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Originally Posted by redhedded
Wow, Spay, I am bit surprised to see this from you. My own children, as you might have suspected, will be exposed to the practices and teachings Buddhism and Hinduism and will be familiar with the beliefs of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; however, their foundation will be one entirely of spirituality of self, mind and body. Organized religion will not play a role in our home, and I do not suspect my children will ever seek out "a cult." In fact, I often think of the commonly practiced theologies as a "cult" and have found, of my friends, who practice "fringe" religion or experienced a stage of actively seeking "something," are those who were raised in strong religious faiths and are merely exchanging one for another.
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Actually, I think we're saying the same thing in many ways. You're giving your children a belief system, just as I am. The difference is, I'm using one that's already laid out for me, complete with traditions and observances--ready-made. I'm just not creative enough to start from scratch. It's much easier for me to take something that's already there.
Maybe I'm dense. I just don't get it when people talk about "spirituality." And it certainly isn't in my DH's frame of reference. So I can't impart "spirituality" without adherance to the Law.
I love reading about how you've structured your family. In many ways, I'm envious of the intellectual freedom you impart. But in the same way I can't raise my daughter comfortably without the structure of rules, because of who I am and how I think, I can't impart "religion" without rules either.
Please don't misunderstand, that doesn't mean I'm authoritarian or believe there's only one way to achieve a goal. And I'm conscious of allowing my daughter to find her own passions. But _I_ need the structure of right and wrong, polite and impolite, proper and improper. That's _my_ authentic self.