Althaea Sebastiani
  • Home
    • Resources
  • Learn Witchcraft
    • Courses >
      • Reviews
    • Books
    • Articles
  • Blog
  • Throwing the Bones
    • Testimonials
  • About
    • Contact
    • FAQ's

Handling "well-meaning" religious interference

1/23/2011

 
In spite of making your intentions quite clear and despite their apparent "acceptance," once you've made the "announcement" to your family that you'll be raising you children in your non-Christian faith, it still not uncommon to experience a little backlash. This can come about in a variety of forms, but in the case of my family, this comes about in two main forms: denial, and "well-meaning" subtle sabotage.

As I've mentioned in previous blog posts, my mother has suddenly manifested concern over my children's spiritual well being. Although she has yet to ask the more logical question of why the children haven't been baptized yet (maybe she does remember that we're not Christian...) she has suggested that I enroll them in Sunday School -for the socialization. I'd politely blown that off, but it did continue for a while with my sister (13 years old, obviously still living at home,) insisting that every time we were around on Sundays, that the kids should go to church with them. 

Since then, my mother has taken to giving the kids small storybooks. Nothing wrong with that, we're all avid readers, even little Aurora who'll be two in just a few short weeks (insert mommy sigh of sadness here.) But all of the books have been either Bible stories or based upon Christian values. Here is how we've been presenting these books to the children in a way that respects the faith presented in these books as well as our own.

Bible Stories
First off, these are great stories! There's adventure, guys being swallowed by giant fish, and not to mention talking animals and plants. There's really no reason not to share these stories with your little Pagan children. Just treat them as mythology. Use these stories as a teaching opportunity to introduce your kids to other religions, to other belief systems, and explanations of why things are the way they are. 

We recently got "The Story of Jonah." Before reading it to my eldest (5 years old,) I asked him if he remembered how we talked about how not everyone believes in the same Gods and things that we do, that there are different religions, and that this story is one of the legends for the Christian religion. Then I reminded him of the basics of Christianity (just as I do when we read legends and stories of other religions, i.e. before we read about Thor we talk about the Tree of Life and the three planes of existence, before we read about the creation of Fire and the Stars we talk about who the Aborigines are,) and I point out not just the differences but the similarities as well (I've no intentions of creating views of separatism in my children: we are all people, we are all part of the same global community, and we all need to recognize and act upon this fact.)

Christian Value Stories
I see nothing wrong with teaching children Christian values. What's wrong with teaching children to share, or to be thankful, or to appreciate the people around them? Plus, as these values are often carefully hidden behind drawings of cute little bunnies, it's not that hard to "reword" certain parts of the story, transforming the book into a Pagan Values Story. 

For example, one of my daughter's favorite books right now is a called "Good Night, Sleepyhead." It follows a little bear through her bedtime routine, including a scene where the little bear prays at the side of her bed with her parents. The caption reads: "I kneel beside my bed to pray./ I thank God for the blessings He gave me today." We reword this simple verse as follows: "I kneel beside my bed to pray.? I thank the Gods for the blessings They gave me today." Ta da. Monotheist story easily transformed into a polytheist story that my daughter can relate to because we pray to the Gods every night, too.

Comments are closed.

    Throwing the Bones

    Picture
    Get a Reading

    Stay Connected

    Thank you!

    You have successfully subscribed.

    Feral Witch

    Picture

    Archives

    January 2023
    February 2021
    January 2021
    March 2020
    September 2019
    May 2019
    January 2019
    October 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    May 2014
    September 2013
    August 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    June 2012
    May 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010

Picture
all photos and text copyright protected
and may not be used or reproduced, in part or in whole, without express written permission
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service
Cookie Policy
Disclaimer
  • Home
    • Resources
  • Learn Witchcraft
    • Courses >
      • Reviews
    • Books
    • Articles
  • Blog
  • Throwing the Bones
    • Testimonials
  • About
    • Contact
    • FAQ's