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Kelly Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 21 2005
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Posted: July 25 2005 at 7:54am | IP Logged
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Has anyone out there listened to the "Little Bear History Devotional" tapes? I've seen these around for a while. I know they are Protestant in origin, but was wondering if they go beyond that and are anti-Catholic? Obviously, the tapes on Luther and Tyndale and Wycliff would not be appropriate, but I was looking more at their American Revolution era tapes for my little ones. Any experience?
Thanks,
Kelly in FL
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Anne Marie M Forum Pro
Joined: Feb 27 2005
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Posted: July 31 2005 at 8:29pm | IP Logged
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Kelly,
Stay far, far away! I've heard Little Bear at a conference, and he was talking about leading his Catholic grandparents to Jesus. Now, in all fairness, I haven't heard these tapes, but I'd be very careful. . .
Anne Marie
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Kelly Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 21 2005
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Posted: July 31 2005 at 9:33pm | IP Logged
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Anne Marie,
Thanks for your insight. I should have known to ask you...you've given me all sorts of good info on Regina Coeli, now on to Little Bear !
Thanks
Kelly in FL
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Kelly Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 21 2005
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Posted: July 31 2005 at 9:37pm | IP Logged
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PS Oops, I just re-read my email and it's a little unclear. What I *meant* was I would now APPLY your info to the Little Bear situation, not that I was going to go BUY it! I think I'll pass on the Little Bear tapes, thank you! That leading Catholics away from their faith stuff always makes me mad! Grrrrr.
Kelly in FL
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TracyQ Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 07 2005 Location: New York
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Posted: Aug 13 2005 at 11:33am | IP Logged
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Little Bear is a wonderful man. We met he and his wife personally when our non-denominational homeschool support group had him in to speak. We were co-leaders at the time, and the other leaders really wanted to have him speak here.
But he did cause a stir, which really left us in a difficult position. He was speaking about his Catholic education and the nuns who taught him. We were thinking we may have to get up and leave, but decided to hear him out, especially because we were the co-leaders and it would be awkward. Our faith however, would always come first.
One Catholic family did get up and leave, and I didn't blame them, that was their choice, and I respected that. But as he talked (and I wasn't thrilled with what he was saying about the nuns that taught him), what he said in the end made me feel a bit better. He said that if it were not for those wonderful nuns who taught him, he would not have turned into what he is today. They guided and steered him and were strict with him, and he was a very difficult child. He spoke dearly of them, and how important they were in his life.
After the day of speaking was over, we had planned to have dinner with he and his wife at the home of our co-leaders. We brought up that we were Catholic, and that our faith is precious to us. We also brought up that the other family was upset, and why, and that we could also understand and respect why they did. But we were pleased that he resolved what he was saying, bringing respect back to the wonderful religious sisters who taught him.
He and his wife understood completely, and were upset that he'd upset them, and were very gracious to us as well. We formed a friendship with them, and did email some back and forth, and we were honored to pray for them, and ask others to pray for them when their first grandson was born very prematurely, and almost didn't live.
Our children were able to listen to a wonderful story that he told to our three children, and our co-leaders' son about the hymn, *Lead Kindly Light*, written by a protestant man who later converted to Catholocism. I thought it was very gracious for him to tell the wonderful story in his extremely talented way to our children. He really blessed us, and our kids were really blessed by him. Of course, they were also blessed to *ambush him* while dressed up and with their *pretend guns* when he first came into the house too! Talk about homeschooling at its best!
I'm not saying that anyone should or shouldn't purchase Little Bear's products. I would be VERY leery, given that his beliefs seem to be very fundamentalist. And I know I wouldn't purchase any devotional tapes. We have only a few of his videos (a couple of the history videos), and bought the one syllable book history series, but we used his videos carefully, and were right there watching them with them. He is very talented in what he does though in telling his stories of history, such as Sergeant York, and some were no problem at all that we heard.
I'm also not saying that Little Bear does not have anti-Catholic bias either, because I'd bet he probably does, and is ignorant of what our Church truly teaches.
We now belong to two homeschool groups...the one I spoke about (non-denominational), and one that is very devoutly Catholic. Also,having been born Catholic, then leaving the church to be Presbyterian from 8th grade through about age 20, then re-verting back to our precious Faith after being called by the Lord has been one interesting journey for me!
My dh's side of the family is devoutly Catholic, but my side of the family is not. I come from a family where my mom and sister are Methodist (my mom grew up in the Methodist church). My brother is a fundamentalist/pentacostal (I think) who is in a self started church, and is a self proclaimed pastor of his church. He's an ex-Catholic, and the church was begun by an ex-Catholic man as well, with many of its members the same. My two brothers are somewhat practicing Catholics, and one who is a non-practicing Catholic. I feel like for us, we don't have the luxury of just not allowing our children not to hear about what other faiths teach, because our families are both extremely close, and our children, especially as they grow, can come up against so many protestant thoughts/ideas/teachings at any given time, not even intentionally. So we delve into apologetics here a lot, talking about our faith, its teachings, and differences in faith very often.
Meeting Little Bear and his wife was a blessing for us, and really taught us some interesting lessons in our faith. And I hope we taught he and his wife some important lessons about our Faith as well through our discussions and example. I'm very glad we were able to share with them our concerns about his talk, and about how he offended the other family before they stayed to hear the rest of his talk. It was important for him to know that.
We do have to be careful as we travel this journey, and sometimes make some very difficult decisions regarding our protestant bretheren. We have to be careful about what we hear, and what we allow our children to hear. And we also have to reach out and find the common bond of Jesus' love that we share in order to love with the love of Jesus as well. Sheesh! It's not an easy thing, is it????
I just didn't want anyone to think the Wheelers are bad people. I wanted to share what we know about them. They are really wonderful people who love the Lord with all their heart. I think it's like so many other of our Protestant bretheren who probably don't really understand or don't choose to understand the truth of our Faith. It's sad, but we pray for one day when we all choose to be One, Catholic, and Apostolic Church once again!
__________________ Blessings and Peace,
Tracy Q.
wife of Marty for 20 years, mom of 3 wonderful children (1 homeschool graduate, 1 12th grader, and a 9th grader),
homeschooling in 15th year in Buffalo, NY
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Kelly Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 21 2005
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Posted: Aug 22 2005 at 9:30pm | IP Logged
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Thanks for that story, Tracy. I'd always rather think positively about people, than not. Goodness knows, though, it's hard navigating one's way thru History Resources, without having to worry about anti-Catholic bias! OTOH, I, too, come from a predominantly Protestant family, so I know where you're coming from in a very big way ! Thanks for sharing this nice personal insight!
Kelly in FL
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TracyQ Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 07 2005 Location: New York
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Posted: Aug 23 2005 at 7:54am | IP Logged
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Kelly wrote:
Goodness knows, though, it's hard navigating one's way thru History Resources, without having to worry about anti-Catholic bias! Kelly in FL |
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That's for SURE, Kelly! It is one of the most difficult parts of making good choices for our family! That's why I always try to really pray first, and wait on the Lord! You're very welcome for my insight, and I agree, I always like to try to see the good in others first. Sometimes, that can be very difficult, but it's always a blessing!
__________________ Blessings and Peace,
Tracy Q.
wife of Marty for 20 years, mom of 3 wonderful children (1 homeschool graduate, 1 12th grader, and a 9th grader),
homeschooling in 15th year in Buffalo, NY
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