Do Hard Things. - Harris Brothers

[formergothardite]

I'll admit that I don't I'm probably not in touch with today's youth like many others are here, but I do know a fair share of teens. From what I can tell, most of them are not the slack, lazy, self-centered people the Rebelution guys make them out to be. Sure there are a couple who are, but that really isn't a new thing in history. There were lazy, self-centered, disrespectful teens in the Bible too.

Most of the teens I know, try hard in school, try and work if they can find jobs, and most of them volunteer in the community in some aspect.

As for the "hard things" that the Harris brothers encourage teens to do, it doesn't really seem that "hard". Organizing events to raise money for charities (and it seems like most of the "rebelutionists" do this) is't actually that hard. It is nice and wonderful and all that, but calling around and asking for donations or collecting pillow cases and mailing them (God's Daugher), doesn't seem that difficult. We did things like this when I was a teen and nobody acted like we were doing something especially grand, noble, unusual or challenging.

The Kisses From Kate blogger who left home, moved to Uganda, adopted 14 children, lost the guy who was going to marry her, and daily goes into situations where she could be killed, that is hard. But collecting donations, getting small Christian bands to have a concert to fight abortion, or planning fundraisers seems pretty average.

So IMO the whole Rebelution Tour seems like a money making scheme that encourages teens to feel supior about doings that aren't that unusual. Not to say teens shouldn't be commended for planning events and raising money for a charity, I just think that doing so makes them super special snowflakes that are doing hard things that no other teens do.

Thoughts?

[debrand]

I agree. The Harris brothers annoy me because on the surface, their message seems harmless. OF course, everyone should hold themselves up to higher standards. We should all try to be honorable and honest. Good parents try to install values in their kids. Most of us don't believe that our kids are incapable of taking on difficult projects. At first glance, it appears to be simply backing up what most of us teach our kids.

Yet, reading some of the older articles and comments make it apparent that the Harris Family really does have its own agenda. First, they put out the offensive Rebolution(however you spell that) Survey and their older brother wrote, I Kissed Dating Goodbye. Doing hard things means following their belief system not simply doing things that are difficult.

A child who earned money to help gay people get married would not earn their praise. In fact, he or she would be seen as an example of how horrible the culture is.

And because I'm a dirty old lady, the motto Do Hard Things just makes me giggle. How do they not know that some people will view that as sexual?

[clibbyjo]

Big whoop, I don't see the big deal either.Collecting money and organizing an event is not the same being in the trenches. Shouldn't ALL teens be doing stuff like this anyway? MY 15 year old volunteers for 8 hours at a Veterans hospital once a week. He is very shy, yet he talks to and has to listen to the same stories of the old Vets every week while getting them to their appointments. I expect him and all teens to do something like this. MY daughter turns 13 next year and she will be volunteering at the dog pound to walk the dogs until she is old enough to also work at the hospital. WE have done "collecting" charities through the UU for years . Picking up and donating newborn items or winter clothes for the homeless is not hard. I really think community service should be mandatory for all kids.

[Joykins]

And because I'm a dirty old lady, the motto Do Hard Things just makes me giggle. How do they not know that some people will view that as sexual?

I think my mind landed in the same gutter this morning. A hard man is good to find :)

[Austin]

Big whoop, I don't see the big deal either.Collecting money and organizing an event is not the same being in the trenches. Shouldn't ALL teens be doing stuff like this anyway? MY 15 year old volunteers for 8 hours at a Veterans hospital once a week. He is very shy, yet he talks to and has to listen to the same stories of the old Vets every week while getting them to their appointments. I expect him and all teens to do something like this. MY daughter turns 13 next year and she will be volunteering at the dog pound to walk the dogs until she is old enough to also work at the hospital. WE have done "collecting" charities through the UU for years . Picking up and donating newborn items or winter clothes for the homeless is not hard. I really think community service should be mandatory for all kids.

Colleges expect some amount of community service, and most teens I know, whether they consider themselves college-bound or not, volunteer in some capacity. Our boys and their friends have been involved in too many things to even enumerate. So I say, "Big whoop!", too. Not because it's not important, just because these Harris boys and their ilk are hardly unique or speshul in any way.

[debrand]

I think my mind landed in the same gutter this morning. A hard man is good to find :)

:lol:

This is on their blog, to the right in red writing

» Hard Things in Small Packages

» You Can't Fake Hard Things

» When You Fail At Hard Things

» Understanding Do Hard Things

» Do Hard Things and the Gospel

» » How To Spoil Hard Things

[Guest Anonymous]

:lol:

This is on their blog, to the right in red writing

» Hard Things in Small Packages

» You Can't Fake Hard Things

» When You Fail At Hard Things

» Understanding Do Hard Things

» Do Hard Things and the Gospel

» » How To Spoil Hard Things

Is there room in the gutter for me?

[Joykins]

Nothing spoils a Hard Thing faster than a frumper.

[gustava]

Nothing spoils a Hard Thing faster than a frumper.

Well, then, I'm stripping mine off immediately. Nobody likes a Hard Thing spoiled!!!

[Witsec6]

Nothing spoils a Hard Thing faster than a frumper.

*snort*!

ITA with everyone here. It's not a "hard" thing to do community service... it's actually usually good career preparation and is often quite fun.

[hoipolloi]

The "Do Hard Things" campaign is just more hucksterism disguised as religion.

The Harris boys are getting an early start but I have no more respect for their views on life & its difficulties than I do for the young SAHDs who like to lecture other women on how to be a godly wife & mother.

