A Facebook friend sent me a link to a wonderful YouTube video. The clip, which apparently has now gone viral with over 366,000 views so far, captures 3-year-old Hannah as she recites a freestyle prayer before bedtime. Her exhausted dad rests on the bed beside her while her mom records the proceedings and offers a running supply of “Amens” and “Hallelujahs” and “That’s right, Hannahs” from behind the camera.
The video starts off as one of those sweet little things that you see on YouTube (you know, like the little girl quoting a mashed-up version of the Twenty-Third Psalm or the little boy awaking from an anesthesia-induced fog following a visit to the dentist). But after a couple minutes, you realize that Hannah is not your ordinary precocious 3-year-old; this little girl is an evangelist-in-the-making who is literally preaching her bedtime prayer. Clearly, the child is speaking out of an anointing of the Holy Spirit—and I’m not one to casually throw around statements like that. This child is on fire!
Check out the video below.
After watching the clip, I was truly moved. But then I clicked through to YouTube and noticed some of the viewers’ comments. Most of the viewers were as awestruck as I was. Here’s a few of their comments:
WOW! The Bible says train up a child; I applaud this mom and dad and say” Well done.
Jesus asked us to come to Him with childlike faith. Hannah is a great example of this! You can tell she believes everything she’s saying with her WHOLE heart! We should all be like that. Keep praising Jesus, Hannah! Don’t ever let age take away your PASSION!!
God’s word and praise from the mouth of a baby! Praise God for Hannah!
This is amazing!! It’s always great to see the results of parents raising their children up with the Lord in their life. we need more kids around like this and then maybe things like Columbine wouldnt happen. Keep up the good work with your daughter!!
But then I began to notice a string of comments from viewers who were disturbed by Hannah’s prayer. They felt her behavior was evidence of brainwashing and of her parents pushing their religion on an impressionable young child. At least one compared it to abuse. Some examples:
I passionately oppose religious brainwashing on children… THIS IS CHILD ABUSE AND BRAINWASHING POOR KID.
The only thing this video is proof of is behavioral modification….normally referred to as brainwashing. It’s what cultists and Islamic Madrasas do to create the kind of unthinking obedience necessary to martyrdom. This kind of thing is disgusting and abusive. A child this age has no conception of what the words she is saying even mean.
This is not to down nobodies religion as I was raised a Christian…. What I DO have a problem with is fundamentalist thinking those want to convert others ESPICALY YOUNG CHILDREN into their cult. Im disturbed by this.
The kid doesn’t understand anything more than the feedback she’s getting from Mom. You can get a kid to recite the quotations of Chairman Mao like this. This is how the Taliban programs future martyrs. It’s ugly, unthinking nonsense.
I was dumbfounded. I’ve heard these types of arguments before, but as I watched that little girl share from a heart that was obviously overflowing with God’s Word and wonderful values from her parents that had stuck, it never crossed my mind that this little girl was being programmed to parrot her parents’ narrow-minded beliefs. Her faith looks real to me. She owns it.
At the same time, a child does not embrace a faith like that without the ongoing nurturing and encouragement and prayers of her parents, grandparents, Sunday School teachers, etc. After all, as Christians, isn’t it our job to pass along these values to the next generation?
But can we, as Christian parents, ever cross the line? There are certainly stories of children who have been indoctrinated into religious or ideological beliefs that have been damaging to their young psyches. I think of the news reports I’ve watched of little children who are growing up under the firm hand of white supremacist parents, or children who are being raised under the influence of any number of cult-like movements.
Then there are parents who raise their children under the religion of money, fame, and commerce. I think of little Falcon Heene being pimped out by his parents for the promise of a reality-TV show and driven to the point of vomiting on live television.
Or what about Marcus Jordan, the son of Michael Jordan?
Marcus, a freshman at the University of Central Florida, is currently causing his new school all sorts of grief with his insistence that he will be wearing his dad’s brand of Nike shoes during games rather than the Adidas brand that the college’s athletic teams are contractually required to wear. So far, UCF has been scrambling to accommodate its famous freshman (and that potentially lucrative link to his famous dad) while trying not to jeopardize its $3 million agreement with Adidas.
I love Michael Jordan the ballplayer, but I can’t help thinking Michael Jordan the dad has apparently raised a son to believe that consumer marketing and product placement and Nike brand loyalty are more important values than humility and team unity and honoring the obligations of his athletic scholarship. As Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard (who is a Christian) has said, “If you’re going to be on the team, you have to do what the team asks you to do.” You would think Marcus’s dad would be dispensing that same type of advice.
