Comments on: A Report On The State Of My Religion-Deprived Children http://www.agnosticmom.com/2006/05/08/a-report-on-state-of-my-religion-deprived-children/ Raising a Healthy Family Without Religion. Tue, 06 Jan 2009 07:39:09 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: Wesley Williams http://www.agnosticmom.com/2006/05/08/a-report-on-state-of-my-religion-deprived-children/#comment-27050 Wesley Williams Sun, 01 Apr 2007 20:34:05 +0000 http://www.agnosticmom.com/?p=129#comment-27050 they sound like great kids. But one of these days they're going to wonder about why they're here, it sounds like blake has already started down that road, and that's not a question you can answer. God has a purpose for all of us, and they're gonna start feeling it. they sound like great kids. But one of these days they’re going to wonder about why they’re here, it sounds like blake has already started down that road, and that’s not a question you can answer. God has a purpose for all of us, and they’re gonna start feeling it.

]]> By: Janet http://www.agnosticmom.com/2006/05/08/a-report-on-state-of-my-religion-deprived-children/#comment-4193 Janet Wed, 04 Oct 2006 23:19:16 +0000 http://www.agnosticmom.com/?p=129#comment-4193 I am 47 and was raised without religion by wonderful parents. By any religions standard of what a good person is, kind, giving, loving and honest, my parents were the best. I, and my siblings, are successful, happy parents raising children in the same way. What a joy to be able to see the world free of dogma, negativity and opression and enjoy the glory of human potential, ownership of ones own thoughts and actions and belief in ones own ability to influence ones own life. Yes, there were times we felt we were outcasts, we longed for the escapism of blaming or appealing to a higher power. Yet we found our spirituality in our hearts, in nature, the world around us and our fellow humans. You are great parents. Your children are surely blessed to be raised free to find their own spirits. I am 47 and was raised without religion by wonderful parents. By any religions standard of what a good person is, kind, giving, loving and honest, my parents were the best. I, and my siblings, are successful, happy parents raising children in the same way. What a joy to be able to see the world free of dogma, negativity and opression and enjoy the glory of human potential, ownership of ones own thoughts and actions and belief in ones own ability to influence ones own life. Yes, there were times we felt we were outcasts, we longed for the escapism of blaming or appealing to a higher power. Yet we found our spirituality in our hearts, in nature, the world around us and our fellow humans. You are great parents. Your children are surely blessed to be raised free to find their own spirits.

]]> By: Tina http://www.agnosticmom.com/2006/05/08/a-report-on-state-of-my-religion-deprived-children/#comment-1687 Tina Wed, 28 Jun 2006 19:17:51 +0000 http://www.agnosticmom.com/?p=129#comment-1687 Speaking as another mom raising kids without a designated religion, I am in agreement with all of you here. You know, every day there are people dying for their tunnel-visioned view or hurting others because of them. I am trying to educate my kids to be open-minded in hopes that these things won't have to happen. My MIL just told me how disappointed she was in my husband and I for choosing to not follow the Christian path. I stuck up for myself for the first time and it felt so good. She will have to learn to tolerate our view just as I tolerate hers. She made it clear that she thinks a religious upbringing equates with a moral upbringing. I was raised without religion and felt so "attacked" by that statment. I'm sure this will be the beginning of many comments to fly my way. Sure feels great to have so many others out there that feel as my husband and I do. Thanks. Speaking as another mom raising kids without a designated religion, I am in agreement with all of you here. You know, every day there are people dying for their tunnel-visioned view or hurting others because of them. I am trying to educate my kids to be open-minded in hopes that these things won’t have to happen. My MIL just told me how disappointed she was in my husband and I for choosing to not follow the Christian path. I stuck up for myself for the first time and it felt so good. She will have to learn to tolerate our view just as I tolerate hers. She made it clear that she thinks a religious upbringing equates with a moral upbringing. I was raised without religion and felt so “attacked” by that statment. I’m sure this will be the beginning of many comments to fly my way. Sure feels great to have so many others out there that feel as my husband and I do. Thanks.

