A Personal Dilemma...
Offline My wife is Roman Catholic, and not in a "I go to Church every Sunday and live by the Bible" kind of way. She's a Christian liberal. Her parents are slightly more religious, and her grandparents were fall-on-the-ground-and-praise-Jesus religious. So, in essence, Catholicism is more of a time-honored tradition in her family that is slowly fading away, not necessarily a way of life.
However, my wife has said in no uncertain terms that our children will be baptized and raised Catholic. We also never had a ceremonial wedding and she has her heart set on having it in an R.C. church. Now, of course, this isn't going to sway my convictions at all, but I can't shake the feeling that I'm doing some sort of disservice to myself by participating in this stuff, not to mention my future children. I just don't want to drive a spike inbetween myself and members of my family, so I shrug my shoulders and agree, knowing that my children will have the same opportunity I did to come to their own conclusions eventually. I don't plan to BS them at all if they ask me questions, so that's a plus. I just wish they didn't have to be given a religion to start their lives.
My point with this post is just to ask: Is anyone else in a similar situation/handled a similar situation? What did you do?
Thanks in advance,
JW
David Cross: So I was watching this one show where - there's a guy on stage and he pretends he has contact with the dead and people are watching.
Audience Member: Crossing Over.
David Cross: No, not Crossing Over. It was uh, church.
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Not exactly the same situation, but maybe you can get an idea in this thread.
My father is an agnostic and my mother believes in crystal healing and aura readings. My dad left the child-rearing to my mother. As a result, I grew up believing that there was a cosmic force watching over the world, making sure that everything would "turn out for the best." Last year, I had a traumatic experience that shattered my world view. I now resent my mother for filling my childhood with her fairytales (literally). We barely talk to each other anymore. I wish my father had been more forthright with his views, although I suspect he doesn't have a solid logical base for them. My advice: don't let your wife brainwash your children. At least let them get old enough to reason before exposing them to the lotus eaters.
Philosophy and Politics
My Foster Kittens
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sorry, web error
I had a very similar situation. The thread is here:
http://www.rationalresponders.com/forum/the_rational_response_squad_radio_show/freethinking_anonymous/6767
"When you hit your thumb with a hammer it's nice to be able to blaspheme. It takes a special kind of atheist to jump up and down shout, 'Oh, random fluctuations-in-the-space-time-continuum!'"-Terry Pratchett
Indeed. I wouldn't care how hard my wife put her foot down. Mine would come down on top of it. No ridiculous mythology until they're 14 or older.
Edit: Unless it was in the context of entertainment, not reality.
Enlightened Atheist, Gaming God.
I completely agree with Vastet. Also, I think that you should definitely refuse to be part of those meaningless ceremonies that all they do is support the delusion of others, and the catholic church. It might not be easy to deal with the situation, but that's what needs to be done in order to ensure a better future for your children.