Religion

My son has come to me recently and told me he doesn’t believe in God. I have to say I’m kinda sad about this. Oh, don’t get your panties in a bunch. I know I’m Pagan. But I still believe in a God. I just also happen to believe in a Goddess. There is a bumper sticker out there that reads : My Goddess gave birth to your God.

The thing is, I feel everyone should have faith in something. Whatever that something is. Even if you don’t believe in a God (or Goddess) chances are you have a strong faith in science. Maybe you believe everything happens for a reason, whether that reason is divine or not. Most people have faith in something and that something powers them through life.

And yes, I believe in God. I’ll even agree he is most likely the Christian God. Though before you get too excited, I will confess this: I think all religions are worshiping basically the same guy. Just different names, and different ways of worship. I don’t think any one religion is fundamentally right or wrong. I think it’s all based on culture. I don’t think it’s how you worship that gets you on God’s good side. I think it’s the actions you do. And no matter how many times you kill in God’s name (crusades, terrorists) if you are doing bad things, you are a bad person. Period. Thou shall not kill, and the other commandments, aren’t just Christian rules, they are fundamental good rules everyone shall follow.

So, what about Jesus? Here is where things get a little fuzzy for me. Jesus of Nazareth himself was a great profit. He had a good message and he preached it well.

Was he the son of God? Well, I believe we are all the children of God (and the Goddess), so technically yes.

Was he a part of God? I feel we are all part of one being. And we are all part of our God (and Goddess). It’s hard to explain but it’s summed up with this phrase: We are all one. I don’t think God is excluded from that. Neither was Jesus. Read One by Richard Bach.

Did Jesus really rise from the dead? There are theories that he was never fully dead, just near death, to begin with. Medicine was a little fuzzy back then and they were in a hurry. I don’t remember why. Something about a holiday or tax day. You’ll have to ask my 9th grade history teacher (who was a devote Christian). I’m not saying I believe this theory. I’m just saying there are theories out there.

What about the other miracles? Well, I don’t know. Is it possible they really happened? Something happened. There are million of people who have a strong faith in this man. Something got that faith started. Immaculate conception? Errr… Walking on water? well… Healing the sick… Um… Look either you believe in miracles or you don’t. I don’t think I’m religious enough no matter the religion I follow to believe in them. There is another great book by Richard Bach called Illusions. But he did something in front of enough people to cause them to believe in him. Believe in him enough that the following is what it is today.

Does your faith in Jesus and the miracles make you happy? Awesome. Like I said before everyone should believe in something. Anything. If you can have total faith in all this then that is fine by me. Don’t let my beliefs sway you. And honestly, if you have total faith then my beliefs wouldn’t sway you even if I tried.

I have a lot of unanswered questions. Questions I am ok with being unanswered. But I know two things for sure: I believe in a God and a Goddess. So my son struggling with his faith does make me a little sad. I mostly think he is too young to have faith in anything at this time, but I’m still sad. I also think I can begin to understand how my mom felt when I walked away from Christianity. Only unlike my mom, I don’t feel my son is wrong. I just feel he is faithless. I’m sad, not disappointed.

And again don’t get your panties in a bunch, I’m not harping on my mom. I’m not trying to anyways. I’m just looking at the big picture and making comparisons. Or more accurately considering how I want to handle my son’s lack of faith. How my mom handled mine didn’t work, so I know what not to do. It’s as simple as that.

So speaking of my son and faith, what will I teach him? Well he goes to a Presbyterian church every Sunday. It’s fairly simple, he spends the weekends with my mom, and that is where she goes. If he decides to believe what she believes then awesome. He’s have a solid and popular belief. When he is old enough to make decisions on his own I’ll teach him about religions, a lot of them anyways, and I’ll let him come to his own conclusions. I’ll accept whatever he chooses whether I agree with him or not. My only requirement is that he fully understand what it is he believes in. If he wants to be Wiccan that’s fine, as long as he doesn’t think that means he’s suppose to sacrifice cats in grave yards. I will educate my son and support him.

So, what do you believe?

5 thoughts on “Religion

  1. It's not about Religion…..it's about " Relationship ". Like you said, He's very young. Just let things fall where they shake out. That's it from "mom" on the subject….for now.

  2. I wonder where this came from. This isn't a 6 (?) year old thing. That sounds more like a kid repeating something he's heard.

  3. i am so afraid our son will have no Spirtitual background…never mind the religion thing….long story and Asperger's is involved….

  4. *nod*
    I wouldn't give up on it though. My hubby is spiritual and he is autistic. Though he kinda broke the mold with his autism. So there is that… Anyway I wouldn't push any one certain belief or pattern of thought. Just expose him to what you can and let thing settle in however they settle in. And it does kinda suck if he has no faith in anything, but in his case it won't be the end of the world. If he's got Asperger's, he has much bigger things to worry about.

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