt":"2015-05-29T15:50:26","slug":"voice-and-choice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/voice-and-choice\/","title":{"rendered":"Voice and Choice"},"content":{"rendered":"

I do not follow Facebook closely. I enjoy it as a connection with family and friends; it is not my preferred method of communication. On a recent post a neighbor shared a special achievement of his twelve year old son, Justin.[1]<\/a> Justin has always been a good athlete and is involved in year-around sports. He plays in a twelve year old community baseball league. He is good. Recently he hit a homerun clearing a three hundred foot fence! Quite an achievement for a twelve year old especially when there is no apparent physical reason for such an achievement; he is not big for his age although it is obvious he trains and practices hard at the techniques. The father, a local pastor, had the video camera on and obviously thrilled by his son\u2019s accomplishment posted the short video on Facebook. There were a slew of accolades from family and friends that shared the father\u2019s delight over Justin\u2019s achievement. However, one team mother, obviously upset by the whole affair, chided the pastor for being insensitive and offending her child who \u201cwas hurt and felt bad.\u201d It started a firestorm \u2026 beginning with the pastor\u2019s wife declaring \u201cyou can say anything you want about me but when you hit my husband and son, the horns come out.\u201d After several days of sometimes vicious attacks against \u201cthose people\u201d the whole dispute ended with several being publicly de-friended.<\/p>\n

While this whole Facebook travesty occurred, I was reading Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mom<\/em> by Amy Chua.[2]<\/a> My first impression of Chua\u2019s book did not leave a good impression; I expect if it had not been a required read, I would never have picked it up. It all began with the author\u2019s statement on the content and purpose of the book:<\/p>\n

This is a story about a mother, two daughters, and two dogs. It\u2019s also about Mozart and Mendelssohn, the piano and the violin, and how we made it to Carnegie Hall. This was supposed to be a story of how Chinese parents are better at raising kids than Western ones.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

She then clarifies that the whole thing did not turn out as planned, which aroused some curiosity:<\/p>\n

But instead, it\u2019s about a bitter clash of cultures, a fleeting taste of glory, and how I was humbled by a thirteen-year-old.[3]<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The phrase \u201cclash of cultures\u201d caught my attention and I read on. First impressions can be wrong.<\/p>\n

I loved Chau\u2019s Battle Hymn; <\/em>it is one of the few books where I have read every word, cover to cover. Although I cannot clearly state Chau\u2019s purpose, I do not believe it is intended to be a book on how to raise children. In fact, Chau makes the comment in response to criticism, \u201cMy book\u2019s not about telling other parents what to do.\u201d[4]<\/a> So what is it about? It is about family, relationship, uniqueness, individuality, choice, expectation and how culture influences family living in community and society.<\/p>\n

My own reading did not give me the sense of cultural \u201cclash\u201d so much as it gave a greater awareness of the significance of cultural differences and the importance of understanding cultural context. Of course, Lulu in her desire for friends and \u201csleepovers\u201d created clash or confrontation. Chau does clearly and sometimes humorously reveal a stark contrast between Eastern and Western culture. It is obvious in making the contrast, she does advance Eastern culture. Consider the contrast the author sees in Eastern verses Western parenting;<\/p>\n