TSW - Clearly, ALA is not "open" to anything other than Christianity. My point is, they don't pretend to be "open" and then force attendance at Mass, or studies of "the Pearl of Great Price" or sessions with the Mahareshe mo Heshe Yogi.
I don't actually *know* if they would accept a Hindu or Buddest child if asked to by Christian parents. If so, then I do feel safe saying that while the little Hindu might be exposed to vast amounts of Christian thought - they would never be forced to eat meat. I feel safe saying they would not have their food spit on, or be limited from activities others were allowed to enjoy. I feel I know that this kind of thing would never be tolerated at ALA. I believe I know them well enough to know this much.
Depending on what you mean by Fundamentalist - I might qualify for that definition, and so might ALA. It used to simply mean a person who believed the Bible to be true - But has come to mean other things, these days. They (and I) are not Baptist as someone has suggested. I believe they (and I) hold to a more non denominational form of Christianity. There is nothing forceful or militant about it.
And again - to be very clear - I don't know how things are done now - but when my son was there, they in no way sought to stifle creativity or freedom of thought. In fact, it seemed to me that Craig tried to help the boys learn to think things through - and to explore their interests and creative sprit. He got tutors to teach those who were interested, how to build web sites, for example. He encouraged my son's skills as a stand up comic - laughing hilariously at his stories and antics.
And of corse, as a Christian, I have no problem with God being part of a person's healing process. I do happen to believe there is healing that takes place when we turn to Christ. This is not an involuntary change. It is sought after, and prayed for, and given as a gift from a merciful God.
As I explained in an earlier post - any program that tries to force the issue will do more harm than good - but I hope ALA will never be one of those.
