tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post5880490196375840737..comments2024-02-05T05:15:04.759-08:00Comments on Wandering Scientist: Fundamental Values and Talking to Kids about ReligionCloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09317847285050447789noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-24205126738283721892016-11-25T16:27:54.021-08:002016-11-25T16:27:54.021-08:00Things I would like people to understand about my ...Things I would like people to understand about my faith (liberal Lutheran):<br />I believe Love is bigger than our ability to understand, and that all human attempts to understand mystery end up being somewhat flawed.<br />That God/Love attempts to connect with us and connect us to the story of the world.<br />God is too big for us to understand, but we try to understand it by recognizing 3 ways God interacts with us in the world: the Creator God, through a person named Jesus Christ, and through the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we also call these 3 energies creating, redeeming,and sustaining. <br />My faith is something that makes me strive to be a better person. It reminds me to be humble, it reminds to be look and see who is suffering, and it reminds me I have a place and a role in bringing about peace on earth.<br />I understand the story of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection as a story that reminds us that LOVE WINS in the end. That nothing can separate us from love (unless we want to be separated)...that we know the end of the story is always love. <br />I've very proud of how much work Lutheran's have done in this refugee crisis. Lutheran Family Services is a wonderful charity.<br /><br />Sometimes it is very very hard to hear only more conservative Christian voices shouting out their interpretation of "Christian Values". My faith is very very important to me, yet for me, it makes me more liberal,and less judgemental. Also, I'm not interested in converting anyone...me being me is hard enough, I certainly don't need to tell you how to do you, too!:-P <br />Elodienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-28675861967399395572016-11-23T06:47:52.050-08:002016-11-23T06:47:52.050-08:00Things I think people should know about Judaism......Things I think people should know about Judaism...<br />*It is both a culture/heritage/ethnicity and a religion. Some people who are born into and identify with the former are atheists or agnostic. Many people who are religiously observant don't believe in specific tenants. The emphasis on "how to be a good Jew" is about living a certain way and treating people well, and only tangentially about specific beliefs. <br />*There is no central authority (like a Pope). There is a non-scripture but centrally important document (the Talmud) that essentially consists of scholars debating various complex questions of how to live and why. Whether that results in a distinctive attitude toward debate and opinion is a good question.<br />*It's 5776 by our count- whether that implies a longer frame of reference for history is also a good question. <br />*You can convert to Judaism, but see above about the ethnicity/culture/heritage aspect. Also we make it hard on purpose. Seeking to convert people is looked upon as either tacky, or baffling/meaningless, or unwise (Judaism has often been a minority religion). This is only really crucial to understand if you are contrasting with evangelicalism.Beccahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15356974556397009124noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-66201011923444929072016-11-21T18:31:04.520-08:002016-11-21T18:31:04.520-08:00Thanks! This is great. Thanks! This is great. Cloudhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09317847285050447789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-24684820582420778482016-11-21T18:30:03.372-08:002016-11-21T18:30:03.372-08:00OK, that's good! Since my posts are mostly str...OK, that's good! Since my posts are mostly stream of consciousness I'll never complain about stream of consciousness comments. :)Cloudhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09317847285050447789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-7277665655345064212016-11-21T18:25:29.268-08:002016-11-21T18:25:29.268-08:00Oh no! It was nothing about your framing in your p...Oh no! It was nothing about your framing in your post. It was seeing it repeated comment after comment when I was reading through that was offputting to me. I'm still not sure exactly why. I didn't even mean it as a critique--it was more stream of consciousness typing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-35734106259521349252016-11-21T15:59:21.407-08:002016-11-21T15:59:21.407-08:00I'm a Hindu and I'd tell my kids (and thei...I'm a Hindu and I'd tell my kids (and their friends that are curious about my religion) that<br />1) Its a religion that allows people to follow God(or Truth or Light/Dark) in the way they see fit. People can choose how they want to follow it and can change it based on the stage of life they are in as well. For example, Hindus think God resides everywhere and so everything is a form of God. So there are those that pray to human form and those that pray to animal form and even those that pray to just a spirit or sound or thought. Also, people in the same family can choose to follow different Gods because Hinduism believes religion is deeply personal and individualized. I follow a male God, my husband follows a female Goddess and my kid follows an elephant-God. <br />2) One cannot be converted to a Hindu, they are either born into it or decide to become one (and they are one).