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How Your Attitude Toward Religion Affects Your Child
[Week 7 of 52 Weeks to a Better Relationship With Your Child]
Religion 101
Can you distinguish between these three things: Religion, Morality, and Faith? Sure, to some extent they overlap, but the differences are important. For this article, I want to talk about religion.
Any religion is a system of behaviors that are considered necessary to both prove and act out a person’s real or supposed convictions about the meaning of life. At best, religion is evidence of internalized truths. At worst, religion is a way to manipulate people’s fears.
Religion is often associated with ritual. Sometimes the rituals begin as honest ways to encourage good behavior. Sometimes they are are efforts to honor or remember something. Other times, rituals are simply a way to make people feel they are doing something acceptable or a way to control the behavior of others.
What are your religious tendencies?
What is key to understand is that rituals are an outward action that can be easily performed. That is, going through with a ritual cannot be assumed to be associated with what is going on in the heart. On top of that, most rituals are not integrated with the nuts and bolts of living. We do not need rituals to be kind or to prepare our food, for example.
Many people think of religion as having to do with reverencing a god or acknowledging the divine. However, people can be religious about anything they are devoted to. If they exhibit an obedience to a creed, they are religious.
In some ways, the idea of religion is a matter of degree. Most people would say that brushing their teeth every day is a good thing. It takes on a religious nature when a person does it to be viewed as good or to appease a supernatural power.
Why religion causes trouble sometimes
People tend to have two extreme reactions to religion as they define it.
Those who are disdainful of religion see it as both empty and abusive. Because of keeping the definition narrowed to what purportedly worships a god, they are often conveniently blind to the religious elements of their own world view.
When people see religion as necessary, they tend to want to impose their version of it on everyone. Too often, they interpret adherence to religion as a sign of character and opposition to it as a threat to social interactions.
Parenting versus Religion
A parent who wants a good relationship with his or her child needs to be cautious about how they apply religion to life. Children will sense if a parent is shallow or disingenuous about such practices. They will almost always question the meaningfulness of boring or tedious rituals.
In some ways, religion needs to be categorized
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By Laura Blodgett[Week 7 of 52 Weeks to a Better Relationship With Your Child]
Religion 101
Can you distinguish between these three things: Religion, Morality, and Faith? Sure, to some extent they overlap, but the differences are important. For this article, I want to talk about religion.
Any religion is a system of behaviors that are considered necessary to both prove and act out a person’s real or supposed convictions about the meaning of life. At best, religion is evidence of internalized truths. At worst, religion is a way to manipulate people’s fears.
Religion is often associated with ritual. Sometimes the rituals begin as honest ways to encourage good behavior. Sometimes they are are efforts to honor or remember something. Other times, rituals are simply a way to make people feel they are doing something acceptable or a way to control the behavior of others.
What are your religious tendencies?
What is key to understand is that rituals are an outward action that can be easily performed. That is, going through with a ritual cannot be assumed to be associated with what is going on in the heart. On top of that, most rituals are not integrated with the nuts and bolts of living. We do not need rituals to be kind or to prepare our food, for example.
Many people think of religion as having to do with reverencing a god or acknowledging the divine. However, people can be religious about anything they are devoted to. If they exhibit an obedience to a creed, they are religious.
In some ways, the idea of religion is a matter of degree. Most people would say that brushing their teeth every day is a good thing. It takes on a religious nature when a person does it to be viewed as good or to appease a supernatural power.
Why religion causes trouble sometimes
People tend to have two extreme reactions to religion as they define it.
Those who are disdainful of religion see it as both empty and abusive. Because of keeping the definition narrowed to what purportedly worships a god, they are often conveniently blind to the religious elements of their own world view.
When people see religion as necessary, they tend to want to impose their version of it on everyone. Too often, they interpret adherence to religion as a sign of character and opposition to it as a threat to social interactions.
Parenting versus Religion
A parent who wants a good relationship with his or her child needs to be cautious about how they apply religion to life. Children will sense if a parent is shallow or disingenuous about such practices. They will almost always question the meaningfulness of boring or tedious rituals.
In some ways, religion needs to be categorized