{"id":41143,"date":"2019-01-31T05:00:33","date_gmt":"2019-01-31T09:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/?p=41143"},"modified":"2019-01-28T22:52:07","modified_gmt":"2019-01-29T02:52:07","slug":"raised-my-children-without-sin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2019\/01\/raised-my-children-without-sin.html","title":{"rendered":"Raised My Children without Sin"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I recently came upon an article<\/a> that caught my attention: it was titled \u201cRaising Children without the Concept of Sin.\u201d It caught my eye because this is something I have thought about before\u2014and something I have first-hand personal experience with.<\/p>\n

The author, Julia Scheeres, writes that:<\/p>\n

\n

We were standing in line for meat pies at the Great Dickens Christmas Fair. The indoor arena south of San Francisco had been transformed into Victorian London; actors wearing top hats and crinolines roamed about wishing fairgoers \u201cHappy Christmas.\u201d As we contemplated the menu \u2014\u00a0haggis or shepherd\u2019s pie? \u2014\u00a0<\/em>a noisy band of temperance advocates marched by hoisting signs that stated, \u201cGin is Sin!\u201d<\/p>\n

As my 9-year-old daughter watched them pass, her forehead knitted, and then she looked up at me with solemn hazel eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cMama, what is sin?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n

The merriment of the fair receded and I stared at her, my brain spinning with the magnitude of her question. By failing to teach my child the meaning of the word sin, had I somehow failed to give her a moral foundation?<\/p>\n

Sin<\/em>. That tiny word still makes me cringe with residual fear. Fear of being judged unworthy. Fear of the eternal torture of hell. Fear of my father\u2019s belt.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Scheeres goes on to discuss being raised in a fundamentalist family in Indiana, and the centrality of the concept of sin to her childhood. Scheeres\u2019 narrative felt familiar because I\u2019ve been there: I realized, around a year ago, that I have been raising my children without the concept of sin. I realized this while trying to explain to my older daughter, who is the same age as Scheeres\u2019 daughter, what her grandparents believe.<\/p>\n

I quickly found myself stuck. I was trying to explain to my daughter the gospel message so central to her grandparents\u2019 worldview. My husband and I are atheists: neither of us believe in the existence of a supernatural realm or divine beings. We don\u2019t go to church. While my children know that other people ascribe to various religions\u2014we have a varied community\u2014-religious beliefs had never been a significant presence in their lives.<\/p>\n

I may be raising my children without<\/em> religion, but I still want them to know about<\/em> it. Religious beliefs play a significant role in most people\u2019s lives\u2014and in our society. Understanding that is important. So there I was, attempting to explain to my daughter the underlying principles of what evangelical Christians call \u201cthe gospel.\u201d<\/p>\n

During that conversation I realized that somehow, completely on accident, I had raised my children without exposure to the concept of sin.\u00a0My daughter didn\u2019t know what it was.\u00a0<\/em>More than that: the very idea<\/em> of sin did not make sense to her. It did not fit her frame of reference. So, too, I realized in that moment how much distance even I had achieved from the idea. My daughter was right\u2014it didn\u2019t<\/em> make sense. How did this once seem so intuitive?<\/p>\n

I did not worry, while processing this, that I had left my children without a moral compass. I haven\u2019t. They know how to tell right from wrong. They know about fairness, kindness, empathy, and compassion. They know about social responsibility. They believe in making the world a better place, in pursuing justice, and in working toward equity. They hold strong values and have a solid grounding. Sin simply isn\u2019t relevant<\/em>.<\/p>\n

My children know about bad. They know about evil. Sin, though, is something different. Sin is a transgression of divine law. My children have never believed in divine law. They have never been exposed to the concept. I don\u2019t believe in it myself. That day, I struggled to explain to my daughter why anyone would believe that whether one\u2019s actions transgress divine law matters more than whether one\u2019s actions cause another harm.<\/p>\n

A few months ago, my daughter launched into an long rant on the limitations of our society\u2019s social safety system. She was impassioned. We need to do more for the homeless and the precariously housed, she said, for those with limited resources and those struggling survive on unpredictable work and low wages. Her rant came from her lived experiences. She has friends who have been evicted, who have been homeless, who have had their family\u2019s cars repossessed. She has watched how hard their parents work.<\/p>\n

