Rubbish.

If one does not know what good/bad or right/wrong is, then they cannot possibly know that it is wrong to disobey.

Do you think obedience is a virtue?

my toddler would beg to differ.

She is still trying to learn the difference between right and wrong
(for instance it is wrong for her to say certain things the way that GROWN ups say those same things)

but she understands that she either did what she was told or she didnt. She knows she is to do what she is told. She knows there is consequence for not doing so. Plain and simple.

Are you saying that she knows that disobeying is wrong?

For a child, being trained to obey adults could be dangerous.

it depends upon whom we are obedient to...

And how does a child, trained to obey, know how to make those decisions?

as can being trained not to,,,

I dont teach mine to obey 'adults', there are elders significant in HER life that she is to obey(those that love her and care for her daily)

there are also authority figures (at certain times) that they are to obey,, such as the teacher during class, the boss at work,,etc,,,

msharmony,

To whom are you obedient?

Don't say "God" because we both know that God does not tell people what to do.

one way is distinguishing between 'strangers' and 'family' and others

an adult who is a stranger , is different than an adult whom I trust enough to encase my childrens care to or an adult who is a regular part of her household family


I dont teach a blanket category of 'obeying adults', beyond their being an appropriate and inappropriate way to speak to adults.

I do teach the 'authority' of people in my childrens lives who take care of them, such as parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings,,etc,,,

as well as non familial adults such as teachers

Once a person is trained to obey an authority figure, obedience to authority figures becomes second nature. Anyone posing as an authority can command obedience from people.

An experiment was done where a person dressed in a uniform, acting with authority started ordering strangers on the street to do things and they obeyed a total stranger and did some pretty stupid things. The same test was done by a person who was not dressed in a uniform and people just looked at them like they were crazy.

lol, I love those questions,,,someone asked me last week

'what inspires you,, but dont say,,,,,'

IF there are boundaries upon what my truthful answer can be it kind of limits how truthful I can be,,,but

I am obedient to the laws of both the 'government' and the new testament of the bible

I am also obedient to my employment contract with my employer

I am also obedient to my parents (as much as Im called to be as an adult, which is not often)

yes, those are lazy thinkers. I dont train my children to be lazy thinkers

its not an authority figure simply because of clothes or age

its authority figure because of the RESPONSIBILITY for the child


a stranger in a uniform has no responsibility for me or my child so we dont give them blanket 'authority' over us,, although we do respect the laws and the direction they may give that is within the boundary of the laws...

Well you can say "God" if you want, but I know people don't sit around having conversations back and forth with God unless they are hallucinating.

I also feel that "God" grants free will and does not tell people what to do or expect "obedience."

I have known people who hear voices in their heads telling them to do things.... and they are usually bad things... so I don't think that's God. Some of them think its God though.

Are you saying that she knows that disobeying is wrong?

she knows she shouldnt do it. Whether she understands semantically that it is defined as 'wrong' is another issue.

Those "lazy thinkers" are the largest part of the population. I'm glad you are such a great mother that your children aren't being trained to be lazy thinkers.

I dont find it hard to believe that a large part of the population are lazy thinkers in the age of instant information and repetitive misinformation that has no requirements for veracity or integrity anymore.


I wouldnt say Im a 'great' mother, but I did pick up some prioirities from my parents,, one of which is not being or raising lazy thinkers...

And how exactly does she become of aware of that?

several ways

1. I may explain the reason that I have instructed her as I did.
2. She may learn from correlating a certain reaction to the action, and her desire to either have that reaction repeated or to not have it repeated.

3. She learns what 'no' and 'dont' mean from the consequences that follow. Much like she learns a stove is 'hot' by feeling the discomfort associated with touching it, even if she doesnt immediately understand 'hot' , she understand she did not like the REACTION to her choice of ACTION.