Salon readers blast Anne Lamott’s decision to make her son go to church. “When I was 14 years old, I knew what relationship I was or wasn’t going to have with God. I was taking driver’s training and contemplating the meaning of life, which I did not find in the Episcopalian church I had attended with my parents since infancy. He’s already the man he will be. Let him decide. Treat him like an adult.”
And some object to her writing about him: “If Anne Lamott doesn’t want her teenage son’s inner monster she so cutely names “Phil” to emerge fully as a true monster, she should stop using her son as fodder for her writing. “
And a day later: Readers rush to the defense of Anne Lamott. “When I was a teenager I would have slept until noon every Sunday if my parents hadn’t made me get up, put on a skirt, and go to church with them. But they did… and even though I whined and complained every Sunday morning, once I was at church I found a haven of peace and kindness and spirituality. Years later (and after many years of independent involvement in the church), I’m still thankful they did. Left entirely to their own devices, wouldn’t most teenagers blow off church, or school, or sports practice?”