People reading this thread (at least those that can play nice) may be
interested in a new thread Mike created in this religion section called:
" Detail Please: Invitation to hear about other faiths".

Good idea, Mike1

Red wrote....

Jess, you mentioned your children. Have you raised them within the
structure of your beliefs too? I think it would have been so wonderful
to have been given a real philosophy to live by, in and grow with.

Silentskies, that sounds like a very interesting way to grow up. Have
you ever discussed this with your Father, has he ever tried to give you
insight into his philosophy? Jess mentioned having children and sharing
her some of this with them. Have you got children, if you do or will,
would you teach them a particular philosophy? If that's too personal,
no commitment, just curious if you felt drawn to continue something of
this nature with children.
****************************************************************

To answer your questions Red, I would like to give a brief history of my
upbringing, which may help put into perspective my philosophies, and my
leaning towards Buddhism/Taoism.

I grew up in a suburb of Sydney, a beachside village surrounded by
bushland, 1000's of acreage..on the outskirts of a city as such, and
quite a young suburb...(my parents bought the first sub-division off the
original dairy farmer)...

My parents are of irish/european background, and were both Catholics,
but for whatever their reasons were no longer practising, nor attached
to their church, (I didn't ask, they didn't tell, as to their reasons).

Theology in any form, was not spoken of, touched upon in our home, no
grace said at tables, no confirmations, baptisms, none of it, so
exposure was limited to other households and school.

I went to Sunday School, because it was social, and I was neither
encouraged nor discouraged by my parents to attend, and I am not even
sure of the religion, branch , church, whatever you call it, of
christianity it was. Was just a cool place to hang out, set in the
bushland on a big granite rock, amongst the wildlife, and we did cool
craft stuff that had some cool stories in it. (Remembering I was maybe 8
years old).

I had spent every day of my childhood, as soon as I could escape the
house, from five years old, out in nature, in the bushland, alone, with
all the native bugs, birds and creatures that resided there. I ddn't see
or speak to humans, until I wandered into the house looking for food.

I was far from introverted, but extremely reflective by nature, and
spent hours learning, and understanding how each part of the bushland,
fit and complimented the all, until I could not find a beginning and an
ending...( and this is also from a very young age, from what I recall,
six, maybe seven years old, I had a 'big picture', light bulb moment,
and saw the 'details in the All, but saw the All within the details'..).

So onto the story of Jess.

A natural order had shown itself to me, and as an observer, not a
participant, nature was doing fine without me in it..

Onto late teens and exposure to Eastern cultures...

I saught something that clarified my thoughts, perhaps something that
made sense of my ways of thiinking, living, why I felt the way I did in
regards to life, the life energy within, all living things..and I found
some interesting books on Tao...the Way...that hit home for me,
resonated within me...

Buddhism came as natural as breathing as I said in an earlier post..

As to my children, I have raised them as they asked to be raised, to
just be allowed "to be"..to discover, question and find within
themselves their boundaries...

So as a parent I have given them as much opportunity to be exposed to as
many different religions, philosophies, discussions as they choose..and
to understand respect for the differences..not all will sit well with
them, they will develop their own concepts of what works best for their
natures..

I have four children, 22, male, 18, female, 12, male, and 10,
female...all unique, different, and have been drawn to different
philosophies...

I don't encroach on them, as such, i do not eat meat, they choose to or
not to, I will not require them to follow my path, or my choices..

and the only reasons they came to Chenrezig with me, was their ages at
the time, and their desire to go there and see for themselves..

jess, OMFG- damn, wow!

wow, dont know what else to say, am i going to hell for cursing in a
religious thread. oh well, at least the seat will be warm right?

great post babe, truely.


doc

Nice Jess. Have you ever encountered any ridicule from family, friends,
peers on how you've dealt with the religion thing with your children?

I dealt with quite a bit of that. It wasn't till my son became a full
fledged, teenager, drivers license in hand, that I actually received
many compliments on how my son "turned out". It amused me to no end, as
if everyone was waiting year by year to see how this spawn of a liberal,
non-corporal punishment believing, athiest would 'turn out'. I would
have added 'lesbian' to my list of faults in their eyes, but they didn't
know at the time.

All my life...from a child, to now, others beliefs, ideas on how to
raise children...it is fine and I respect their concern for my children,
their intent is good...just the delivery falls short.

Ultimately,

I ask my kids....how do they want to be raised..

it is a misconception they are blank canvasses, empty files, waiting to
receive data...they know instinctually what is appropriate for
them...and others..

In my experience, kids question everything, when given a 'voice', and
safe space to use it...and mine do.

long ago i studied the wicca an the budda an one more the witches bible
an there was another sorda like wicca but i cant recall what the name
was . but now the only one i go with is the king james. but feel free to
speak just saying what i beleive in. have a good one

by the way, I posted this in the 'other' topic, thought it belonged here
too.

My beliefs as an atiest.

I BELIEVE:
that that some people find wholeness in having a faith that includes
God.

that those who believe in a God have the right to extend the good nature
of their beliefs to others.

that those who believe in a God, do so on a personal level and can not
and should not ever try to convert or criticize others for their
beliefs.

that every person, no matter thier belief has a responsibility to the
eco system of this planet and a great responsibilty to the society of
humans in every land.

that when I die, I cease to exist.

that whatever one's philosophy towards life is, that it deserves
credence, for at least one person values it.

Euthanasia should be the right of every person, when it is known that
thier body will fail miserably and end any quality of life.

athiesim is not a state of mind, it is an accepted philosophy
of a limited existance. This does not give any athiest the right to
murder, destroy the earth, litter space or knowingly, viciously hurt any
living species.

as an athiest, I acknowledge that there are things in the universe, that
I can never know.

This is not all I belive, but a good start.

**walks in, reads all posts & makes my way toward the exit, keeping my
philosophical thoughts to myself**