I'm a Good Parent Because Existentialism

Today I feel like a successful parent.  I feel like - whatever else might go wrong, whatever else I’ve already screwed up getting here – today I feel like I’ve done something right, because my 15 year old daughter is reading the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy books by Douglas Adams.    This seriously pleases me.

Now, I have been told that maybe these books aren’t appropriate for a 15 year old, for a Christian, for a pastor’s child to read.  They were written by an atheist, express a mockery of religion and generally promote an existentialist philosophy.  But none of that bothers me.

All of that may be true but 1) I read them when I was 14 – 15 and I’ve turned out okay.[i]  2) I’m glad she’s reading intelligent books filled with complex ideas rather than Twilight and other similar YA drivel.  3) I think that a healthy dose of existentialist doubt would be a good thing for the church. 

But maybe that’s just calculated existential angst…

---

[i] Yes. I am aware that there are some, maybe even many, who would question this point.