Circle the Wagons: Parenting for God and Our People
Part I: General Principles and the Early Years
I used to watch lots of Westerns on Saturday afternoon television when I was a kid and still flexible enough to sit cross-legged on the floor and wide-eyed enough to believe that what I was watching was in some primal way, true. Etched into my mind is a scene–I can’t even name the movie–of a spunky Frontier Woman attempting to defend herself from the savagely attacking Indians and failing miserably. From the midst of his own firefight, the noble Western Man came to her rescue, lifting her onto the saddle in front of him. They rode off in a hail of arrows and bullets to warn the rest of the wagon train that the wagons must be circled, and the pioneers roused to defend themselves and their families.
In the movie, the pioneers triumphed, with the Indians riding off through the clouds of dust churned up by the flying hooves of their scruffy little Indian ponies. I cheered, at least inside; the pioneers were people like me. They were safe by the end of the movie; they and their children. Children like me.
How different things are today, in many ways. But one thing hasn’t changed. Forces outside of our control threaten White people and our children. One can work to end illegal immigration; but millions of mestizos, miscellaneous immigrants, and refugees of every stripe have taken up permanent residence in America. The Blacks brought here in slavery’s bonds have been joined by Africa-born opportunity seekers, people on the run from difficult situations in their home countries, and the many children they themselves have borne. White Christians are a small subset of the White population in our country, a population whose reproduction level (1.81 births per mother) is below replacement level (approximately 2 births per mother). You do the math–no matter how you look at it, birth-rate wise or sheer numbers wise, we are in peril.
The low state of popular culture is another threat from outside; decadence is endemic. Even Faux News covers, or uncovers, strippers who want to share in the tips at a nightclub in LA, complete with video coverage of an actual pole dance. Entertainment titans see youth as one more market to be tapped. One might try to avoid popular culture by controlling what goes on at home; but if your child attends a government school he or she will be involuntarily exposed to every possible kind of corrupting influence. People of our own race urge the irreversible merger of all races via propaganda promoting miscegenation, this propaganda often presented as Christian ideals, which would ultimately lead to the wiping out the distinctive characteristics of every race in the world. One could move to a rural area populated by other Whites; indeed, that is an option that should seriously be considered. However, even there the government schools follow the Prussian model of fitting the student into a useful employer’s dream of a mold rather than considering how to protect them from undesirable influences while allowing them to grow in every positive way.
In faith, when surrounded by forces that rip away our children’s trust and confidence in the way that is right, God’s way, our only option is to circle the wagons.
Circle the wagons:
Definition: to stop communicating with people not in your group to avoid their ideas or beliefs. Americans are feeling it is an especially good time to spend time with family, to circle the wagons.
–Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms © Cambridge University Press 2003
The Cambridge Dictionary’s definition seems draconian, yet their example is very mild. What I propose is an option squarely between the two poles of complete non-communication and merely temporary withdrawal. The White Christian family must parent proactively and, in addition, home school their children. To do otherwise is to shove the babes outside the circled wagons and yell, “You! Go talk to those Indians! Now! Knock some sense in them! You go get ‘em, boy!” while arrows still fly and they have no understanding of what an Indian is or how to keep them from attacking. How can an innocent fend off the dark warriors of the World, in all their many guises?
But with the wagons circled and foreign influence controllable, a foundation can be established in a child’s worldview that can “immunize” them against negative propaganda regarding their People and their Lord. Of course, nothing is completely controllable, sin is endemic, and children have been known to reject parental influence. Yet with consistent and obvious love, consistent and clear teaching, consistent and focused study, a child may be brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord and a pride and protectiveness for his or her People.
My purpose today is to give White Christian parents a filter through which to view all they teach; a purpose in all they convey to their little ones, and plan to make them progressively more responsive to the challenges they will face when they leave home and make their way in the world. The primary goal of a Christian family is to raise children to be fully committed, fully functioning, Christians. As White Christians with hearts aflame with the love of our children and our own kind, we must rear our children to be defenders not only of the Faith, but of their own kind as well.
Volumes have been written about educational methods and home schooling. I do not intend to rehash those here. Kinism.net has a very active home school forum area, and as a general recommendation, the Great Books approach is highly recommended. From my observations the developmental stages of children line up very neatly with what is called the trivium in Classical Education.
Classical education depends on a three-part process of training the mind. The early years of school are spent in absorbing facts, systematically laying the foundations for advanced study. In the middle grades, students learn to think through arguments. In the high school years, they learn to express themselves. This classical pattern is called the trivium.
Understanding these developmental stages gives the parent a leg up on what to teach when and how to go about it.
But prior to formal schooling, an attitude of appreciation for family and heritage can be cultivated simply by the way parents interact with their children. I will not give specifics on parenting styles, as parental personalities have everything to do with this. One family may choose the Attachment Parenting model , another To Train Up a Child ; still others a combination of the two, or yet another parenting/training model. There are many theories and dispensers of advise out there; one should read, evaluate, and test everything against scripture.
