Dan’s post at The Bumbling Genius on the importance of parents talking to their children FIRST about controversial issues related to Christianity is a must-read. The post drew 100 comments, so far. The post is here.
Excerpt:
The common assertion that “Christians are narrow-minded, or anti-science” is a logical fallacy called”Poisoning the Well”. Well poisoning is a preempted ad hominem attack that attempts to pre-program, or especially in this case to embed into society’s thinking a predisposition against a particular point of view.
My first exposure to the effectiveness of this tactic-from the outside looking in-occurred during discussions in my home with Jehovah’s Witnesses. It was here that I began to appreciate the persuasive power of this logical fallacy, and to develop a similar technique in teaching my own children in ways to help insulate them against this kind of mind poisoning by doing a little pre-poisoning of the well of their thinking myself. I hope to accomplish this by being the first to present the messages of our culture except that I do so under the microscope of scripture, logic, and objective truth. In this way I am the one setting the table, so to speak, for the future discussions my children will encounter involving their worldview.
Not unlike the tactics used by the JW’s and anti-Christ cultural apologist, as I teach my children I employ the key concept of “firsts.” For example: when an institution or media is the first to present a cultural issue, and also the first to present my response in a “closed-minded”, “Christian” caricatured stereotype, followed by their a pithy, high-browed, and cognitive dissonant response to that stereotype, then my children’s Well becomes poisoned against my teaching. Everything I as parent subsequently espouse may then be seen through the lens of that stereotype. On the other hand, if I am the first to present the tenets of those opposing worldviews along with a logical and realistic explanation as to why they are flawed, then I will have achieved the objective of firsts.
This is something Christian parents really need to think about. You want to inoculate your children against pressure from teachers and peers by discussing issues long before they are introduced in the classroom or the playground. And you should be on guard against other sources of sin and lies, too.
WINTERY KNIGHT 
Good point. Non-Christians sometimes seem to assume that we Christians are narrow-minded simply because we, LOL, don’t believe what they believe.
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Very true. Too many parents underestimate how much their children can understand quite early on simply because most kids are intellectually understimulated and haven’t been given the opportunity to tackle these things. With plenty of early input, a child can make amazing progress. And if Christians don’t make the important first impression on their kids, others with non-christian worldviews will instead. Parents should also explain the rationale behind their beliefs to their kids. This will help their children to make wise assessments on those things which inevitably get missed and to see that their parents aren’t just trying to brainwash them. Part of this is asking questions which help someone figure the answer out for themselves. Jesus used this technique in His teaching to expose things which people already knew deep down, but likely suppressed.
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