Langston Hughes short, essay "Salvation" describes an experience at the young age of 12 that unfolds into feelings of drama, guilt, deception, and grief. He shared with us the story of how he felt obligated to receive Christ by his Aunts' church congregation. Confused and alone, he struggled to understand why he was the last to receive God's presumably awesome presence. Langston Hughes endured a long revival, doing as he was told in order to see God and be saved. He brought us inside his bout with doing as he was told he needed to do, in order to see the God that all his friends and relatives had seen and to feel His never-ending love and support. As the night unfolded he was confused as to why God hadn't come for him. After standing up and lying about God's impact on him that night, he displayed guilt and shame, as he depicted in his last paragraph. He lay alone in bed, crying. He is saddened by his guilt for lying to the congregation and has placed shame upon himself for God's non-visitation. His experience brings about the idea, If there is a god who touches our lives, his (her, its') presence is not so obvious. The essay demonstrates the struggle children have understanding god's purpose. (What sinning is, can they see god coming, can they feel god).
The Article Rightly Demonstrates labeling children as sinners that have not been saved as a religious belief presupposes that our kids are inherently bad; that they've sinned. Hughes explains this by saying that he and other boys' were "placed on the mourners' bench with all the other young sinners, who had not yet been brought to Jesus (pg. 1059)." Why exactly are they on the mourner's bench? Is the congregation mourning their sinful ways? This presupposes that all children are sinners until they receive the presence of God. Are they? Do they terrorize the neighborhood, or even their homes? Do they lie, steal, cheat, molest, intimidate? Should we really label our children with the concept of original sin? Most young people I know are sweet and innocent.
