Friday, February 11, 2011

Religion - Something Parents Often Have to Address

I grew up raised Lutheran. Okay, let's be honest, my parents were those parents that dropped their kids off at Sunday School and then went about their errands while we learned about the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Occasionally, my mom would have us attend service ... which would typically result in my sister and I holding in our giggles during the hymnals (because I can't sing ... but at least I tried.)

My dad rarely attended church -- probably because he came from a fairly religious family and I think it was his way of rebelling a little from that. After leaving the parental nest, I haven't really attended an organized religion function, such as service. Now, I think I've mentioned before that I actually have a religious studies minor and took a plethora of classes in college to help expose myself to the various world religions.

I consider myself a very spiritual person, who believes in a higher-being (and I happen to refer to the higher-being as God). However, I am not a fan of organized religion, and I like the Buddhist philosophy. But as K gets older, I begin to wonder how we'll address the question about God when K starts to hear things from other kids or hears something on TV. I'm not sure how we'll approach it, but I think we'll try to introduce our children to all the varieties of religions so they can choose the path that best suits them.

This decision not to follow an organized religion as a family has put us in a couple of precarious situations. When we decided not to have the boys baptized, I had a few family members really struggle with that decision. In the end, they respected our decision and understand why we feel the way we do. So, I know D and I will be able to present this in the best way possible for our two little men.

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