I woke up this morning thinking about the amount of information springing up about raising Pagan children. With the exception of different religious practices in the home, I don't see a difference between raising Pagan children and children of any other denomination. I suppose some people have an issue with public schools and the worry of other religions being pushed on their children. Perhaps that is why so many Pagan parents decide to home school. In my opinion, home schooling can lead to a lack of social abilities and an overall stigma towards mainstream society. This could lead to all sorts of prejudices and problems in adulthood as people are forced to interact and function in a society that they were raised to be separate from.
In today's secular school system I don't see a problem sending my child to a public school. I am more worried about her being injured or shot at then being converted. I understand that there may be some areas in the country that are not so liberal, (and that everywhere you go in the Bible Belt is invariably laced with Christian overtones) but are we really raising our children with such weak beliefs that we have to shelter them from the beliefs of others in fear that the may be "tainted"?
Honestly, is reciting the Pledge of Allegiance really the deciding factor in what your religion is? Would anyone even notice if your child said "Goddess" instead of "God". Will it hurt anyone if children organize prayer circles? As long as the adults are staying out of it, and no one is being forced to participate or shunned for not participating, I could care less.
If a child celebrates with a Christmas party at school will they come home a Born-Again? I don't think so – not if you've done your job of giving your child a good background in your own faith. Isn't it better to explain that Christmas is what we call Solstice and point out all of the Pagan symbols and traditions still within the holiday? Ultimately, when your child is grown they will make their own choice about religion. You may as well educate them about multiple faiths in the best you can for now so that their choices will be informed ones.
We are the minority in this country, and as such, (at this time) we have to live in a society dominated by another belief system. No amount of sheltering or separating is going to change that. I believe the Goddess teaches Oneness not separation. In my opinion it is better to learn how to co-exist with those who are different than be taught to stay away from them altogether.
I honor parents who choose to homeschool. It is a serious amount of work for anyone to undertake. It may be right for others, but not for me and my family. I felt the need to express why that is the case for us. These are my opinions only. If you have differing ones please share them in the comments.
4 comments:
I have loved everything that you've written, but in this one you seem to have an assumption about homeschooling which isn't necessarily accurate. I do not plan to homeschool for religious reasons. I plan to homeschool because, as a homeschool graduate myself and now as a parent who has been deeply involved in the homeschool community in two states, in my opinion homeschooling offers the widest variety of opportunities for academic and social development. There are studies to support these assertions, as well as my own observations.
I also believe that the public school system in this country is immoral in its design, not due to religious reasons but for purely social reasons. Check otu the work of John Gatto, his book Dumbing Down America is a great introduction to the history of (and reasons behind) the way public education in the US is managed.
Love you, your blogs are so inspiring... just had to speak up for those of us who aren't socially stunted, and who have no intention of our children being so.
Sorry, I just realized I put the wrong title in, the John Gatto book is Dumbing Us Down. He is a former public school teacher (he won Teacher of the Year awards in NY) who offers a lot of insight into why some parents choose to forgo the public school system in favor of a broader education.
Thanks for the comments Colleen. In this instance I guess you weren't the kind of home-schooler I was talking about. :) I was more interested in exploring the religious reasons for homeschooling that I've witnessed in recent years. A lot of people are so dead set on indontrinating their children with their religious beliefs that they don't want them exposed to secular beliefs or the beliefs of other faiths through school.
Good luck with everything and congrats on being a wonderful, well adjusted homeschooled person. :)
Respectfully, Grian
Hello! I found your blog very interesting. I am a former pagan and would now be considered a born again Christian I suppose. I do homeschool my kids and use a Christian Curric because it is better than the rest of the currics for my children's learning styles and it is full of fun projects.
Please don't judge me based on this though because my children are very much exposed to the outside world, they do sports and dance classes and take extra curric fun courses through the public school district as well.
I am a VERY open minded/non judgemental Christian(yes they do exist). I have many pagan friends. I will never tell my children what they can and can't believe. I firmly believe in educating my children in as many things as I can and letting them find there own paths when they feel they are ready.
My 9 year old daughter was actually the reason I turned Christian. I have dabbled in many faiths through the years and paganism was the one I stuck with the longest along with a hint of Buddhism mixed in.
My daughter told me one day she wanted to be a Christian after asking many questions about it so I took her to a Vacation Bible School and she got very emotional about it immediately and said to me that this is what she wanted. I will never stand in my childrens way so I let her make the decision and said ok. Believe me this was a VERY tough decision because I was VERY anti-Christian deep down in the beginning. Some may think well she is only 9, I have to tell her what is right but deep down do any of us know the absoulte?? I don't think so. I think we have to learn the absolute on our own in our own hearts. I don't doubt that she may change her mind many times in her life and I am fine with that. I have slowly through a long process become convinced that Christianity is not what I thought it was and that it is right for me as well.
I do not follow the fundamentalist narrow minded ways and beliefs. I don't see God as a man in the sky with a beard but I see God as spirit. I never realized how many open minded Christians there are in this world because I had always lumped them into one catagory and thought they all believed the same thing. I hang around with lots of Christian homeschoolers and they all have different views and they all educate there kids differently but unless you are looking at some fundamentalist family that hides from the world; the majority of us are great normal people that don't suppress our kids.
I guess I just wanted you to know that I do homeschool for many reasons and spiritual reasons are on the list because I feel that in today's schools morals and values aren't taught at all because of this fear of all things that could remotely be viewed as Christian and that isn't what I want for my kids. I want them to be taught different than the standard cookie cutter public education. I want my kids to be able to learn about faith as they learn about geography and other subjects because I feel having faith in something is so important in this harsh world. I find it deeply fascinating to compare different faiths of the world and understand where other people come from.
Christian homeschoolers are not all hell and fire lol. I as do many other Christians don't even believe in the old literal extreme translations of the bible. For me faith is the most important aspect of my life and I can only hope that my kids can grow up with faith in something good as well.
God is many things for many people and wether you call it Goddess or God means nothing to me, all I care about is that you have the freedom to have your beliefs and that no one ever says you can't teach it to your children if you wish.
Even as a pagan one of my greatest concerns was how so many in the athiest world has tried to make parents feel that teaching your kids about having faith is somehow wrong and ignorant. Freedom is the key here and they are my kids and I love them and clearly you love yours too so may we always be blessed with the freedom to teach our kids as we choose and pick our own paths.
P.S. I will proudly tell you that not one of my Christian homeschool friends ever judged me when I was a pagan homeschool mom. They really aren't so bad I promise you and neither am I. :)
Many blessings to you,
Kristy
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