How to Respond When Your Child is Rejected Because of Her Atheism

What do you do when your child, raised as an atheist, tells you her friend can’t play with her anymore because of their religious differences?

That’s the question Amy Dickinson attempted to answer in her “Ask Amy” column yesterday, and I’d say she did an excellent job:

You should explain that some people are afraid of others who are different — or have different ideas — than they have. Tell her that it’s not personal and that you know it hurts, and that one answer she can give to her classmate is, “I know your parents don’t want you to be friends with me, but my parents say I can be friends with everybody.”

Beautiful. Teach the child to counter prejudice with kindness. It’s just that simple — and an idea some religious people can’t grasp.

(Image via Shutterstock. Thanks to everyone for the link)