Is it necessary to know everything? Our default position is that we want to be presented with all information and options and for the decision to be left to our judgment. But do I need to watch terrorist propaganda to judge it as wrong? Do I need to darken my soul on the dark net to know that what’s said on forums is repugnant?

Part of the job of parents is to act in the best interest of their children. We give them the gift of Baptism as infants even before they can choose. It’s not that Baptism is something that we choose, it’s because it is a gift that God wants to give to us. We shield them from the stresses of a family budget under strain, a career filled with uncertainty, and a world full of hatred and meanness.

All these things we do to ensure that they are wholesome. We want them to be innocent to the ugliness of the world around us, and to know only those things that are good. This is not willful unknowing, it is knowing the right things. It is a focus on the things that are good and pure and true, rather than filling their minds and hearts with fear and anxiety about things that they have no control over.

This is not to minimize the reality of evil, or the challenges that we face. It is to avoid unnecessary and gratuitous time focused on the wrong thing. Attorneys, judges, and juries need to look at pictures of crime scenes and hear hours of testimony; I do not. I need to work on my career or reconfigure expenses; my children do not.

The result is a person that others may consider naive. Or perhaps the result is a person who has spent years filling their minds with things bright and beautiful, who has clear knowledge of who they are. Perhaps the result is a change in society, one person at a time. Perhaps the result is resilience.

Too much time is focused on the darkness in the world and not enough on developing the character of truly wholesome people. What we hope for our children is possible in our lives. We just have to choose to not steep in the darkness.