I very rarely talk about religion in any kind of large group or open forum, but today I’m going to make an exception.
I was sent a book to review and I feel that it really has a good message to deliver, but that some may judge the whole thing by it’s title. So please take a minute to hear me out.
My Background
For many people, religion is what they’ve been taught by their families and what they have been told to believe because that is what their family has believed for generations.
For me, I took a little bit different path. When I was young I went to a Presbyterian church with my parents. I went to Catholic school for 7 years and continued to be tied to that community through high school in one way or another.
My best friend from 8th grade on belonged to the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and I went to church with her sometimes. We participated in the local Christian church’s program called Bible Bowl where we studied a book of the Bible and competed against other teams on answering questions about it.
When I was 10, my father converted to Judaism and I spent each summer going to synagogue with him. At 23, I converted to Reform Judaism because I felt that that community was most open to the various beliefs that I had formed over the years through the different religions I was exposed to.
Today
I no longer practice any form of religion. While I know that there are many good people and good things that come out of organized religion, I feel that the discrimination and exclusionary practices of some cannot be overlooked.
My husband went to Catholic school for 12 years and comes from a very Catholic family. But we both agree, we want our children to understand the historical elements of religion and how they are alike instead of pointing out the differences or how one is better than another.
We are instead choosing to focus on world cultures. We read stories of myths, legends, fables and fairy tales and yes, Bible stories too. We help them to make the connections between the stories and how different cultures have very similar stories that they use to explain the unexplainable.
What about Morals?
Can you teach your children to be moral, upstanding, productive citizens without religion?
YES you can.
Just going to church does not make you a moral person, it’s how you treat others and choose to live your life that really matters.
A BIG lesson that we want to teach our children is…what’s right for you, may not be right for everyone.
Just because something works for me does not mean that it is the ONE right way for everyone in the world. You need to be able to see things from others’ point of view and be open enough to know that their choices do not harm or diminish your choices. They are doing what is right for them.
We want to teach our children that it’s ok to agree to disagree. That you must be respectful of others’ beliefs, even if they are not the same as yours. That learning and experiencing new things does not have to be something to be fearful of, but something to embrace and celebrate.
Khepra Ka-Re Amente Anu has written a book called Lifting the Spiritual Self-Esteem of the LGBT Community
He wrote this book as a way to help his 2 LGBT cousins, and others like them, combat the daily prejudice they meet when people bash their lifestyle. He points out that sexual preference is predetermined at birth and is found in many animal communities as well as in humans.
Although this book was written for a specific reason, it appeals to people in all communities as a very interesting read comparing the different religions of the world and how their basic ideas are similar and all based on ancient East African(where all humans are believed to be descended from) stories. It also points out ways people have used religion to try and control others by pointing out some of the negative concepts in the different texts.
I found this book to be very interesting and am glad that I got the chance to review it.
Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book, but the opinions are 100% my own.