Where does sin fit this conversation? It doesn\u2019t.<\/em> Sin, I\u2019ve come to believe, is a distraction. It gets in the way of forming a moral code based not on the whims of a divinity but on the reality of the human experience. It makes moral taboos more important than social responsibility. My children are better off for having been raised without it.<\/p>\n

I have a <\/b>Patreon<\/b><\/a>! Please support my writing!\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sin, I’ve come to believe, is a distraction. It gets in the way of forming a moral code based not on the whims of a divinity but on the reality of the human experience. It makes moral taboos more important than social responsibility. My children are better off for having been raised without it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Click through to read more!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":845,"featured_media":41251,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,108],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-evangelicalism-fundamentalism","category-parenting"],"yoast_head":"\nRaised My Children without Sin<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sin, I've come to believe, is a distraction. My children are better off for having been raised without it.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2019\/01\/raised-my-children-without-sin.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Raised My Children without Sin\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sin, I've come to believe, is a distraction. My children are better off for having been raised without it.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2019\/01\/raised-my-children-without-sin.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Love, Joy, Feminism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-01-31T09:00:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-01-29T02:52:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/166\/2019\/01\/bible-1058289_1920.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"512\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Libby Anne\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Libby Anne\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2019\/01\/raised-my-children-without-sin.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2019\/01\/raised-my-children-without-sin.html\",\"name\":\"Raised My Children without Sin\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-01-31T09:00:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-01-29T02:52:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#\/schema\/person\/fae465c1bbb5cbdf26c9e73bfd1b73d2\"},\"description\":\"Sin, I've come to believe, is a distraction. My children are better off for having been raised without it.\u00a0\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2019\/01\/raised-my-children-without-sin.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2019\/01\/raised-my-children-without-sin.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2019\/01\/raised-my-children-without-sin.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Raised My Children without Sin\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/\",\"name\":\"Love, Joy, Feminism\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#\/schema\/person\/fae465c1bbb5cbdf26c9e73bfd1b73d2\",\"name\":\"Libby Anne\",\"description\":\"Libby Anne grew up in a large evangelical homeschool family highly involved in the Christian Right. College turned her world upside down, and she is today an atheist, a feminist, and a progressive. She blogs about leaving religion, her experience with the Christian Patriarchy and Quiverfull movements, the detrimental effects of the \\\"purity culture,\\\" the contradictions of conservative politics, and the importance of feminism.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/author\/libby\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Raised My Children without Sin","description":"Sin, I've come to believe, is a distraction. My children are better off for having been raised without it.\u00a0","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2019\/01\/raised-my-children-without-sin.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Raised My Children without Sin","og_description":"Sin, I've come to believe, is a distraction. My children are better off for having been raised without it.\u00a0","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2019\/01\/raised-my-children-without-sin.html","og_site_name":"Love, Joy, Feminism","article_published_time":"2019-01-31T09:00:33+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-01-29T02:52:07+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":512,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/166\/2019\/01\/bible-1058289_1920.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Libby Anne","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Libby Anne","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2019\/01\/raised-my-children-without-sin.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2019\/01\/raised-my-children-without-sin.html","name":"Raised My Children without Sin","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-01-31T09:00:33+00:00","dateModified":"2019-01-29T02:52:07+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#\/schema\/person\/fae465c1bbb5cbdf26c9e73bfd1b73d2"},"description":"Sin, I've come to believe, is a distraction. My children are better off for having been raised without it.\u00a0","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2019\/01\/raised-my-children-without-sin.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2019\/01\/raised-my-children-without-sin.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2019\/01\/raised-my-children-without-sin.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Raised My Children without Sin"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/","name":"Love, Joy, Feminism","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#\/schema\/person\/fae465c1bbb5cbdf26c9e73bfd1b73d2","name":"Libby Anne","description":"Libby Anne grew up in a large evangelical homeschool family highly involved in the Christian Right. College turned her world upside down, and she is today an atheist, a feminist, and a progressive. She blogs about leaving religion, her experience with the Christian Patriarchy and Quiverfull movements, the detrimental effects of the \"purity culture,\" the contradictions of conservative politics, and the importance of feminism.","sameAs":["http:\/\/patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/author\/libby"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/845"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41143"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41143\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}