Saturday, April 25, 2009

My Appreciation of Another's Open Mind.

I LOVE Secular Parents post:http://secularparenting.wordpress.com/

Here's why - usually, when people talk about god - they become a little fanatic and crazy - whether they are believers or atheists. Many people seem compelled to force others to agree with them about religion. I guess it's all about conversion. The religious fanatics want to convert others to "save them" and prove their own superiority. Many atheists want to convert others to affirm their own belief systems, and they often do this through ridiculing faith.

Personally, I do not believe in god - at least, I am pretty sure I don't. Not in the way s/he is typically conceptualized. I believe that there are things in the universe of which I cannot conceive & therefore, something like god could exist. I just happen to doubt it. However, I was raised Catholic, and I am from a loving Catholic family: no one judges, everyone is tolerant. I learned life's lessons through parables & other stories. Religion-in-moderation helped shape me for the better, I think.

While I do not plan to raise my children (if I have any) in a religion, I do want to use stories from different world religions to teach morals & give my child(ren) multiple perspectives. I think religion, like everything else, can be good in moderation. I applaud the writer of Secular Parent for her understanding, and for the way she is teaching her girls tolerance of the perspectives & differing beliefs that they will encounter in life.

3 comments:

Gina Kelly said...

Well said! This is something I think about a lot - I have friends that are religious, and those that are very anti-religious, and I often find the anti-religious friends acting as intolerant as they accuse the religious folks of being! It's kind of maddening - I wish we could all just mind our own business about our personal religious beliefs and stop judging each other.

Wendy Manganiello said...

Very well said! I couldn't agree more! I wish everyone would be more tolerant and just mind their own business!! Personally, 12 years of Catholic school, ultra-religious parents, and the many beliefs of Catholicism that I don't agree with has totally turned me off to organized religion. However, I still believe in God and find it difficult to teach my children about God when we never go to church :) I can't wait to read the link you posted!

Copper said...

You do definitely want to teach J about religions, just from a literature standpoint. I have several friends who believe what you do, have wonderful children, but then they start reading books and have NO frame of reference. (Also, it's just good to know about different religions to know where people are coming from, but that's my two pesos.)