Fake Peanut Allergies

A recent story regarding peanut allergies bothered me a great deal.  In my opinion, most of these food allergies we have to worry about are made up...at least they didn't really exist that much when I was a child.  How is it that in the day and age we are in where we have cured and eliminated many deadly diseases in our country, but create new food allergies?  There is not a debate of if we need food to survive, so why are we now becoming allergic to it?

The recent story in the headlines that got under my skin, was about an elementary school girl that forced an entire class of children to alter their lives just for her.  Her classmates are not allowed to eat peanut butter or peanuts before coming in to school, and are forced to wash their hands thoroughly multiple times throughout the day.  This is disruptive to class time and takes a lot of time to get 6 or 7 year olds up out of their seats, in line and then have to monitor each of them to ensure they wash their hands correctly.

There are a couple of ways to look at this story and it is hard to make a decision that is fair.  I do understand the aspect of the girl in the class...she could die from any minimal exposure, and that would suck.  I also understand making adjustments for people with a disability or problem.  The issue is, generally complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act does not force everyone around them to alter their lives and deprive innocent people of things they enjoy.  It is unfortunate that someone may have an allergy that cause them to live a secluded life, but you can not go through life feeling entitled to everyone changing their lives for you.

The interview with the father was the tip of the iceberg for me.  Watching him in his car, because he was to fat and lazy to get out of it and stand up, almost in tears because his daughter could not go to sleepovers was my decision point.  This was the main concern the father chose to talk about on the news report.  I have to wonder what created the allergy in the first place.  I think back to when my first nephew was born and my sister-in-law was afraid to have peanuts around him for the first few months before they could test him for the allergy.  When I was a child, there was no such test and we were exposed to everything.  I have actually read several articles relating to these food allergies, and realize that we have done this to ourselves.

In our over sanitized world, we have "protected" our children so much, that their immune system has not developed enough to battle off the smallest of germs or allergies.  We are scared to take our babies outside because of one or two so called doctors that were probably on Oprah, telling us we should wait till they are older.  We are afraid to let our kids play on public playgrounds or play in the dirt without disinfectant wipes to clean them off every 10 minutes.  If you shop in the mall now, you see a sanitizing station every 15 yards.

If you overprotect your children, they will develop health and/or mental issues. It is proven and there are many journals that have published studies proving this.  All you have to do is google them and they will come right up.  Every friend I had in college that was home schooled in high school often went wild their first time away from home, and many failed out their first year.  They were not stupid by any means, but they had never had to discipline themselves to study on their own and balance their personal lives without the help of their parents. 

Our bodies behave in the same way; the first time we are out in the open, our imune system will go wild because we have never experienced an unregulated environment before.  If we are slowly introduced to it from a young age, many of the problems we see will not exist.  I know there is not a cure all answer for everyone, but it can make a difference.

You can't say that in Church...

So let's get this started.  I am a Southerner and have grown up in the Church all of my life.  I was born on vacation while my parents were missionaries and lived as an MK/PK for 12 years.  Everything we did involved Church in some way.  Every time we had a major question for our parents, we prayed about it, if we ever missed Church while we were out of town than we would have a morning devotion and were only allowed to listen to Praise and Worship music all day.  

These are NOT bad things, but helped shape my childhood and helped me see things in a different perspective than a lot of people.  As I entered High School, I started to become aware that there were a lot of odd things people in the Church do or say.  The one I always found perplexing was when people told me what I could not do or say in Church, but I witnessed them doing it frequently outside of Church.

I will agree that there are subjects and things that should not be blurted out in Church; but my confusion has always been with the elder Church members that keep telling you not to say or do things in Church.  Why is it that I can't say things like "butt", "fart", or "crap" when talking with my peers in between Sunday School and the service?  I remember getting very dirty looks when talking to my best friend about "how much crap" I had to do in English class that coming week.  

I have always been taught that God always knows what I am doing.  Thus it should not matter if I say "kick some butt" in Church or at Football practice.  God is still watching and knows what I am saying.  So what is the standard that we are creating for our Church Members?  Is it OK to say things when we are not in Church?  Is it an age thing?  So maybe because you are in school you can not talk that way yet.  Maybe it's OK for two 80 year old men to stand in the hallways of the church and one ask the other, "Dude, did you just fart"?  I have always felt that the more we tell people not to do things in Church, the more they want to do them outside of Church and we will justify our actions through that reasoning.  As Christians, I feel we need to work on how we tell people how to live their lives, when we have our own double standards.

(Side Note)

I am finally starting this blog to bring up lots of the issues I always think about that I feel like Christians are afraid to talk about out loud.  I find a lot of humor in them and love discussing them with people who get uncomfortable about it.  yes, I know I might have a problem.  I will credit Author/Speaker/Blogger Jon Acuff for encouraging me through his presentation the other night to get off my butt and do what I love doing.  In this case it is writing and letting people know my opinion through sarcasm.  His opinions and thoughts inspired a great discussion with a friend of mine pointing out how it is good to hear a Christian make fun of our ways and be candid about being a Christian in the real world.  

This will NOT be a copy of Jon's work, and I encourage everyone to check out his blog at: stuffchristianslike.net, and his book on the Amazon promotional thing on this page.  I thank Jon for coming to Kairos this past week and speaking to us from the heart.  Let's hope this is a good beginning and that I don not get too much ADHD where I space out and stop posting... Just sayin, it could happen.