]]> By: Mary http://www.agnosticmom.com/2006/05/08/a-report-on-state-of-my-religion-deprived-children/#comment-1089 Mary Mon, 15 May 2006 01:47:32 +0000 http://www.agnosticmom.com/?p=129#comment-1089 Hurrah for bragging! Your kids sound wonderful and well-adjusted. Happy Mother's Day, too. Hope you're having a wonderful, relaxing day. Hurrah for bragging! Your kids sound wonderful and well-adjusted. Happy Mother’s Day, too. Hope you’re having a wonderful, relaxing day.

]]> By: Tanya http://www.agnosticmom.com/2006/05/08/a-report-on-state-of-my-religion-deprived-children/#comment-1041 Tanya Tue, 09 May 2006 22:10:31 +0000 http://www.agnosticmom.com/?p=129#comment-1041 Ah! Your kids sound much like my own two. I sometimes worry about them growing up without religion but when I'm reassured that my kids aren't the only ones. I often reflect on how loving and non-judgemental my kids are. I love sharing with them the positive things about people rather than the judgemental attitudes of so many religons. Ah! Your kids sound much like my own two. I sometimes worry about them growing up without religion but when I’m reassured that my kids aren’t the only ones. I often reflect on how loving and non-judgemental my kids are. I love sharing with them the positive things about people rather than the judgemental attitudes of so many religons.

]]> By: Jason http://www.agnosticmom.com/2006/05/08/a-report-on-state-of-my-religion-deprived-children/#comment-1039 Jason Tue, 09 May 2006 16:35:07 +0000 http://www.agnosticmom.com/?p=129#comment-1039 Sounds like they're doing great! Meaning, you must be a terrific mother! It's not what you building you take them to, it's the people who raise them that make good kids! You'll hafta let us know how Blake does in the advanced classes... you hgear some many people say it's good for them, it's bad for them, stunted socially, this , that and the other... Speaking of morality in kids, though: As a side story, while baby sitting my nephews last weekend for my brother, a devout if semi-liberal Christian, I awoke to the sounds of my four-year-old nephew saying, "Shit! Shit! Shit!" and grinning from ear to ear, while his parroting little brother stood behind him going "Sith! Sith! Sith!" And while I could really care less, as my whole thing is "a word is a word is a word, it's the intent and meaning behind the words," I knew this wouldn't make he and his wife too happy. They took it better than I thought they would, getting a small chuckle out of it, but Henry did get a lecture on word-use and appropriateness! Kids crack me up! Sounds like they’re doing great! Meaning, you must be a terrific mother! It’s not what you building you take them to, it’s the people who raise them that make good kids! You’ll hafta let us know how Blake does in the advanced classes… you hgear some many people say it’s good for them, it’s bad for them, stunted socially, this , that and the other…

Speaking of morality in kids, though:
As a side story, while baby sitting my nephews last weekend for my brother, a devout if semi-liberal Christian, I awoke to the sounds of my four-year-old nephew saying, “Shit! Shit! Shit!” and grinning from ear to ear, while his parroting little brother stood behind him going “Sith! Sith! Sith!” And while I could really care less, as my whole thing is “a word is a word is a word, it’s the intent and meaning behind the words,” I knew this wouldn’t make he and his wife too happy.

They took it better than I thought they would, getting a small chuckle out of it, but Henry did get a lecture on word-use and appropriateness!

Kids crack me up!

]]> By: Pauline Brown http://www.agnosticmom.com/2006/05/08/a-report-on-state-of-my-religion-deprived-children/#comment-1036 Pauline Brown Tue, 09 May 2006 14:29:39 +0000 http://www.agnosticmom.com/?p=129#comment-1036 Hi Noell I am delighted to hear that your children are doing so well without religion. They sound wonderful. I really admire your stance, particularly given your Mormon background. It must have been very hard for you to break away and bring your children up out of the faith. As you will gather from my URL, I have been inspired to set up a blog too. I am bringing up my two children without religion, though luckily I have the support of my family and most of my husband's, both of us having been brought up without religion ourselves. Indeed, the most enthusiastic atheist I know is my mother, with whom I have endless discussions on the subject. As you will see, if you have the time to read any of my blog, I am becoming increasingly worried about the amount of religion being forced on my children at primary school. Although Britain is supposedly a secular nation, religion is coming more and more to the fore, and my children really feel that they are in the minority. Max, who’s 11, came home yesterday and told me that he had been challenged by a girl in the playground who asked him if it was true that he didn't believe in god. He said yes, and the girl said, 'oh, so you believe in the devil, then?'. He said 'no, I don't believe in him, either.' The girl then said: 'So that means you don't know the difference between right and wrong.' I was intrigued to know what Max said to that. 'I'm a humanist', he said, 'and I probably know more about right and wrong than you do.' I felt so proud, but also felt a little pang to know what Max's (good, Christian) peers think about him and about anyone else who doesn't believe in god. I am known amongst my friends and family for ranting on about all this, and often I am made to feel that I am being paranoid. However, as more and more religion creeps into schools and more and more creationist nonsense slithers onto the science curriculum, I am inclined to think that my fears are justified. There has never been a more important time to speak up for our worldview, and it really helps to know that someone with similar views to mine is out there. I am a complete novice at this blogging thing, so I hope you won't mind if I get in touch to ask your advice from time to time. Good luck with everything. Pauline Brown Hi Noell
I am delighted to hear that your children are doing so well without religion. They sound wonderful. I really admire your stance, particularly given your Mormon background. It must have been very hard for you to break away and bring your children up out of the faith.

