Kathryn Lofton Analysis

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Kathryn Lofton examines the history of religions and its association with the authority in American parenting. She demonstrates this through her analysis of the evolution of parenting from Colonial America to the 21st Century, parents as religious agents, the politics, science and service of parenting, and the market, or child-rearing manuals, for parenting. Lofton seeks to argue that “there has been a persistent relationship between religious ideation and parental religious practice in the twentieth century” (23). She makes the conclusion that the expectations of the meaning of parenthood have actually become more orthodox in the sense that more people treat parenting very religiously. The subject matter of this essay argues that the belief …show more content…

I believe that infants are born with blank slates and not innately good or bad; infants learn morals and guidelines from the adults and environment surrounding them. I also believe that parents should not use corporal punishment, because it only instills fear in the child of the aggressing parent and causes the child to be more aggressive towards others. Rather, parents should sit children down and explain to them what they did wrong and what they can do next time instead. I also agree with Lofton that parenting is like a religion, which is what I had glued into my mind the entire time I was reading this article. Despite the fact that defining “religion” in itself is a hassle, a majority agree that religions are something that require an intense devotion to something, has rituals and consumes the soul. Well, to me, that is parenting; parenting is something that parents assume as another “occupation,” devote all of their time to ensuring they have the means to raise and nurture their child, and produce rituals of parenting, i.e. bath time and napping schedules. This article just reinforces what I asked in the last article review, that something that people follow “religiously,” that consumes their lives, and involves rituals can easily birth a new religion, such as

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