<br />3) Hinduism recognizes atheism and accepts they choose to believe in Truth and values as they see fit and don't follow a particular form of God.<br />4) Though there are rituals and ceremonies, none of them are needed to feel close to God.<br />5) Its a very joyful religion filled with colors (in keeping with Indian culture) and has a number of religious holidays that are filled with fun :)<br />6) Even though there are sects of people that perform violent acts (animal sacrifices, etc), Hinduism believes its their way of showing respect to God who is in everything. <br />7) There are myriad stories that connect most of the well-known Gods and Goddesses because in olden days, these stories were used to teach moral values to common public. Even though belief in those stories is not needed, its just a cheat sheet to good moral values and most Hindus follow those values in daily lives.<br /><br />I can talk more about it if you want to know more :)Alpine Pathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15028192649180303567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-62743984005652297252016-11-21T15:58:43.720-08:002016-11-21T15:58:43.720-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Alpine Pathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15028192649180303567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-79964094348174071772016-11-20T09:02:35.425-08:002016-11-20T09:02:35.425-08:00Thanks for the answer! I'm sorry if the framin...Thanks for the answer! I'm sorry if the framing was offensive. If you figure out why later, please send me a note, and I will try to do better in the future. For what it is worth, there was no subtext in my question. My kids ask questions about people's beliefs, and I'd like to answer based on what people who have those beliefs feel is most important about their religion, not based on my own fuzzy thoughts from the outside.Cloudhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09317847285050447789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-76301685776829621382016-11-20T00:53:07.931-08:002016-11-20T00:53:07.931-08:00Hmm... I'm finding the framing of "what I...Hmm... I'm finding the framing of "what I want your children to know" offputting to me as I read through the comments. I'm too tired to unpack why. So instead I will say that I do not care what your children know, but here is what I believe is distinctive about Judaism:<br /><br />* we do not believe being Jewish makes one more morally pure or deserving of a place in the World to Come. Jews have special obligations as children of the commandments, but people of all faiths are equally obligated to and rewarded for basic acts of goodness and kindness. <br /><br />* we believe G-d doesn't care about what we think--only what we do.<br /><br />* debate is awesome! Thought is awesome! We should all think for ourselves and come to our own beliefs about life and G-d, informed by the lessons of Torah and the Talmud.<br /><br />* We don't believe in Hell. I think we do believe in Purgatory, but honestly I'm not even sure. There's a World To Come, and there will be consequences for behaving badly (temporary, I think?), but mostly, we should be good, decent people because we should be good, decent people. <br /><br />* G-d wants us to be happy and to feel loved. G-d does not want us to suffer.<br /><br />* Ritual helps us feel connected to G-d.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-69752846908898603502016-11-18T13:46:07.863-08:002016-11-18T13:46:07.863-08:00Bring not brightBring not brightMomesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16629475992203222512noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-34236771304949722362016-11-18T13:45:23.120-08:002016-11-18T13:45:23.120-08:00As a very liberal Christian, what I would want you...As a very liberal Christian, what I would want your kids to understand (and what I often tell my own) is that Jesus himself was a radical man fighting the good fight against an oppressive "man". The idea of a conservative christian is kinda of hilarious to me because if you look closer at the works of Jesus and his teachings, he is all about challenging the status quo, fighting for the marginalized and oppressed and trying to bright about a more just society for all. Momesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16629475992203222512noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-5937704020760779482016-11-18T10:29:56.349-08:002016-11-18T10:29:56.349-08:00I understand where you're coming from, but I&#...I understand where you're coming from, but I've read a lot of history, too. And I think you're overlooking the beauty and good that beliefs can inspire in people. We cannot