A blank page

Well, I'm starting on this blank page. I suppose it's apt, after all our children are a blank page at birth, waiting for our cues on everything from language to etiquette.

It seems daunting to begin this blog, but I do hope to find others to join me for a journey to positive parenting  without religious dogma.

Personally, I find the idea of indoctrinating small children with myths to be uncomfortable at best. They lack the awareness to really decide for themselves the veracity of what they are told. In addition, they may take stories they are told very literally.

Sadly, we've found this to be the case, and my now 7 year old daughter has been bullied at school numerous times because she said she "doesn't believe in god". Of course, no 7 year old really knows what faith, or lack thereof, they may follow through their adult life, but it's her truth for now and we've taught our kids to have an open, accepting mind. This doesn't seem to have been reinforced to all the other kids, who I'm certain have heard cliches and platitudes from their well-meaning parents like "god loves you when you believe in him" and "if you're a good person you believe in god". Being small children, they naturally assume these statements work in reverse - the fact they don't may be as good a reason as any to doubt their truth - therefore have accused her of being "bad" and that "god doesn't love you".

My sweet, empathetic, clever daughter replied that they can believe that, it was fine, but she didn't agree. They argued and she returned home dejected and upset more than once. Luckily she attends a great local school with supportive teachers, who used the theme of "fairy tales" (which the kids were studying) to talk about different people with different beliefs. The teacher told me she was very surprised that when she asked "is it OK for someone to believe differently from you?" most of the class replied "no". I wasn't surprised - after all kids can really take things to heart. If we tell them "this is the truth" how on Earth can they comprehend that another "truth" can be acceptable?

So this is where I begin. A page no longer blank, but still daunting. I have many issues that I've been burning to discuss, I do hope that others may join the conversation.