Children of the Empire

I was so proud of my five year old son Jaron last week. Our church doesn't have midweek children's programming, so we decided to send him to another area church to be part of their kids ministry which shall remain nameless.......okay, AWANA....

We got Jaron's entrance handbook, a small booklet which contains a few introductory things to memorize including John 3:16, the club motto, the pledge to the AWANA flag, and the pledge of allegiance. When I showed the handbook to Jaron and told him what was in it, he started laughing maniacally. The conversation went something like this:

Me: So Jaron, first you have to memorize John 3:16. Then you have to learn the club motto. Then you already know the next section. It's the pledge of allegience.

Jaron: (maniacal laughing)

Me: What's so funny

Jaron: (barely able to form words) The pledge of allegiance? The pledge of allegiance isn't in the Bible!!

Me: You're right Jaron. It's kind of silly isn't it.

Jaron: Why do we have to say the pledge of allegiance at AWANA?

Unfortunately, I didn't have a very good answer to that question. In fact, much of the program is a bit disturbing to me. Why are we having our children pledge allegiance to the AWANA flag? I don't want Jaron declaring his allegiance to AWANA. I want him declaring his allegiance to Jesus. The whole thing strikes me as far too similar to the youth propaganda programs of oppressive regimes around the world. It's filled with all of this disturbingly militant language and imagery. I'm not sure if the goal is to make followers of Jesus or good children of the Empire.

I'm probably overreacting to all of this, but I think it's notable that a five year old found the pledge of allegiance ludicrously incompatible with his burgeoning Christian faith. Certainly there are some good things about AWANA. They place a strong emphasis on living your faith. Memorizing Bible verses is never a bad thing. Jaron has fun and gets to develop a positive relationship with adult Christian leaders. But some of the baggage that goes along with it is pretty hard to swallow.

"Hail AWANA, on the march for youth!"