know the counterfactual here, because humans have always tended to organize their thinking around beliefs. I for one do not think that a world in which no one believed in anything would be any less murderous.Cloudhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09317847285050447789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-42263873335167232772016-11-18T10:24:00.572-08:002016-11-18T10:24:00.572-08:00I am now old enough to have read a great deal of h...I am now old enough to have read a great deal of history, and my reading tells me that the landscape of belief is littered with corpses: Men, women, and children have been slaughtered by the hundreds of millions in the name of belief. I would tell your children that they must be very careful about belief and its potential for evil, about how when it gets its grip on people, it turns them into machines for harm. It isn't a particular religion or political ideology that is the true problem, it is belief itself. For the sake of everyone, let go.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-22970824263681412402016-11-18T09:51:10.032-08:002016-11-18T09:51:10.032-08:00I would like your children to know that I am a fol...I would like your children to know that I am a follower of Jesus Christ, the deity I believe to be the only son of God. I believe (as many do) that Jesus calls us (through the Bible) to love God with all of our heart, and with all our soul and with all our mind; that can be expressed many ways, through prayer (talking to God), through reading the Bible (which we believe to be God's word) and through other acts of worship. I believe also that Jesus calls us to love others as we love ourselves. <br /><br />I would like your children to know that Christianity is ancient and that humans are very fallible, and we often fail to love ourselves and love other people as Jesus might, but that most Christians (myself included) are try daily to follow Jesus' example in thought, word and deed. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Jimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07052175580425423041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-31386709962570741782016-11-18T09:50:51.875-08:002016-11-18T09:50:51.875-08:00Oh, there is also a fax number on the committee we...Oh, there is also a fax number on the committee website: (202) 225-3974<br /><br />And there are internet services that will send a fax for you. Here's the first one that came up when I googled: http://myfax.com/free/Cloudhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09317847285050447789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-21374340856334249842016-11-18T09:49:15.023-08:002016-11-18T09:49:15.023-08:00Pick another member of the committee and call them...Pick another member of the committee and call them? Or try again later, I've heard that some of the "voice mail full" messages are just "line is busy."Cloudhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09317847285050447789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-59842056335047826912016-11-18T09:47:09.461-08:002016-11-18T09:47:09.461-08:00I tried the Utah office number and the voicemail i...I tried the Utah office number and the voicemail is also now full.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-10072370831296277332016-11-18T08:46:27.223-08:002016-11-18T08:46:27.223-08:00Could not contact the House Oversight Committee or...Could not contact the House Oversight Committee or its Chair, Jason Chaffetz', office -- no human response, both voicemails are full. But I did connect immediately with a person by calling his Utah office, 801-851-2500. And yes, it was quick and simple (once I found the number).Alexicographernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-48949260645219094972016-11-18T08:25:00.112-08:002016-11-18T08:25:00.112-08:00This is interesting. My husband and I are both ath...This is interesting. My husband and I are both atheists and we're both raised in very Christian households (weekly church/Sunday school, prayers before meals etc).<br /><br />What I struggle with is how to give my kids the stories and contexts of the major religions, particularly Christianity and Judaism (which far from being persecuted, in my opinion dominates American cultural norms!). My husband disagrees but I really appreciate my religious education both for general culture (literary references and nuance etc) and also because I feel it gives me an insight into how a large part of our country believes as well as what their motivations/rationale are or should be (treatment of women, Sodom and Gomorrah, beatitudes as mentioned above etc etc). I am a bit stuck how to impart this to my kids in a meaningful way. (The birth to 18 weekly Sunday school being out!) <br /><br />Ditto for the beautiful choral music and hymns - at least I could play those for the kids myself. the Frugal Ecologisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05007753245445039830noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-713570288782174822016-11-18T08:24:09.180-08:002016-11-18T08:24:09.180-08:00I'll try to write a post later about how we ta...I'll try to write a post later about how we talk about the "big questions." There is a kids book from NZ called Old Hu-Hu that was really great for talking about what happens after we die.