Religious Teachings | Giftie Etcetera: Religious Teachings

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Religious Teachings

I'm Catholic. Well, I'm mostly Catholic. Except that, on moral grounds and on the basis of my conscience, I support gay marriage, female priests, and keeping the government out of reproductive decisions (though I think people should make those decisions erring on the side of life). I want to teach Ander about Christianity and Catholicism, but I would like to expose him to other religions, and even athiests and agnostics, so that he can make his own decisions about faith. I'm reading "Year of Living Biblically" by A.J. Jacobs, which is a funny, charming story of a "reverant agnostic" who tries to live the Bible literally. I'm learning a lot that I never knew about the Bible and about other religions. For Lent, I am giving up meat on Fridays (which is the Catholic tradition), but not fasting (as I am a nursing mom, so I am excused). I am not telling you all this to cause controversy. Instead, I need some advice and want you to know where I'm coming from, so you can help.

I am making a Lenten promise of teaching Ander about God everyday. (Except Sunday. Sunday is a day of rest for Catholics, even during Lent. My husband objects, saying it's the most important day to discuss God. Hmm....interesting point. He is free to teach him on Sundays. I'm resting.) I'm trying to teach him basics. Yesterday, I asked him if he knew who God was. "Daddy" Um, no, despite Daddy enjoying the answer. LOL. "Where is God?" In heaven? Not according to my darling child. "In the state capital." (Where Daddy works...seriously, this Daddy equals God thing is a bit much. I suspect it's teaching him the Sign of the Cross...in the name of the Father... ;)) Another day, we talked about Loki (his brother's namesake) and how some people thought (and some still think) Loki is a god. We talked about how we believe in one God, but that other people believe different stuff.

The problem? Despite being a former school teacher, I am out of ideas. How do I give him a broad perspective on religious beliefs? What are some things I can teach him? I know the Catholic stuff, but I will be doing that his whole childhood. So what other stuff can I teach him? Any good activities we can do?

Etcetera.

2 comments:

Frog said...

Hey! In the book does it say where in the bible it says to give something up for lent? I'm curious. I think I might read that book next.

Mommy said...

Stories! Stories! Stories! The library is your friend. Read stories about whatever God, Saint, Myth, Legend, etc... you want and then talk about it.