Parenting and existing in an irrational world
Joseph Reyes is going to possibly be charged with violating a restraining order after he took his daughter to be baptized, which was apparently a violation of the terms of his divorce with his Jewish ex-wife.
full story: link
Really sad to see a child becoming the pawn in what is obviously just a conflict between the two parents. But it raises the larger issues that I’m sure parents in inter-faith marriages have to deal with regarding the religious upbringing of their children.
I’m lucky enough to have a wife who shares my non-belief so it is something I don’t have to worry about. But if anyone is a skeptical parent out there who is with a religious partner, or even a former partner, I’d love to hear any advice you might have for others who may share that situation.
RAS is a blog and a community dedicated to skeptics, who also find themselves raising children. RAS is about the elements of raising children to be skeptics and free-thinkers. Our goal is to discuss topics not only relevant to the raising of our children but also general skeptic topics to help us be better skeptics ourselves.
1 Response to Father facing jail time for taking his daughter to church.
Merry K
March 1st, 2010 at 16:25
My husband was admonished in the separation agreement and the divorce decree not to say anything that went against the teachings of the mother’s churh, The Latter Day Saints. He was supposed to take them to the church even when it was our weekend with them, he got around that by taking them home early enough so their mom could take them. He was also LDS prior to the divorce. However, the mother was free to tell the kids (extended family helped too) that their father had ruined their “eternal family” and that he was going to “outer darkness” and he was under the influence of Satan! Unfortunately, because of the level of brainwashing that occurs in the LDS church, his kids believe all of this is true. Hopefully, when they get older and figure out the church is wrong, he’ll have a better relationship with them.