Or, how about the Ohio teenager from a strict Muslim family who ran away from home after converting to Christianity because she claims her father threatened to kill her for becoming a Christian? After seeking refuge at a Christian couple’s home in Florida, a judge ruled that the girl must be returned to Ohio. Yikes!
Parenting is no easy task these days—and neither is being a kid. There are so many dangers, toils, and snares—gray areas that will trip up even the most well-intentioned, well-prepared folks who have read all of Dobson’s books.
Having spent the last nearly ten years raising little people—or, perhaps more accurately, helping my wife raise them (just kidding)—I sincerely have to salute parents who are able to instill an enthusiastic faith and passion for God into their children. This, I believe, is one of the most important jobs in the world. As Chris Rock has said, “Sometimes I look at my daughter … and I realize my only job in life is to keep her off the pole!” [Here’s the YouTube clip of Rock; beware of his explicit language.]
Anyhow, back to little Hannah’s prayer. I’m curious to know what you folks out there think about the video and the criticism that this 3-year-old girl is somehow being brainwashed or abused by her parents because she demonstrates such a strong and ardent faith in God. Should we rejoice or be concerned?
Reconciliation Blog 
Great post…. love this!
I haven’t watched the video. I wouldn’t be worried about her being brainwashed, but it does concern me when children are put out across the media universe at an age when they really can’t give consent.
The whole Jon and Kate Plus 8 show is exploiting children, I think. I wish these things would be password protected so only family and friends watch.
My opinion.
Bright child, may or may not own her own faith–but I’m with Julana. She shouldn’t be on YouTube, for her own safety and for her future development. Will she grow up to be a powerful evangelist–or to think that she should go to any lengths for publicity?
Good points. Just to reiterate your concerns: Is the now common practice of posting onto YouTube home movies of cute or funny or talented kids a problem in itself?
I think the criticisms about brainwashing & abuse are way out-of-line. They sound like the criticisms of those who already have a bias against any kind of biblical Christianity. I agree with you that it’s the parents’ job to pass on our faith to the next generation. Now, I don’t think this child truly understands much of what she’s saying, but there are children going around repeating profanity they’ve heard adults say who also don’t understand what they’re saying. I’d rather this child was repeating truth about God and Christ and the Holy Spirit and the Bible, even if she doesn’t fully understand what she’s saying, than repeating profanity or some other godless junk off of television or somewhere else. Plus, as she grows up and understands more, how good it will be that her parents early instilled these truths in her mind.
Having said that, I think parents should be cautious about posting their children online.
Great post Ed and very thought provoking.
Agree with the parents about YouTube – for safety and the whole “look at how great a parents we are” that is oozing from this.
Humility is so important and quite honestly, we are losing that in our snap-a-picture-a-minute society. I was just telling a co-worker today that I think I can never get another candid photo of my kids and they are 8 and 4. Why? Because in my “oh-I-just-love-’em-so-much-I-wanna-show-the-world” vanity – I am literally taking pictures of them all the time and they have their pose on ALL THE TIME. Sigh.
Interesting point those folks who feel it is brainwashing… not sure I completely disagree with them and I am a Jesus Freak to the nth degree but I am an adult who chose that for myself. I am teaching my kids the way of the Lord but trying to be relevant and careful not to cause hurt or worse, judgement on others who don’t believe as we do.
Thanks again Ed for the post.
Grammar always precedes logic and rhetoric. It’s called catechesis. i grew up singing “Father Abraham” in vacation Bible school every summer. But i didn’t truly understand what i had been singing until i became a Christian and read the Letter to the Galatians some-15 years later.
What the world calls ‘brainwashing’ the Bible calls “the renewing of your mind.”
Yes, I think it is a problem. It sort of sets one picture or aspect of child “in stone” in a way that never be recalled. They could theoretically, in an extreme case, get a label for life that can never be removed.
I think one also risks ending up provoking a stalker.
As Christian parents, we are commanded by God to teach our children the truths of Scripture. We are also warned not to be a stumbling block to the little ones, not to hinder the children from coming to Him. How can anyone look at what’s going on with many young people today, children killing children, killing their parents, involved in addictions, gangs, dropping out of school, etc., and not see the need for Christ in these kids’ lives? None of the “worldly” methods of changing people seem to be working. The only change that works is the new life in Christ. I applaud the parents of this little girl.
