A Funny Thing Happened.

I had a most interesting lunch with two of my friends today and to say the lunch did not go as I had envisioned it would. Basically, what my lunch turned into was a "Religious Intervention" and I was the Intervenee.

This is how it played out:

Statement by me:
Yeah, we are having some "issues" at home with a Monster. I am thinking about hitting up the local Buddhist Temple to see if it could bring some balance into our lives.

What followed:
Very long discussion of how I was not giving my kids all the opportunities that are out there in life because they do not have religion in their lives. And Blogger friends, please take note of this part...SEVERAL TIMES I was told how LIBERAL, yes LIBERAL I am! How I wish so many of you had been there to hear it:)

This is who I am.
I am a non-believer. I do not believe in a defined God. I do not follow the teaching of any religion. I was raised Roman Catholic and was confirmed and married by an Episcopal Priest and I have had all three of my children Baptized in the Episcopal Church(Husband is Episcopal). For most of my adult life I have searched for a religion that I believed in. I am a very spiritual person, just not religious. In my journey, I have studied many religions that include but are not limited to Catholicism, Islam, Judaism, Mormonism, Jainism and Buddhism. I have taken many religion classes in college and even spent time at a Catholic University. The bottom line is, I don't believe what the are teaching and therefore, I do not teach it to my children. There have been several times since my children have been born that we have gone to church regularly as a family. However after a few months of trying to believe, I realize that what my children are hearing are not things I believe and therefore they are not "lessons" I want my children learn.

I do not understand why it is so difficult for people understand why I do not want children to be brought up being taught things that I think are lies. Are other parents asked to teach their children things they don't agree with or is it just me? What if I were Jewish and my husband Christian, would one of us not be lying to our children and ourselves if we raised them in one or both those religions?

This is how I raise my children. I raise them with the knowledge that I have of the world. I do this in a way that I feel is age appropriate and often let them lead their learning. My children have asked, have learned and celebrate many different religious and cultural traditions. And I am okay with that. I think my children are growing up with the knowledge that there are many different beliefs and none of them are wrong, just different. And as they grow-up and learn more either through their own studies or from friends and family, they will be free to explore what they wish. I will not discourage or stop them from that path...well, I might if it were a scary cult:)

One of the last questions I was asked today was what if I am wrong? What if I am wrong and Christianity is right and I face Jesus at the Gates of Heaven, what will I do? I answered that I would look at Jesus and tell him I was wrong and I believe, through my studies, that Jesus will forgive me and allow me into heaven. I also believe that he would accept my children.

I hope that their is a "God" an "after-life" but as of now I cannot say I believe that. I will not stop searching for answers nor will I change the way I raise my children. I believe with all my heart and mind that knowledge is the best thing I can give my children. The desire to search for it and never stop looking. The best thing we are given in this world is an abundance knowledge, I believe it is a tragedy not to see it.