Differing Beliefs

By Jaya King

    When we are young we depend on our parents or guardians for not only the necessities to survive but also our beliefs. Most of the time our judgement is based off of those we are surrounded by when growing up. This is seen in many younger children who haven’t experienced enough on their own to make their own opinions about the world. One’s identity starts to shape during this time of adolescence as they grow and become more independent. Rebellion is often seen in this period because of differing opinions and world views. This is witnessed in The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily Danforth between many of the students at God’s Promise and their guardians. The situation that the adults create for the queer teenagers directly harm them through the abuse of conversion therapy. Sending them off to God’s Promise shows that adults don’t always know what is best for those they are supposed to care for.

It was Ruth’s decision to send Cam away to God’s Promise after finding out about her attraction towards girls. After the death of Cam’s parents, Ruth raised Cam to the best of her ability but their beliefs often clashed. By not giving Cam a say in her education or living arrangements, Ruth believes she knows what is best for Cam. However, this is not really true since conversion therapy doesn’t actually work and Cam feels the need to run away from both of the only homes she’s known. Neither of these places feels like a home for Cam since she isn’t taken care of properly or accepted for who she is. Cam strongly opposes the idea of being sent to God’s Promise but she knows that Ruth has the power in their relationship, making her be forced to accept this fate. Ruth believes her intentions for sending her to God’s Promise are good while they are actually harmful towards Cam, causing her to feel isolated and distant from her true self. Just because Ruth is older and has more experience than Cam, society sees it fit for her to make decisions regarding Cam’s wellbeing even though her actions directly lead to the abuse the person she is supposed to care for. 

At God’s Promise they are trying to break each student down with the goal of piecing them back together again in a way that suits their own beliefs. An example of this behavior includes the iceberg activity that each student must participate in when arriving at God’s Promise. The activity is presented to the students by asking them to “focus on all the things in your past that have caused you to struggle with unnatural same-sex attractions” (289). With the idea of writing down anything in their pasts that could have influenced their attractions towards the same sex, Rick and Lydia cause the teens to often look back on traumatic incidents or actions that could be viewed as sources of their “sin”. Making the students believe that there is something wrong with them causes many of them to feel isolated. This is the goal of Rick and Lydia since feeling alone leads to their vulnerability. It is only once the students are vulnerable enough that they can try to mold them back together by placing an emphasis on faith as a crutch for their queer tendencies, in an attempt to rebuild the individuals to their ideal standards. Knowing how their actions affect the students, Rick and Lydia still continue this cycle of tearing each student down to make them feel bad about themselves due to their beliefs which many of the teens don’t agree with. This abuse towards the students goes against the idea that the school is trying to “help” them and instead shows the harm that is placed unto each of them.

The actions of Mark’s dad, as well as the instructors Rick and Lydia lead to Mark’s traumatic incident at God’s Promise. Mark is very similar to Rick in the sense that he truly believes and strives towards holiness to get rid of his unaccepted urges. This causes Mark to view Rick as a successful case for replacing same-sex attractions with faith and craves for the same goal. Mark’s dad is one of the roots of Mark’s trauma because no matter how hard he works on trying to change his ways or be accepted by him, he can’t achieve this. Mark acts as the perfect preacher’s son by being able to recite the bible, bringing in donations for God’s Promise, and having true faith. His father sees right through all of his achievements to view him as a disappointment for not being manly enough. This type of abuse from his father causes years of built up trauma for Mark which is expressed through a dreadful act. Years of pent up tension, emotion, and trauma from his father and other adults in his life lead him to his tipping point. Mark’s self mutilation shows the effects that adults can have when someone is vulnerable and aiming for approval. They don’t do what is best for Mark because they let their own beliefs get in the way, resulting in a dramatic scene displaying the results of constantly feeling unaccepted in your own family.

The adults in this story are not viewed in particularly good light since many of them believe that being gay is a sin and try to change those they say they care about. Their lack of acceptance in the LGBTQ community is harmful towards the gay teenagers resulting in many of them to feel like outliers.

Works Cited
Danforth, Emily M. The Miseducation Of Cameron Post. New York : Balzer + Bray, 2013, c2012. Print.