<br /><br />My kids don't care what religion their friends are, and neither do I. This is all coming from honest curiosity on their part, and my bumbling attempts to answer! Cloudhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09317847285050447789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-72888934050346064672016-11-18T08:21:48.950-08:002016-11-18T08:21:48.950-08:00More than one Christian I respect has told me that...More than one Christian I respect has told me that many Christians feel their faith is under attack in the US. I am shocked by that, but have been investigating it to see why. I believe they feel attacked, I would like to understand why when not a single atheist I know would ever want to "outlaw Christianity" or anything like that. Is it the Fox News faux-outrage about the "war on Christmas" or something deeper? I've only started thinking and reading about this, so I don't know yet.Cloudhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09317847285050447789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-60800495861242839342016-11-18T07:36:59.677-08:002016-11-18T07:36:59.677-08:00Dammit, comment eaten. Tldr: There is only LOVE. T...Dammit, comment eaten. Tldr: There is only LOVE. Think about how you love your children, God loves you like that, only MORE. Even if you do something wrong, even if you think you don't deserve it, even if you don't believe in "him" (though I feel God is non-gendered)<br /><br />ELCA Lutheran Sunday School teacher of the middle school kids. Masters in Biochemistry, former Catholic and agnostic.Nicolehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03276995787173932700noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-38677340002664774192016-11-18T06:47:32.171-08:002016-11-18T06:47:32.171-08:00Ingemar's comment seems deeply unChristian to ...Ingemar's comment seems deeply unChristian to me. Just sayin'.<br /><br />I really don't like the way so many Christians seem to use it as a reason to feel superior or falsely persecuted (seriously, Christians are persecuted in the US? seriously?). <br /><br />Tell your daughter that some Christians have an outward looking focus that is about spreading the Good News via Good Works. Some religions grant a responsibility to help people because we were put on earth to make it a better place and provide an organized way to go about providing that help through the Church. In this view, we are servants of God doing his Will to make the world more perfect. (Obviously people can have these feelings of responsibility without being told to by religion.)<br /><br />And some people use religion as an excuse to attack people who are different or to feel superior. That's deeply unChristian, but unfortunately characteristic of a subset of pretty much all organized religions, including, as you note, organized atheism. On some level, it must be human nature to pervert any kind of organized group.nicoleandmaggiehttp://nicoleandmaggie.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-44794878836623826632016-11-18T06:46:46.791-08:002016-11-18T06:46:46.791-08:00When I was a kid, I believed that only old illiter...When I was a kid, I believed that only old illiterate people went to church. Because in Soviet Union of the '70s and '80s, that's what we were taught to believe. <br /><br />Learning to respect people of faith had nothing to do with Muslims for me. It had everything to do with growing up and realizing this is a big world full of fascinating, complicated people. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-8508340570981459702016-11-18T06:37:00.014-08:002016-11-18T06:37:00.014-08:00I would prefer my kids' friends to not care wh...I would prefer my kids' friends to not care what our religion is at all. For kids' parents - I would say something along the lines that we believe that there is one G-d. The only thing that would truly bother me is if someone would try to proselytize my kids.<br /><br />As a parent, I find the religious questions from my kids to be very challenging (and unnerving). As an agnostic/atheist, how do you deal with questions from your kids about afterlife, heaven, and whether or not there was someone who created everything? I've been skirting around these issues, saying something along the lines that "some people believe a,b,c, but I believe xyz... when you grow up, you will have to figure things out for yourself." My kids really don't like the idea of "when you die - you die and there is nothing else" and start coming up with their own explanations. The older kids (8 and 6) have fascinating conversations about what came first - G-d or the Big Bang. I've been giving them scientific facts, but other than that, I honestly admit to them I believe there is G-d but have no idea how G-d fits into the equation. <br /><br />If you have any recommendations about books that provide clear scientific reasoning that deals with the formation of the early universe, evolution of life, etc for early elementary school age - I would love to hear.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com