But here are a few general guidelines to help young ones grow in a love of their own.
Avoid provoking your child to anger. We must teach our children to be able to moderate their anger. Anger and the ability to control it have great influence over your child’s success or failure in life. It is not too great a statement to make to say that the success of his or her marriage and the children resulting from that marriage depends upon your child’s ability to control his or her temper. Self-control is essential when one is confronted with the hostile attitudes of people towards the Kinist community. To become angry in the face of ones enemies is to give them the upper hand. The ability to keep one’s “cool” and the mind clear in difficult situations will come in handy many times. And we certainly do not want our children to become discouraged, rather to be hopeful and optimistic. We want no emotional wall to build up between us, our spouse, and our children, so we adults must also moderate our anger.
Give honor to your family and your family heritage. Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and you shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God. (Leviticus 19:3 ESV) To revere someone is to regard them with feelings of respect and reverence. And how are we to regard our parents and our heritage with respect and reverence if we do not hear about the good things they have done in their lifetimes, most notably their Christian qualities? Perhaps Grandma was not the best cook in the known universe, but she provided a listening ear and heartfelt prayer for friends and family in need. Maybe Great-grandpa was a classic curmudgeon, yet he saved from his income, no matter how limited it was, to provide a financial heritage for his family and give to the needy as well. Honor your spouse and his or her good efforts in front of the children and bite your tongue when complaints come to mind and the children are present.
It’s all in the way you phrase it. Family stories, funny, serious, or remarkable, should be part of the entertainment package at home. It’s the details that make things interesting. Uncle Bob’s encounter with an alligator is interesting even with a surface rendition, but ask him about the details (when did the alligator charge? What did you feel when it did? How did it smell, feel, sound, look?) then add them in to the story and the little ones will listen with rapt attention. And if you can get Uncle Bob to sit still long enough, he could write down the story to become part of a family history to share with all the relatives.
You probably have a good idea of the part of Europe your ancestors came from, even if you haven’t done any serious genealogy. Seek out the legends, especially the hero tales and tales of chivalry, of your ancestors and relate them to your children. In order to want to protect something, you must feel a connection to it and a healthy pride in it. The Fairy Tales of Europe are rich in cultural details it’s hard to find in easily digestible form elsewhere. What did your ancestors look like? Display photos of them if you have them, and refer to the pictures when you speak of them. What kind of lives did they live? All these form the foundation for a healthy sense of ethnic self. And don’t neglect the American heritage as well; there is no shame in the accomplishments of a People who carved a country out of a wilderness, despite the derision we hear from some quarters.
Surround your children with the good, the beautiful, and the true. Good literature with Christian morals and ethics; excellent art, not the brightly colored crudely rendered art primarily marketed to children; it only serves to dull their senses.. This may take a complete rethinking of nursery décor, as much of the decoration of children’s rooms today is larded with Marvel© comic book heroes or licensed Disney/Pixar© characters. Better by far to seek out posters or prints containing the work of artists of the golden age of children’s book illustration, such as Arthur Rackham, John Tenniel, Jessie Wilcox-Smith, Harry Clarke, William W. Denslow, etc. or stick to the Renaissance greats, Academic Classician, Victorian, or Pre-Raphaelite artists, and perhaps the Impressionists. While some modern art can be pretty, it is best to surround a child with loveliness when young, and as a general rule, to avoid art which relies only on concept and requires no skill for execution, distorted or overly abstract art, and art which depicts sin and lacks nobility. The child’s mind is a reflection of what surrounds it; it is always best to surround it with love and loveliness. It will see enough of their opposites in the outside world.
One thing elementary school teachers sometimes say is that “Anything can be art,” which is a lie from the pit, designed to make little “artists” feel that their drawing of stick-figured, bubble-headed people and cotton ball trees is, somehow, acceptable as art. The little “artists” frequently carry this attitude into high school art classes, and argue that a drawing they’ve done which shows not just lack of skill but lack of effort is somehow art, because “anything can be art.” It’s better to head off this attitude at the pass! How much better it is to pick out a single feature in the drawing to honestly appreciate, or show appreciation of the motive behind the work, then point out how the little artist has progressed (if they have) since the last art attempt. It’s better to inculcate the idea that all good artists started as children (with varying degrees of talent, of course), and had to learn the skills as they grew. If their work shows some vague similarity–or real similarity–to the work of a great artist, point it out. Keep his or her motivation pointed toward the heights it is possible to achieve. Real art is the blessed combination of talent, inspiration, learned skill, and refinement of perception. It is not achieved without sweat.
