It causes people to view normal child behavior as evil and it also causes people to underestimate abusive adults. No wonder evangelicals so often misunderstand the innocence of children and the evil of adults!

Evangelicals love comparing children to dictators and tyrants and vice-versa. But collapsing the categories of powerless children and powerful abusers creates significant problems.

"This isn't us." Yes, it is, century after century. Child abuse has deep roots in American history (and so does the struggle against it): rlstollar.com/2025/12/26/a....

Yep.

You cannot counter the teachings of the religious authoritarian parenting empire without asserting that (1) children are people who have human rights, (2) disobeying authority, hierarchy, and power can be necessary and holy, and (3) points (1) and (2) are inherently linked.

If fascists can convince themselves that their own children are better off dead than transgender, then there’s no limit to the violence they can enact on other people’s children. And we’re watching the horror of that play out in the streets of Minnesota right now.

There is a through line between the conservative parents’ rights movement to ICE attacking children in the streets. The white supremacist argument that “we should be able to treat OUR children however we want” very quickly turns into “we should be able to treat YOUR children however we want.”

Watching these videos of ICE attacking children, I can’t help but think about how many of these men first practiced their violence in their own homes. Domestic violence teaches our oppressors to dehumanize the most vulnerable among us.

Every. Single. One.

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A U.S. citizen infant with disabilities was deported by ICE. An emergency shelter in Mexico is seeking medical support for the child. Link here: m.facebook.com/story.php?st....

"Nationally recognized child advocate @drstaceypatton.bsky.social locates the roots of this violence not solely in the United States, but in Europe’s long history of anti-child brutality." Pre-order here: www.beacon.org/Strung-Up-P2....

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Antichrist.

In 2025, ICE "sent more immigrant children into the federal shelter system than in the previous four years combined. New data suggests families are being separated."

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"The word pictures [children] paint of King include telling details suggesting an active outreach to children."

Asking an organization if they have a child protection policy should not be perceived as a challenge or threat! Organizations with such policies will be happy and proud to share them with you. Don't let organizations without them shame you for asking.

Child protection policies are like first aid kits: if you have them, everyone should know what is in them and where they are. There is literally no point in having a private or secret child protection policy, just like having a private or secret first aid kit is counterproductive and inappropriate.

"In evangelicalism, everything is upside down. To evangelicals, hitting children is loving. Not hitting children is hateful, because not hitting children will lead children to hell."

I think it’s important to create space for children not just to know that disobedience can be good and holy, but also to give them opportunities to practice disobedience.

Here are the best people, articles, and other resources if you would like to delve further into the growing field of child liberation theology.

"Everyone, including children, has rights under the U.S. Constitution, regardless of immigration status." Excellent resources here, including helping kids understand ICE: www.childnet.org/immigration-....

37 out of 38 of the most powerful and consequential Christian homeschool organizations in the nation do not have policies to protect the children they serve and profit from.

"No U.S. citizens have been deported." Right...

While some evangelicals view Dinah as a victim of rape, many do not. Many view her as a horny floozy or a party girl who got what she was asking for.

"We can make liberation theology something that even children can access, find meaningful and powerful, and apply to their lives in a way that is freeing."

R. L. Stollar writes, "Christians have been victim-blaming Dinah for her rape since the beginning of Christianity." rlstollar.com/2026/01/10/t...

"The world I want to live in is one that centers children in every regard — including listening to those who have been abused at the hands of the powerful." ~ @dlmayfield.bsky.social

Christians have been victim-blaming Dinah for her rape since the beginning of Christianity.

"More than 100 children have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire of early October. That is roughly one girl or boy killed every day. During a ceasefire."

Children should be welcome at most events, which means most events should have child protection policies.

Urging our followers to also follow @kidscantwaitusa.bsky.social as the newest member of the @firstfocus.bsky.social network. #PleaseFollow

Claudette's story is one I often talk about in school visits when discussing VERIFY and how school history texts are written by adults, which is why teen contributions in pushing for progress often get left out. Claudette didn't wait for adults to create change. She demanded change happen.

🕯️✊ "US civil rights pioneer Claudette Colvin, arrested at age 15 for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white woman in Montgomery, Alabama, nine months before Rosa Parks’ similar but more famous act of defiance, died on Tuesday at age 86."

Cool to see my work on child liberation theology cited in Shantelle Weber’s 2024 article “Jesus loves me this I know, DOES the Bible tell me so?”, published in the Yearbook of Contextual Biblical Interpretation! Read the article here: www.aup-online.com/docserver/fu....

"We now have significantly less control over what our kids see on YouTube... I'm actually really sad because YouTube has been such a great source of learning and discussions, and I don't want to ban it altogether, but this has really made it unsafe."

"Jesus used very specific imagery and emphases when talking about children — imagery and emphases that directly contradict those employed by evangelical child training teachers."

"His death brings the number of children who have frozen to death in the enclave since November 2025 to four, and 12 since the start of the genocidal war in October 2023."

"Ask yourself, 'what can I do, to help others know they are revolutionary too?'"

Love this. 💕

Not enough people know this. Source for image: reporter.lcms.org/2015/most-ch....

In 2025... • One in every five children was living in an active conflict zone. • Nearly half the world’s children – about 1.12 billion – couldn't afford a balanced diet.

Members of oppressive classes — whether governmental or parental — always demand the oppressed adopt non-violence first. It should, however, be the oppressors — those who wield the most power — who first lay down their swords and embrace peace.

“This is the great shame of patriarchy and adulthood. They make loud noise about protecting children while they quietly sweep their own abused kids under the rug.”

🎯 From @dlmayfield.bsky.social.

The story of Dinah’s rape in the Book of Genesis has always haunted me.

"This idea of child advocacy is not new, it is not partisan, it is not ideological, and it is not crazy."

"The story of Dinah’s rape in the Book of Genesis has always haunted me."