Religious Education

Church, religion and spirituality.

We had to work through how we were going to impart our thoughts on this stuff to our boys without the dogma that we grew up with in the Catholic church. The Man and I consider ourselves spiritual but not religious.

When they were younger, I struggled with feeling bad because we didn't go to church on Sundays and because the only sacrament our boys have received is the sacrament of baptism.

I worried over teaching lessons kids learn in church outside the skewed slant that religion brings. So, we always answer their questions about stuff as best we can and qualify what we share with "Some people believe...." We also always try to point out non-Christian sacred days and holy traditions; that part is sometimes hard since The Man and I have limited understanding of other faiths.

This approach has lead to some funny stuff. Like the time at Easter when #1 asked his Grandma (the devout Catholic) if Jesus was a vampire. She must have had a totally shocked look on her face...then #1 said "Well, he did rise from the dead, right?"

So, maybe our approach needs some clarification. But I think the boys are doing o.k. They've both, on different occasions, wondered how there will ever be peace in the Middle East when people in American still fight over church.