The Freedom-Builder Mindset Vs. The Kaino-Oppressive Mindset

There are two mindsets that are often at odds, misunderstood, and mislabeled.

In reality, Ms. Rivers was only trying to build a fair system to protect the girl from having her freedom taken away from her.

Christians,

There are two mindsets you see at conflict with each in society that are often mislabeled and misunderstood.  One is being called the freedom-builder mindset here.  It seeks to create a structure that protects freedom with the help of formal rules and consequences where freedom was previously being taken away unfairly.  The other mindset, previously coined on this blog, is the kaino-oppressive mindset. This mindset seems set on getting rid of unfair rules but actually seeks to take away freedom from the innocent and more vulnerable by removing formal rules that are good and attacking authority figures that try to uphold them.  The first mindset is often misunderstood as oppressive because it often tries to erect formal rules and the latter mindset is often misunderstood as liberating because it often tries to knock down formal rules. Both are often mislabeled.  Consider the following scenario to see an example of how these mindsets work, how they are at odds with each other, and how they are often viewed by others. 

A girl tries to sit at a picnic table at recess when a group of children yell at her and tell her they were going to sit there.  She politely asks if she can sit with them, but they scream at her that they don’t want her sitting with them.  Ms. Rivers, the school’s new nurse who was asked to do recess duty, notices the situation and asks the group of children to explain to her why they shouldn't be yelling at someone who politely asks to sit with them. One of the children gives a brief answer, and another says they will stop yelling at her, but then they all agree that they will still not sit with her. Ms. Rivers then tells the children that they will need to take turns.  She tells them that the girl closest to the table can sit there today and that the others can sit there tomorrow. The group of children who didn’t want to sit with the girl says they never had to follow that rule before, and a few of them start trying to sit at the picnic table.  Ms. Rivers firmly tells them that anyone who does not follow that rule will lose five minutes of recess time.  The next day, a classroom teacher comes out to speak with Ms. Rivers.  He says a group of students brought him some complaints. He also says some "concerned" parents had called him about “all the rules and punishments” she was talking about the other day and that this situation isn’t going to sit well with Principal Woods.  The classroom teacher continues by saying that their school doesn't support "old-fashioned" ideas.

Now, the classroom teacher would likely be described as “liberal” in the positive sense of the word by the people behind him because he is trying to confront an authority figure who is seen by people such as the parents as being too controlling.  Ms. Rivers would be called “conservative” in the negative sense of the word [these words aren’t being discussed as political terms here] by people such as the parents because she is seen as pushing unfair rules and consequences on the group of children from an authority position.  In reality, Ms. Rivers was only trying to build a fair system to protect the girl from having her freedom taken away from her. On the other hand, the classroom teacher is actually helping people take advantage of someone by trying to dismantle the system that had been built by Ms. Rivers.  In other words, Ms. Rivers has the freedom-builder mindset while the classroom teacher has the kaino-oppressive mindset.