Seeing Is Believing?

I came across something yesterday about imparting religious or spiritual beliefs to our kids that really resonated with me.  As many of you know, I follow the blog "Single Dad Laughing" (SDL).  Well, yesterday, he posted an excerpt from his book, The Real Dad Rules, about how to share our beliefs with our kids. His thesis is that you shouldn't teach your kids what to believe - you should teach them how to believe.

I discussed this issue when we were examining Robert Epstein's article about what makes a good parent, and his top 10 areas of parental competency, which included religion. I discussed why I disagreed with that in the post, "Losing My Religion," but I also shared a viewpoint similar to SDL's. If you haven't had a chance to check out that post, please do.

Meeting Our Goals

Just wanted to say a quick thank you to all of you who commented on the religion post over the past couple of days (and the other ones too, of course).  That's exactly what I was hoping to accomplish with this blog - putting something out there that was thought-provoking enough to get people talking. I also want all sorts of diverse viewpoints to be included because that makes for a richer discussion, and it feels great when I see that happening. 

I appreciate your taking the time to share your thoughts with all of us.  If you haven't checked out the post and the comments yet, please do!

Tune in tomorrow!

Losing My Religion

Well, we’re finally here: the stickiest subject (for me, anyway) of the ten parental competency areas. Researchers list religious involvement or upbringing as No. 9 on the Top 10 list.

This is a tough subject for me because I often feel caught between my own beliefs and the warped version of them that is sometimes found in what we refer to as “organized religion.”

I should note that I was raised a Baptist. I attended a Baptist school from kindergarten through fifth grade. I attended church from a young age (maybe 6?) until I was 20, and was very involved in choir and Sunday school and youth group.