I am currently reading an amazing book. Here is the description from their website..
Parenting Beyond Belief is a book for loving and thoughtful parents who wish to raise their children without religion.
I live in the Bible belt where one of the first questions that you are asked is what church do you belong to. To me that just starts off on the wrong foot. What if you don't go to church, what if you don't go to a church that they approve of? These are not just random questions that I thought up. I have had these situations come up.
I want to have my kids choose their own beliefs. I don't want them to feel like they are being forced into a religion. I want them to feel free to question and debate what they are learning. I want them to have the confidence that it was their decision to choose or not choose a religion to follow. I want them to feel free to 'try' different religions. I want them to feel free to read as much as they can on any religion that is out there. I was lucky that I was able to talk with my dad about certain aspects of his religion when I was growing up. I wasn't able to do this in my junior year philosophy class though. When I tried to think for myself, I was given everyone's Favorite grade.. an F. What I took from that class was that I was not an individual. I was not allowed to think for myself. That I MUST conform to someone else's beliefs.
That is one of the reasons that I chose to homeschool. I don't want my kids to feel like they have to conform. I want them to think for themselves. I want them feel comfortable to debate ANY subject that they want. I want them to not fear asking questions.
If you are struggling with any of the these same issues I would recommend that you get this book from the library. I am only on chapter 2 but I feel like I have already found a valuable resource. I feel like I have found a book that describes me, that suits my family. It just fit. This is a book that I highly recommend.
6 comments:
I am going on a HUNT this week to find this book! THANKS so much for sharing!
www.fairiemom78.blogspot.com
I will look for this book. We are fellow residents of the Bible Belt. :-) Though my husband and I are believers, we choose not to participate in organized religion. And I am having difficulty offering helpful guidance to my agnostic daughter. I definitely think we could glean a lot from this. Thanks!
Thanks for the book suggestion. I will look into. I look forward to see how you procede from here. :)
Juno
I am eager to hear how that book was and I'm going to look for it for us. I believe in bits of everything buddhism and paganism are at the top of the list.
I don't believe we have a bible belt in Australia but we do have those people who are looking to convert everyone they meet.
We don't live in the bible belt, so we never really experienced much of this... until we started homeschooling, that is. Apparently, the the assumption most people make upon hearing that we homeschool is that we're doing it for religious reasons.
I agree with you completely about letting kids find their own way to religion and spirituality, or not. I'll have to check this out. Thanks.
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