I actually saw this video over at Antibarbie, and it ticked me off to the point that I needed to write a post about it. Let me start off by stating that I am a Catholic. The video is about a family who moved to what they thought was a great small town. However, it turns out the town wasn’t as great as it was made out to be. The family is atheist and the town had a problem with that and pretty much ganged up on the girl. Both kids and teachers at school made of fun of her and talked behind her back. The part that floored me was that the school allowed prayer before and after practice and games. Don’t believe it? The video shows video of it. (Just to add – I hope that this family wins.)
As I said, I am Catholic, and I would have a problem with my kids participating in something like that. Not all kids are Christian, and I understand that. I live in an area that we have a ton of different religions and that would not go over well (yes, my school district is the one that made national news, because they canceled all holiday parties. They did get reinstated after much protest). I understand that kids can be mean, but the fact that adults took part in ostracizing this poor girl makes me even angrier. In a way though, it doesn’t surprise me.
A while back, it was brought to my attention that the book Parenting Beyond Belief: On Raising Ethical, Caring Kids Without Religion
Maybe I am too open minded. I want my children to grow up knowing that there is more that just being Catholic and that others believe different things. That isn’t good or bad; it is just different. I don’t want them going to school and being taught religion (that’s for their mom and dad to do). I don’t want them being involved in group prayer and making others feel like outsiders. I want adults to be able to go to their local bookstore and get a book that will help them to raise their children.
My religion teaches me to be good to others last I checked, and it seems that some people have forgotten that.