As you will gather from my URL, I have been inspired to set up a blog too. I am bringing up my two children without religion, though luckily I have the support of my family and most of my husband’s, both of us having been brought up without religion ourselves. Indeed, the most enthusiastic atheist I know is my mother, with whom I have endless discussions on the subject.

As you will see, if you have the time to read any of my blog, I am becoming increasingly worried about the amount of religion being forced on my children at primary school. Although Britain is supposedly a secular nation, religion is coming more and more to the fore, and my children really feel that they are in the minority.

Max, who’s 11, came home yesterday and told me that he had been challenged by a girl in the playground who asked him if it was true that he didn’t believe in god. He said yes, and the girl said, ‘oh, so you believe in the devil, then?’. He said ‘no, I don’t believe in him, either.’ The girl then said: ‘So that means you don’t know the difference between right and wrong.’ I was intrigued to know what Max said to that. ‘I’m a humanist’, he said, ‘and I probably know more about right and wrong than you do.’ I felt so proud, but also felt a little pang to know what Max’s (good, Christian) peers think about him and about anyone else who doesn’t believe in god.

I am known amongst my friends and family for ranting on about all this, and often I am made to feel that I am being paranoid. However, as more and more religion creeps into schools and more and more creationist nonsense slithers onto the science curriculum, I am inclined to think that my fears are justified. There has never been a more important time to speak up for our worldview, and it really helps to know that someone with similar views to mine is out there.

I am a complete novice at this blogging thing, so I hope you won’t mind if I get in touch to ask your advice from time to time.

Good luck with everything.

Pauline Brown

]]> By: Gregg100 http://www.agnosticmom.com/2006/05/08/a-report-on-state-of-my-religion-deprived-children/#comment-1028 Gregg100 Tue, 09 May 2006 00:17:02 +0000 http://www.agnosticmom.com/?p=129#comment-1028 A minor note of caution on the "gifted program". My children all went through it and it had its issues at times. One of the worst was when a particular director of the program tried to make it very "elitist" and caused a lot of problems by telling the participating kids they were "above the rest" of their classmates. We were able to get him removed and straighten out the little snobs he created but it took some effort to design and implement some humbling experiences for them. Otherwise, some of the opportunities were great and had very beneficial impacts. A minor note of caution on the “gifted program”. My children all went through it and it had its issues at times. One of the worst was when a particular director of the program tried to make it very “elitist” and caused a lot of problems by telling the participating kids they were “above the rest” of their classmates. We were able to get him removed and straighten out the little snobs he created but it took some effort to design and implement some humbling experiences for them. Otherwise, some of the opportunities were great and had very beneficial impacts.

]]> By: Jen http://www.agnosticmom.com/2006/05/08/a-report-on-state-of-my-religion-deprived-children/#comment-1025 Jen Mon, 08 May 2006 21:55:44 +0000 http://www.agnosticmom.com/?p=129#comment-1025 Awww - they sound wonderful!!! They are learning goodness from their core, and not out of fear. They're going to be strong and wonderful adults. I like hearing about them. Jen Awww - they sound wonderful!!!
They are learning goodness from their core, and not out of fear. They’re going to be strong and wonderful adults. I like hearing about them.

Jen

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