Raising a Child Without Religion, or Faith

[rug]

May 16th, 2013 at 4:05 pm
Brian Gresko

Every two or three blocks on the avenues of downtown Brooklyn, a big old stone church rises from the ranks of the brownstones. A couple of weeks ago, my little boy Felix pulled his trike to the curb and squinted at the steeple of one.

“What’s that castle, Da-da?”

“It’s not a castle, it’s a church.”

“What’s a church?”

http://www.babble.com/dad/raising-a-child-without-religion-or-faith/?cmp=ELP%7Cbbl%7C%7CYahooShine%7C%7CInHouse%7C052013%7CLosingMyReligion%7C%7CfamE%7C

[cleanhippie]

1. ...is the best thing one can do for a child.

And instead give them the tools to think critically. YMMV.

The link will not load for me.

[rug]

2. The link works for me, although I got a pop-up for a survey.

You can try going to www.babble.com and type in the author's name, "Brian Gresko", in the search bar to get to the article.

The article is very personal and not amenable to a sound bite. in any event, this sentence struck me:

And while I don’t think anyone should choose their children’s religion for them, obviously we raise our children in an environment that we select and which impacts them and shapes their belief system.

Children can never be immunized from the beliefs, opinions and biases of their parents, whether those beliefs, opinions and biases are political, religious, irreligious, antireligious or gustatory.

In the end, no child ever goes through life pure and unsullied, guided only by the light of reason (assuming that is the particular virtue the parent wants the child to adopt).

[cleanhippie]

3. I cannot argue with much of what you say, except that what you imply is not what I said.

It's not about keep religion away from children, especially the beliefs of the parents. It's about teaching our children HOW to think, not WHAT to think. And the dominant religions of the world right now teach children WHAT to think. Again, YMMV.

[rug]

4. I don't think we're very far apart on this.

[cleanhippie]

5. Could be a first!