QUESTION:
My son claims to be reincarnated from a man named Ion Antonescu. First of all, Ion Antonescu was the Romanian dictator who aligned with Hitler and killed up to 300,000 Jews. Although my son said he takes a “neutral” stance on the fact civilians were murdered, he reveres Antonescu. He has also expressed fascist beliefs. He has no friends and it not influenced by peer pressure AT ALL. He also had an incomprehensible level on knowledge about World War II and history in general. I actually believe his claim, since I have always believed in reincarnation myself and the two do look alike, including the fact that they have identical ears. I would like to know if this is a cause for concern. My son is fifteen. I believe his claim because he has a lot of amazing, intuitive knowledge about Antonescu. He was interested in Romanian history even before this. I am concerned because my son favors the Axis powers and is "neutral" towards the Holocaust on his best days. He is proud to be reincarnated from a mass murderer. My son says Antonescu was a "holy" man and that finding out he is reincarnated from him is the only thing keeping him from going into a deep depression (due to other circumstances in his life). He is a good student and has no behavioral problems. How should I handle this?
ADVICE/SUGGESTIONS:
Not a typical run-of-the-mill parenting concern; however, every kid goes through bizarre stages at some point in their childhood and teen years, causing the parent to mentally voice, "what planet are you from?"....... The younger the child is, the more frequent and more bizarre the phases he goes through--and each odd stage is usually quite transient as well. His being a good student with no behavior problems--plus, you mentioned no other strange, malevolent idiosyncrasies related to his "reincarnation"-- then my advice is downplay it and don't give it too much of the "time of day." If a parent gives attention to an oddity such as this, this kind of phase may last longer. Negative attention is attention, nonetheless. But I would keep tabs on ANY unusual behaviors. If your concern remains, I would
1. Get down on paper the things he says or does regarding his claim, and if he initiates a conversation, feel free to just listen and periodically ask open-ended questions; in addition, I would:
2. In confidence---email or meet with a handful of trustworthy adults who know your son and are in contact with him (teachers, youth leaders, etc)--asking them to let you know if they have noticed any strange verbal or physical behaviors on your son's part. You may or may not share any more details than that with them. If they do report back to you that they HAVE noticed several bizarre goings-on, you may eventually want to contact a trusted biblical pastor friend or a mental health professional, who has dealt with "past life memories" of children.
