One commandment in the Bible is to honor your father and mother. I would like to clarify what it means to honor your father and mother.
It is to have their best interests in mind and respect them as people, without necessarily agreeing with things that they believe that they are wrong.
When I was a child, I had a terrible relationship with my father. As an adult, after having dealt with the world, I came to appreciate and respect him. He put a vast effort into building a good relationship with me, and I respect these efforts. And coming from that perspective, it has become possible for me to correct the wrongful ideas that he had without being nasty or vicious about it.
Now most people will have something right with them and something wrong with them. The correct meaning of loving one's neighbor is not agreeing with everything that they do, but rather seeking their best while correcting what they are doing that are wrong. And we will find plenty of that in just about everyone.
So the solution that I believe God has inspired in me has been to do the full set. It is to love one's parents and seek their best while correcting them where they are wrong. For a long time my father thought that my interest in poetry and poetry translation was useless; but I have been able to show him that it was not useless at all. My translations of Russian poetry are being read all around the Internet and being used in dissertations.
Sometimes it also is beneficial to advocate for one's actual influences. One of my influences in this has been a teacher of mine named Hughlings Himwich, who was featured at one point on the cover page of USA Today. He wanted me to translate Russian poetry into English. I did that, extensively. If someone thinks that my interest in poetry is driven by narcissism or anything of the sort, it is far more rightful to point out my actual influences.
Often the parents and the teachers are at loggerheads with each other. Many parents think that what the teachers are teaching their children is wrong. Many Christian parents think that it is wrong that their children are taught evolution. Many business-oriented parents think that it is wrong that their children are taught things that they regard to be impractical. Many traditional parents think that it is wrong that their children are taught feminism or political correctness. I want to solve this problem. I want to fix this rift. I want to see teachers and parents get along. And I especially want to see the children get the best from both their parents and their teachers.
I wish the best for both my parents and my teachers. I want to reconcile this situation and see similar kinds of situations reconciled everywhere else. I want to see the children get the best from both their parents and their teachers. I am willing to honor my parents, and I will advise others to do so. But I will also look at ways in which they can correct whatever their parents believe that is wrong.
Anyone – parent, teacher, child, what have you – is capable of thinking and doing wrong things. The correct solution is not to disrespect either but to correct their errors while keeping their best interests in mind. And I sincerely hope that many other people do the same thing, whoever have been their parents and whoever have been their teachers.