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breastfeeding in church

Christianity

Breastfeeding in church, a sin?

A breastfeeding mom in Virginia was told to leave her church’s sanctuary and go into a private room because “the church does not allow breastfeeding without a cover because it could make men, teenagers or new churchgoers uncomfortable.”

The Washington Post reported that Annie Peguero, mother of two, whose husband is on deployment, “posted her own livestream video on Facebook — with her baby, Autumn, at her breast — telling viewers what happened and urging women to stand up for breast-feeding.” Despite that Virginia law allows for mothers to breastfeed anywhere, the church clearly did not know about the mother’s rights. This isn’t the first time a mother breastfeeding became a national news story. A church in Dallas, TX in 2014 became the center of a social media debate about breastfeeding in church.

Currently, an individual can go into a church packing a gun in Virginia, but for some, a mother packing a nursing boob for a baby is just too much.

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Culture

Breastfeeding in church?

breastfeeding in church

I’m a pretty big proponent of moms doing their thing. Moms deal with long hours, spending most of their time with kids, and generally have a thankless job. They work hard for no or little pay!  Mamas are great. My wife is one. Some of my best friends are moms.

Apparently in Fort Worth, Texas, a mama battle is brewing. It breaks my heart that folks can be so harsh on the mamas. And, the battle surrounds a church, of all places. WFAA.com reports:

Three simple letters — “Ick” — set off a firestorm after being published as part of a response to a question about the propriety of breastfeeding during a church service… The article — titled Distracting Behavior — resulted in hundreds of e-mails, phone calls, and Facebook posts bashing Molly Forthright’s “For What It’s Worth” advice column in the March issue of Fort Worth Magazine.

“I was in church last Sunday, and a woman in the row ahead of me began breastfeeding halfway through the service,” said the person seeking advice in the article. “I’m a big proponent of women breastfeeding their babies, but it was very distracting during a time that I wanted to focus on the sermon … What is proper church etiquette?”

How did the columnist respond?

“Ick. I know that many think a woman providing nourishment to her baby is a beautiful and natural thing, but putting on a show in the house of the Lord is unacceptable in my book,” Forthright replied. “In fact, I can’t think of a place in public where I would want to ever see that.”

The fallout from breastfeeding-gate brought a threat of a nurse-in outside the magazine’s headquarters in Fort Worth.

It is not clear the circumstances surrounding breastfeeding in this church. As a pastor, I don’t have a problem with breastfeeding in church. Moms have fed their children in my church. Usually, moms are pretty discreet about it.  Our church features comfortable “gliders” for nursing moms.  I can only imagine in Jesus’ day, when moms were in the temple, mothers had to breastfeed when their baby was hungry. I see breastfeeding in church as a mom doing what moms do.

What do you think? Is breastfeeding in church what mothers should do? Or, thou shall not breastfeed in thy church? 

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