{"id":195,"date":"2011-12-20T11:27:00","date_gmt":"2011-12-20T15:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2011\/12\/atheism-through-the-holidays-part-2-what-to-do-about-baby-jesus\/"},"modified":"2012-08-10T00:28:30","modified_gmt":"2012-08-10T04:28:30","slug":"atheism-through-the-holidays-part-2-what-to-do-about-baby-jesus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2011\/12\/atheism-through-the-holidays-part-2-what-to-do-about-baby-jesus.html","title":{"rendered":"Atheism through the holidays, part 2: What to do about baby Jesus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

My parents homeschooled me in part to \u201cshelter\u201d me \u2013 to keep me from what they considered \u201cbad influences.\u201d They carefully monitored what movies we watched, who we were friends with, what we read and learned, and where we went or what we saw. The goal was to raise us to share their beliefs, unadulterated by potential corruption from ideas and beliefs they considered \u201cwrong.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

Having been raised this way, I have to avoid falling into the same pattern. Sometimes it\u2019s tempting to think that I need to shield Sally from any mention of God or religion, to \u201cshelter\u201d her from the theistic beliefs I personally believe to be \u201cwrong.\u201d Except that while my parents\u2019 goal was to raise a Christian daughter, my goal is not to raise an atheist daughter. My goal is to raise a daughter who is open minded, a critical thinker, and able to choose for herself what she believes. And that, quite simply, is why I\u2019m not afraid of baby Jesus. <\/span>
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

My goal as a parent is not to close Sally\u2019s mind, it\u2019s to open it. I will never tell her what to believe. I will tell her what I<\/em> believe, and that she will need to choose her own beliefs. And in that vein, I plan to expose her to a variety of different religious traditions. We will read books about world religions, learn the mythology of different religions past and present, and probably even visit different houses of worship. We will go to international festivals and learn about different people groups\u2019 traditions and beliefs. <\/span><\/p>\n

The other day Sally and I passed a large manger scene display in a store. She asked what it was, and I told her, quickly because we were in a hurry, that it was a manger scene. In the future I\u2019ll tell her that the manger scene is part of a story some people believe about Christmas, a story about a special baby born in a barn and shepherds and kings who came to visit him. Children hear many stories: Jack and the beanstalk, Thomas the tank engine, Harry Potter, Peter Rabbit, etc. Similarly, every religion has its own stories, its own mythology. I\u2019m not going to shield her from the stories, I\u2019m just not going to tell her they\u2019re real. <\/span><\/p>\n

Have you ever noticed that if you hide something from kids, they\u2019re suddenly especially interested in it? Sex, for instance. The more you try to hide it, the more kids are curious. And so, even if I wanted to shelter Sally from any mention of religion \u2013 which I don\u2019t \u2013 it would probably backfire. Suddenly religion would be this really fascinating thing because <\/em>it\u2019s forbidden. If I forever whisked her away from manger scenes and refused to answer her questions in an attempt to keep her ignorant of them, she would almost certainly become more <\/em>fascinated and more <\/em>determined to learn about this thing her mommy is hiding. <\/span><\/p>\n

The truth is, we live in a nation where the vast, vast majority of people are religious, and the vast, vast majority of them are Christian. Sally will come in contact with religion in all sorts of ways as she grows up, and that\u2019s not a problem. But because of this I would argue that in order to function well in our very religious world some degree of religious literacy is necessary. If I want Sally to be able to understand those around her, whether Christian or Muslim or Jewish or what have you, she needs to have some understanding and knowledge of religion. <\/span><\/p>\n

I will teach Sally about the various traditions that surround Christmas, both religious and secular, and, yes, pagan. We will delve into the history and the richness of tradition. I love the ways in which holiday celebrations tie us to our forebears through common practice and common custom. If I lived in a Muslim country, I would teach Sally the history and roots of Ramadan, or if we lived in Israel I would do the same with Purim, etc. And actually, I\u2019ll probably teach her about those religious holidays as well even as I teach her about the history, beliefs, and traditions of different religions. We already have one picture book on world religions, and we will purchase more as time goes on. We may even make crafts or foods based on these holidays, or try out some of their traditions just for fun. It\u2019s the same with Christmas. <\/span><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t yet have a lot of experience with explaining different religions or religious traditions to Sally, because she\u2019s still young. I don\u2019t think she has a concept of \u201cgod\u201d yet. As time goes on, though, I anticipate using the phrase \u201csome people believe\u201d a lot. \u201cSome people believe that the world was made by an all powerful being they call \u2018God.'\u201d And so on. When it comes to Christmas, I will need to explain that \u201csome people believe that an all powerful being they call \u2018God\u2019 had a son, and this son became a human being and was born on earth two thousand years ago, and they celebrate his birthday on Christmas.\u201d\u00a0 Then, if she asks what I think, I\u2019ll tell her that I think it\u2019s just a story. <\/span><\/p>\n

Am I worried about this confusing her? Not really. The \u201csome people believe\u201d line won\u2019t just be used to tell Sally about what Christians believe, but also what Muslims, Jews, or Hindus believe. We\u2019ll read loads of religious mythology, from the ancient Roman mythology to Hindu mythology to Catholic stories of saints\u2019 lives. My goal is for Sally to learn about the different religious traditions in a way that avoids giving any one of them special footing. There are many religions, many religious holidays, and many religious mythologies. And from there, Sally can make up her own mind. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Christmas season, then, serves as an occasion to learn about Christian traditions, history, and beliefs. Given that Hanukkah occurs around the same time, it can serve as a similar impetus for learning about Jewish traditions, history, and beliefs. And given the holiday atmosphere in general and the time out of school, it might be an excellent time to learn about religious holidays in general. I\u2019m not opposed to letting Sally make an advent calendar if she wants to any more than I am opposed to letting her play the traditional Hanukkah Driedel game<\/a>. The holidays, then, can serve as a time for religious education <\/em>rather than religious<\/em> indoctrination<\/em>. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My parents homeschooled me in part to \u201cshelter\u201d me \u2013 to keep me from what they considered \u201cbad influences.\u201d They carefully monitored what movies we watched, who we were friends with, what we read and learned, and where we went or what we saw. The goal was to raise us to share their beliefs, unadulterated […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":845,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[107,187],"class_list":["post-195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-atheism","tag-holidays","tag-parenting-without-god"],"yoast_head":"\nAtheism through the holidays, part 2: What to do about baby Jesus<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"My parents homeschooled me in part to "shelter" me - to keep me from what they considered "bad influences." 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