I myself am not a parent, so I'm not quite sure how to go about this topic.....
If you are a parent, what do you teach your children about Paganism and other religions? School-aged children surely have questions about other religions that they hear about from the kids at school - what do you tell them?
How are certain pagan aspects of your life entwined with what you teach your children about home life and interaction with nature?
I may not be asking the right questions, so wherever the topic of 'raising children in a pagan family' leads you to write, please share.
The premise
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3 responses:
I don't have any children of my own either, but I believe that if I did, I wouldn't keep my beliefs a secret, but if I did I would talk to them about general spirituality. I would want my babes to make their own decisions when they are old enough to understand what they are doing.
Here is my post on the issue:
http://pagan-culture.blogspot.com/2009/07/children-and-spirituality.html
Of my beliefs, I have not actually taught them to my children, I answer their questions when asked. As for what they believe or don't believe in religious matters, I have left it to them to find their own way. They attend an international school, so are exposed to many different religions and cultures. Tolerance to what others believe is also intergrated into their social learning lessons. They haven't really any firm beliefs (other than in themselves justnow, being teenagers), whenever they do, as long as they are faithful to themselves and those around them, that's fine with me.
From Verda:
Forty years ago we raised our children as non-Christian Quakers (The Religious Society of Friends). First, Quakers have no dogma and no preachers. It is an old practice where worship is silent. They have an extremely long history of non-violent activism across all ethical fronts. Quakers also believe that religious choices must be made from an informed point of view and to that end they provide educational forums on all religions, Christian or otherwise. They believe that this is the only way for children to make such vital decisions. Quakers also uphold the belief that we must teach our children by example only. Proselytizing is forbidden (to the extent that Quakers actually forbid anything). This gave us an exceptional framework for raising children. Because I am a devout environmentalist, ecologist, and ethnobotanist, not to mention a die-hard gardener, it was easy to bring my children into nature.
I believe that the best of human values that sweep across the issues of our human family and the natural world are the foundations of many faiths and practices and aren't unique to the Neo-Pagan/Goddess movement. Even the Abrahamic holy books speak openly of spirits and mystical practices, as well as easily recognized shamanic and paranormal events. We can find the character Wisdom in the book of Proverbs and the Apocrypha. She stood at their god's side as an equal creator during Creation. And the story of Elijah and Elias is simply top-drawer Pagan.
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