NOM

My son's primary teacher has started having the kids mark their scriptures in class. Is that problematic?

All growing up I was told which scriptures were important and what they meant and told to mark them. It's so common I am prone to think it harmless and normal, but there's a little voice in the back of my head saying, "But shouldn't marking up books you read be more about what YOU find important and moving than what you are told to find important and moving?"

I remember in primary we had new testaments and we were supposed to mark the verses the teacher told us to, and I remember being really uncomfortable because I didn’t want to, and didn’t . But I didn’t want others to notice that I wasn’t marking them. I can’t remember my reason for not wanting to mark them, but I remember being so very embarrassed that I wasn’t doing what we were supposed to be doing.

It is subtle, but it's a way of controlling what the kids pay attention to, I think. It's awkward when children start asking why God threatened to destroy Emma or why Satan controls the waters (even in the bathtub?). It's much better for kids to just be reading that they'll be with their families if all the legal requirements for spirituality are met.

If they're going to make primary kids do that, I hope they at least allow them to color in the coloring book part of their quad:

Hagoth wrote: ↑Tue Nov 22, 2022 10:06 am If they're going to make primary kids do that, I hope they at least allow them to color in the coloring book part of their quad:

When I was little, I LOVED looking at the facsimiles. I would make up stories for them Like in this one^^ I would imagine they were all a group of friends hanging out. The two people holding hands were boyfriend and girlfriend and the boyfriend's guy friend was trying to pull him away and get him to hang out with the guys....

I also loved marking my scriptures. I would make pretty patterns and color combinations. It was just nice to have something to do besides listen.

Linked, get your kids some rainbow glitter pens for their scripture bags and tell them to get as creative as they can be.

MoPag wrote: ↑Tue Nov 22, 2022 10:18 pm I would imagine they were all a group of friends hanging out. The two people holding hands were boyfriend and girlfriend and the boyfriend's guy friend was trying to pull him away and get him to hang out with the guys....

Love it! The awesome thing about this is that your interpretation was even more accurate than Joseph Smith's. You could tell which characters were male and which were female.

Marking scriptures has a long tradition. I remember it most in seminary with scripture mastery. On my mission, I had color coding based on connecting certain scriptures to certain discussions we would teach. It's usually a way of proof texting in religion. It can be worthwhile when it is based on individual meaning but in a high demand religion it is all about what the institution deems important rather than the individual (which would be a more reform/progressive religious tradition).

MoPag wrote: ↑Tue Nov 22, 2022 10:18 pm

Hagoth wrote: ↑Tue Nov 22, 2022 10:06 am If they're going to make primary kids do that, I hope they at least allow them to color in the coloring book part of their quad:

When I was little, I LOVED looking at the facsimiles. I would make up stories for them Like in this one^^ I would imagine they were all a group of friends hanging out. The two people holding hands were boyfriend and girlfriend and the boyfriend's guy friend was trying to pull him away and get him to hang out with the guys....

I totally love this!!!

stealthbishop wrote: ↑Wed Nov 23, 2022 9:01 am Marking scriptures has a long tradition. I remember it most in seminary with scripture mastery. On my mission, I had color coding based on connecting certain scriptures to certain discussions we would teach. It's usually a way of proof texting in religion. It can be worthwhile when it is based on individual meaning but in a high demand religion it is all about what the institution deems important rather than the individual (which would be a more reform/progressive religious tradition).

Thank you for putting my reservations into words. This is another way that the church reinforces itself as Capital T True. By telling you which scriptures deserve special standing and telling you how to interpret them they are coopting the reverence you give the scriptures to support their view. If they do it right then you will never consider other meanings and will force everything to fit into the views which they gave you. The Come Follow Me program takes it to another level. In pre-Come Follow Me Sunday School we would try to individually read through all the non-OT books and just discuss the stuff in the lessons. With Come Follow Me it seems that they go a step further and get involved in the individual study to ensure you never have a non-church view.

MoPag wrote: ↑Tue Nov 22, 2022 10:18 pm When I was little, I LOVED looking at the facsimiles. I would make up stories for them Like in this one^^ I would imagine they were all a group of friends hanging out. The two people holding hands were boyfriend and girlfriend and the boyfriend's guy friend was trying to pull him away and get him to hang out with the guys....

I also loved marking my scriptures. I would make pretty patterns and color combinations. It was just nice to have something to do besides listen.

Linked, get your kids some rainbow glitter pens for their scripture bags and tell them to get as creative as they can be.

I found myself looking through the facsimiles all the time as a kid too haha. I like your interpretation.

Good idea, I'll encourage my son to get creative.