The true, the Word of God used as part of the daily rhythm of life, not something separate, reserved for Sundays alone, forms the foundation of a child’s faith. Catechism, including the Catechism for Young People, an Introduction to the Shorter Catechism or other appropriate catechisms is of value in imparting the essentials of what we believe in a form even the youngest can remember. Families might compose a catechism of their heritage and beliefs, starting with a simple one (Who am I? Jason Moores. Who are my parents? Gene and Bonnie Moores. Who are my father’s parents? Don and May Moores. Who are my mother’s parents? Charles and Emily Keen. From where does my family come? Ireland, England, and Wales. How do Moores behave? With honor and nobility. What is my promise? My promise is my bond. What is the purpose of all Moores? To glorify God and enjoy Him forever). Consider elaborating on the themes as children grow older.
All this sounds well and good, you say. But the kids have to have contact with outsiders from time to time, people of all beliefs, ethnicities, and cultures. How do you prepare them to deal with rude comments, lack of understanding, and even, yes, even persecution? Kinism is not a widely understood or acknowledged system of beliefs and lifestyle. Occidental Christianity has been twisted and flipped around until there is almost no resemblance between historical reformed Christianity and what passes for the Faith these days. Many people have chosen to dismiss the truths that make up Kinism along with the traditional Faith itself. In fact, some will attempt to destroy, discredit, and defame Kinists. Sometimes the destruction extends to family as well. Name-calling– and worse–have been used against Kinists, often by people who say they are Christians but have bought into the popular multi-Cult thinking of the day.
How do we prepare our children to deal with that? When they are small, it’s up to us to provide them with the materials for a basic defense of their Faith and family. As they mature and feel firmly grounded in their heritage, they will be able to give better answers. But when they are young, parents will need to lay the groundwork.
13 Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; 16 yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil. (1 Peter 3:13-17, ESV)
This passage of scripture is a good starting place to help prepare the young ones for the struggle. Kinists are “zealous for what is good.” As a group, they wish to live in line with God’s commands. However, being zealous for what is good does not necessarily mean one will not suffer “for righteousness’ sake,” as is made clear here.
The very young need examples from their own young lives in order to understand this kind of abstract concept. Perhaps there was a time when they did the right thing, yet suffered consequences anyway. Dad or mom could remind them of that. Perhaps the incident left them afraid of the other person; here the Lord comforts them. “Have no fear of them, nor be troubled,” but be prepared “…to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.” You must assure your children of the confidence you have in their ability to be brave and speak up on behalf of Christ and your family.
Make sure the child understands what you as a family believe about your Faith (here is where the two kinds of catechism will prove their worth) and the importance of kin and heritage, and being set apart. Make sure that he or she knows that others may not feel the same way, and may not like, or may want to hurt, your family because you believe and live differently. Train them to express your Kinist beliefs clearly, but with “…gentleness and respect.” (You have been training them to answer “Yes, Ma’am and No, Ma’am,” “Yes, Sir, and No, Sir,” haven’t you? Here is where the “No, Sir ” or “No, Ma’am” parts come in!)
You might consider staging practice runs of encounters with opponents. Many Morgan Stanley World Trade Center employees owe their survival during the 9/11 attacks to the safety drills insisted upon by Rick Rescorla, Head of Security for Morgan Stanley. Because of his absolute insistence on rehearsing the many and various things that can go wrong in an emergency over a long period of time before the attacks occurred, the employees of Morgan Stanley had a automated mental script for survival that saved all but a very few of their number.
Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. While children are young, their minds are programmed for memorization. So the simple scripts learned in homemade catechism will be of great value. Of course, a caring parent will not let a child be subjected to ill treatment, verbal or physical, from anyone, and if Dad or Mom is nearby, a quick rescue and picking up the verbal sword of defense by an adult is necessary. But for those moments when this is not possible, making sure your little one has a ready response is important.
Expecting a child to have a verbal defense is not akin to tossing the child outside the wagon’s circle, but to preparing him or her to use the shotgun if the Indians come barreling through unexpectedly. (I keep thinking I saw this in that long-ago movie, but it could just be my imagination.)
To recap our main points:
• Circle the wagons. Keep what’s inside, in, and what’s outside out.
• Cement the love relationship with your children. Family must be the center of your lives.
• Avoid provoking your child to anger. Anger is destructive, except for righteous anger (a topic for another day). Teach self-control.
• Give honor to your family and your family heritage.
• Surround your children with the good, the beautiful, and the true.
• Make the Word of God an essential part of your daily life.
• Teach the truths of the Faith through a formal catechism, and the truths of family through a personal heritage catechism.
• Prepare your children to make a defense of the Faith and family with gentleness and respect.
These are the basics for a pre-school child’s level of development. They convey a sense of security and belonging that is the glue that holds family together. It’s not a pretty World out there, beyond the wagon train’s protective circle, but with God’s grace and our of our gratitude for His care, we can shelter and train our covenant children to be strong in the defense of the Faith.
In the next installment of this essay we will look at the grammar stage of development in the child and address the Biblical guide to developing as healthy young men and women.
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