But what sort of effect could moralising have on other people if done in excess? Parents in particular need to learn that the cumulative effect of their lectures and homilies on their children could be particularly devastating.
Studies have shown that:
- Nine out of ten children whose parent/s have passed judgement or made pious reflections, at length, in the home, have turned into sanctimonious bigots.
- 66 per cent, or two thirds, of adults who currently experience depression or other mental illnesses, do so as a result of an early encounter with a parent or guardian with a sermonising habit.
- Addiction to homilies can be easily acquired in childhood years, and hard to wean oneself off.
Parents, please consider the effect of your sermonising on your children! Just look at the following people who are currently suffering from addiction to moralising. They all learnt the habit as children:
Please. Don't let this happen to your children. Moralise responsibly, and in moderation.
7 comments:
Ah Stephen Conroy. I just feel so lucky, as an Australian, that we have him to protect us from ourselves.
There will only ever be one Roxon for me, whose 'Encyclopedia' was the bible of my teenage years:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lillian_Roxon
She surely Rocks-on...
Maybe your post has this a bit arse-about. I reckon the children of parents who over-moralise are probably the porn-reading, sexual libertines of today. I wouldn't be surprised if today's moralisers are from parents who didn't moralise much, but disappointed their children somehow in their behaviour.
Just a theory.
Hi TimT,
Nothing to do with your post, except touching slightly on Steve's mention of "porn-reading, sexual libertines" ...
Just got my hands on Roald Dahl's "My Uncle Oswald" and read it cover to cover today. I've also read the extracts in his other volumes about the sexual encounter with the leper in the desert, and the perfume that makes people go crazy with lust.
Smashing read, highly recommended!
I like the way this post has a juxtaposition of the words 'Stephen Conroy' and 'porn-reading sexual libertines'.
And o how I chortled at the Uncle Oswald stories when I first read them, Maria. But I was a teenage boy then... still, Roald Dahl is hilarious.
I've heard many an author been compared to him (Dahl) - either by a reviewer trying to think of what to write or by a publisher eager to make a buck. For instance, J.K. Rowling I read was often called the next Dahl, though I think now that's been dumped and many start trying to call themselves the next Rowling.
Few come close to his mix of humour and blackness and silliness. A lot of it's quite gruesome (especially the adult stories) or could be quite "offensive" with the comic relief mixed in, depends on your taste as to whether you think he's gone too far or not.
It was very different from what I had been reading, which was plowing through each of the Anne of Green Gables series books in turn. I love Anne too, but the magic of Anne is derived from a very different ... erhh ... source!
This reminds me ... my sister's on a week-long Christian mission in the city starting Sunday.
Maybe I should moralise to her about moralising before she goes.
Post a Comment