Galatians 4:18a It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good.
If we worship God, it is right. If we worship anything else, it is idolatry and evil. It is not the enthusiasm that is an issue, it is the object of the enthusiasm and zeal which determines if the zeal is right or not.
People that are not Christians will see this as foolishness and evil. Christians however have a different understanding of what this girl is doing and what her parents have taught her.
As far as posting videos on YouTube, it’s difficult to judge. I’ve posted a couple cute videos of my daughter, mainly to share with friends and family. Just the fact that the video was posted is not enough to say whether it’s right or wrong. We’d have to look a little deeper than that to see what the motivation was behind posting the video. I don’t know if they were anticipating this video going viral or not.
Oh yeah, a couple of other things.
gray areas that will trip up even the most well-intentioned, well-prepared folks who have read all of Dobson’s books.
I didn’t know if this was supposed to be funny, but I think I actually laughed out loud the first time I read it.
Rifqa Bary’s family lives probably less than half an hour from my home in a neighboring school district. Other than when she first went missing, the story has received little press locally, which I find to be strange. Her situation is also complicated by the fact that neither she nor her parents are U.S. citizens. I think she fears being sent back to Sri Lanka.
I really wish Chris Rock would clean up his act (literally) because I think he really has some important things to say, but the crude language and other content take away from his message.
Good thoughts, Ed. But in case you’re not familiar with the nature of YouTube comments in general, they should be taken with a grain of salt. A very, very large grain. Unfortunately, it seems to be the nature of the place to inspire nasty — and often extremely profane — comments. I don’t know why exactly, but there’s something about it that brings out the absolute worst in people. (See also IMDb.)
Ed, what you may be seeing after balloon boy and kate plus 8 is a backlash on putting children in front of the camera for millions to see.
In some ways, I agree.
Many Christians held up the Gosselins as an example of Christian virtue and we were royally embarrassed through their divorce.
However, my issue with the video is primarily with its purpose. I see it mainly as a cute little girl who is learning from her parents. But since its on video, it is easy to assume there is an agenda. I wonder how the detractors might respond if they were there in person? I believe God can use technology but we must not ever assume that God is using it simply because the content is Christian. (just a thought)
As someone in the communications field who teaches bible classes in a christian high school, I have to constantly talk to my students about guarding themselves from media that has the ability to alter our perceptions and values.
In an age of computer animation techniques and coercion, it is hard to know what God is doing sometimes…even through a video.
Although my children role play and using their imaginations with technology, I let them know there is still a time and a place for it.
So I simply wonder if the detractors are just reacting to the larger issue of children and reality programming more than the content (and for some, we know it is simply the content!)
I don’t want to over-intellectualize this thing.
Hannah’s prayer? I was thoroughly blessed, and I’m thankful that something edifying is on YouTube. “Out of the mouths of babes hast thou ordained praise.”
The detractors who think she’s brainwashed? Their words are coming straight from the Evil One. We need to encourage Hannah to pray for them, and then those naysayers will really have to watch out, or they might end up coming to Jesus themselves! The gospel is a dangerous thing for those who have set their hearts against it.
We do not see that anything spoken good could be evil.
My mother , grangmother of 10, has always spoken about God & his love and awesome power ! we also believe that little Hannah ‘s words that she had heard were real and such a blessing for those around her and for all those that watch by utube. The people that were negative : would they rather a child speak of drugs , sex, violance, hateing oneanother, not forgiving, !!?? We are to read and obey God’s word, Love oneanother, SPREAD God’s word, and if it come from a babe’s mouth : Praise you JESUS !!!! and Hannah keep on giving all praise to God !!!!!
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[…] deal with Adidas for the brand to be the exclusive shoe for the sports team. Our own Ed Gilbreath suggested that the senior Jordan might be stumbling as a parent by failing to encourage his son Marcus to […]
[…] deal with Adidas for the brand to be the exclusive shoe for the sports team. Our own Ed Gilbreath suggested that the senior Jordan might be stumbling as a parent by failing to encourage his son Marcus to […]
Our family loved this little girl’s prayer and also felt that the Holy Spirit was working through her. Do we want our children to be brainwashed by TV, video games and whatever the media says? Or do we want them to know how to apply scripture to their lives through their prayers?