Wednesday, December 29, 2004

Being a better Parent by introducing God?

Well, as you will find out, I am neither religious or believe in any "higher power". I don't necessarily call myself an "Atheist", as there are so many limits placed on that term as well. I believe in what I believe in and don't expect anyone else to follow me.

However...

I just received an email from ParentCenter.com. So far they have had great information regarding children and problems parents face. Today's email had a title, "Seven ways to be a better parent in 2005". I figured I'd take a look and see what they had suggested for 2005. To my surprise, the second to last one listed was "Encourage your child's relationship with grandparents — and God".
After reading their description, I see they tried to make it more of a "develop the spirituality of your child" instead of "develop your child into a religious follower". However, there was a definite bias toward learning about God. I feel bad for my children, that there is still a huge portion of the world that believes in God, or A God. People's arguement for that is, "if so many people in the world believe in it, it must be true, you are the minority, how could you not believe?" Well, I don't believe in slavery, and the majority of the world used to believe in that. I don't believe in treating women as inferiors, and most of the world believes in that. To me, all of these things reflect a weak world. That is all, nothing else. The majority of the people in this world are weak and need a "crutch" to help them through life. Why do you think alcoholics, drug abusers, and people coming out of the penal system almost always "find God"? They have been broken down and need the support of an outside force. They believe they are bad and do not have the strength to pull themselves through their issues because they do not find themselves as powerful. Not powerful in a way of being physically powerful, but powerful in a way of being positively supportive to themselves and others. They don't believe in themselves because they have been acused of being "bad". What they have done could definitely have been "bad", but that does not mean that they cannot be supportive of themselves. This can be a source for truly "bad" people, as they may do terrible things, but have the personality to support themselves and therefore do not see themselves as being "bad".
However, strong people are able to take care of issues. They can break down problems, take a step back and look at the situation. They can then realistically look at the problem, their role in it, how it affects them, and create a plan to work through it. Hmmm, kind of sounds like a religion, doesn't it?
So as far as my children are concerned, I don't feel that it would be inappropriate to teach them about "God", I would just let them know how people use this mythical figure as a way to make it through rough times in their life if they aren't strong enough to make it on their own. Looking at my children now, I don't think they will have any problems.