They all need to grow up.

[Edited for clarity]

[formergothardite]

Nothing spoils a Hard Thing faster than a frumper.

:lol: I just find all the "rebelutionists" to be very annoying because they act like they are so much more special, wonderful, and more caring than all other teens, when in fact they are just like everyone else.

[debrand]

The brothers are attending Patrick Henry and have worked on Huckabee's campaign. My guess is that one or both of them will eventually go into politics.

[SquirrelySquirrel]

:lol: I'll be in the gutter with the others if anyone needs me.

But seriously, I don't know who these people are, but they certainly don't sound super speshul to me. I can't wait til the little squirrel is old enough to more actively participate in the community service her father and I do. She already has her eye on helping at the private animal shelter here in town.

[Joykins]

The brothers are attending Patrick Henry and have worked on Huckabee's campaign. My guess is that one or both of them will eventually go into politics.

See, now this is what they are talking about. Trying to get Huckabee elected president is a hard thing to do.

[ElphabaGalinda]

Big whoop, I don't see the big deal either.Collecting money and organizing an event is not the same being in the trenches. Shouldn't ALL teens be doing stuff like this anyway? MY 15 year old volunteers for 8 hours at a Veterans hospital once a week. He is very shy, yet he talks to and has to listen to the same stories of the old Vets every week while getting them to their appointments. I expect him and all teens to do something like this. MY daughter turns 13 next year and she will be volunteering at the dog pound to walk the dogs until she is old enough to also work at the hospital. WE have done "collecting" charities through the UU for years . Picking up and donating newborn items or winter clothes for the homeless is not hard. I really think community service should be mandatory for all kids.

Here community service is mandatory if you want to graduate highschool. And I don't know anyone who doesn't graduate because they didn't do their community service. It's not hard at all.

[formergothardite]

Here are some websites of the rebelutionists:

firstnightoffreedom.org/p/story.html

zachhunter.me/#/loosechange2loosenchains/loosechange2loosenchains

misselainious.com/about/

All these people are doing wonderful things and they should be proud, but teens all over the world, even heathen, unChristian ones, do pretty much the exact same things. They aren't rebelling against society by doing these things.

[ladypuglover]

My mind went straight to the gutter and to my shock and surprise I found others already camped out. So, I brought cookies and ask if you all will make room because I don't like the look that squirrel is giving me, like I took his last peanut.

[formergothardite]

My mind went straight to the gutter and to my shock and surprise I found others already camped out. So, I brought cookies and ask if you all will make room because I don't like the look that squirrel is giving me, like I took his last peanut.

Can we make S'mores? Did nobody sit around and think about how it sounds when they came up with that slogan?

[Witsec1]

See, now this is what they are talking about. Trying to get Huckabee elected president is a hard thing to do.

:lol:

[formergothardite]

Here is the Harris brothers definition of rebelution:

"The word 'rebelution' is a combination of the words "rebellion" and "revolution." So it carries a sense of an uprising against social norms. But in this case, it's not a rebellion against God-established authority, but against the low expectations of our society. It's a refusal to be defined by our ungodly, rebellious, and apathetic culture. Actually, we like to think of it as rebelling against rebellion.

And it's exciting, because the Rebelution has become a type of counter-cultural youth movement among young people from around the world, who are not only rejecting the lies of popular youth culture, but they're returning to biblical and historical levels of character and competence."

They act like all teens are running around like they are on Clueless (or whatever is popular now).

[debrand]

Can we make S'mores? Did nobody sit around and think about how it sounds when they came up with that slogan?

I've been wondering myself, how the fact that the slogan is dirty would escape young people.

Here is my rather weak guess.

Daddy Harris wants to inspire his version of maturity in his kids. That means that they are kept unaware, through home school, of sexual terms that would raise an eyebrow among their peers. They have probably been taught to avoid people who make crude jokes or have an earthy sense of humor. They simply might not know about double entendres.

What daddy Harris fails to realize is that when his children interact with the world-which will happen eventually- they will be unprepared for the way humans communicate.

Anyone who has read Canterbury Tales, Shakespere, Tom Jones: History of a Foundling or The Decameron can't fail to notice that we've always been a species that giggles over crude jokes. It has nothing to do with maturity and everything to do with having a bit of fun.

There is nothing wrong with disliking crude humor but to pretend that it doesn't exist among normal, mature adults is a bit silly.

[bananacat]

It really just sounds to me like the Harris brothers have become crotchety old men, yelling and waving a fist at those durn kids to get offa their lawn, get a haircut, and turn down that music. Whenever I hear something that is basically a "kids these days" lecture, I know they're full of it.

[marmalade]

Anyone who has read Canterbury Tales, Shakespere, Tom Jones: History of a Foundling or The Decameron can't fail to notice that we've always been a species that giggles over crude jokes. It has nothing to do with maturity and everything to do with having a bit of fun.

The Harris brothers, all eyes and no sight, would certainly hate my Shakespeare's Insults tee shirt. Heck, I threw one in there, just for them.

Or I could just go balls-to-the-wall and call them footlickers. They might think it's biblical. :lol:

[FakePigtails]

As awful as the Harris brothers sound, I just want to throw it out there that the community service in high school thing can vary a lot. Where I grew up everyone did some sort of volunteering at some point, but where DH is from it's totally different. It was almost like culture shock seeing his family's reaction to the idea of their high schooler doing it and I've never gotten the sense that there was any sort of normalcy to volunteering amongst others in their school and community.