Sunday, April 1, 2012

In for a penny

 Mum has commented on my previous post, "ET phone home", that she does not think that a child of an atheist should be attending a Christian activity. This is a fair call however my making light of his ignorance about religion does have a serious side.

Firstly, to clarify, this activity is open to the public. Anyone is welcome to attend and I am sure they would be delighted to greet people of any religion walking through their doors - they are honestly accepting people (note the difference between "accepting" and "tolerant"). Also these days there are plenty of other-faith and non-faith people attending private Christian schools but that is a post for another day.

So why am I sending Kirk to a Christian activity at all? Just like every one else - we value the education! It is not possible to be fully conversant with world culture if you are not aware of biblical history, the role religion plays in our society and how it has shaped our metaphoric language. Three major religions; Christianity, Judaism & Islam all share that founding Middle Eastern culture and a very large amount of the "lore" is based on the same documents. Yes, I could easily teach him all this myself, but then it would just be a history lesson. He also needs to understand the context and the culture wrapped around it and nothing beats direct experience hence, "In for a penny, in for a pound".

2 comments:

  1. I think you need to re-read my previous comment, Tamara.

    I did not say a “child of an atheist should not be attending a Christian activity” rather, a child who is being brought up in a manner that disallows him to "embrace the ethics of this group" should not be attending this activity.

    My comment was made in the light of the fact the Kirk has no understanding of the word "God" in anyone's language.

    Shall I go on?

    ReplyDelete
  2. He's 7. Most 7 year olds think god is an old man with a beard and has something to do with Santa.

    Who said he wasn't ALLOWED to believe in something? I'm offering him the opportunity aren't I.

    ReplyDelete

Throw me a bone - suggest a topic.