Raising Kids Without Religion

Here’s an interesting article that begins:

Gone are the days of the unyielding God-fearing mother as the archetype of good parenting, suggests a recent article from the Los Angeles Times. According to multiple reports, research has shown that a secular upbringing may be healthier for children. According to a 2010 Duke University study, kids raised this way display less susceptibility to racism and peer pressure, and are “less vengeful, less nationalistic, less militaristic, less authoritarian, and more tolerant, on average, than religious adults.” But the list of benefits doesn’t stop there.

Insofar as my wife and I are non-religious, we thought it was simply wrong to impose the notion of an omniscient, omnipotent, and potentially vengeful God on our kids, if only because doing so would be hypocritical in the extreme.

Children face an entire array of challenges as they try to make sense of the world around them; they don’t need a whole new layer of complication, contradiction, and the rejection of science.

We knew our kids would be exposed to religion at some point early in their lives–from their cousins, friends, and so forth–and they would be able to make their own choices in this regard.

Moreover, I reasoned that if they want to know what my wife and I believe on the subject, they can ask.