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oscar - I practiced a different religion to my parents...but as I said earlier, neither of them were overly religious to begin with, dad certainly wasn't.
Mum was quite Catholic, and had very little understanding of/for or interest in learning about anything else...so I chose not to talk about it too much. I didnt need her understanding or approval, and I actually quite liked the thought that nobody knew much about what I believed
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It never even occured to me that DD1 wouldn't share her faith with me. Doh! How young were you when you decided to follow and practice a religion other than your parents?
oscar - I practiced a different religion to my parents...but as I said earlier, neither of them were overly religious to begin with, dad certainly wasn't.
Mum was quite Catholic, and had very little understanding of/for or interest in learning about anything else...so I chose not to talk about it too much. I didnt need her understanding or approval, and I actually quite liked the thought that nobody knew much about what I believed
Will be back alter to address other things
Registered User
I went through a phase when I was about 13/14 where I decided I would try and immerse myself in God's Word. I wanted to be Christian, I wanted to belong to that, I wanted the hope and love it offered. I tried very hard, began attending a Pre Vat II Catholic Church. That lasted for about 12 months.
I then began to realise that i was pretending? That something was amiss. That I was not getting a clear picture and that I was finding I was seeking not the Word, but the Faith.
I so deperately wanted something to believe in. I had a pretty heavy time in my teens and really wanted to believe in SOMETHING I wanted that devotion I saw in so many people of different religions...I wanted to believe like the Benny Hin followers on TV lol
So I started going to a revival church? They had a band and a big love in sort of place. Lots of arms inthe air and tears and amens - very gospel I suppose. It was great! I loved it. I felt something and it was wonderful
I think this is where I lost my mum lol She is not into all that stuff, was raised and schooled by nuns,etc and very catholic, although she didnt attend church or anything anymore.
But yeah she would roll her eyes at me - which thinking now sounds really horrible, but I understood her and never felt disencouraged. She knew I was going through a phase and knew it woud pass and it did very quickly! I didnt feel the substance.
So then I all of a sudden appeared to be with new people with new ideas whne I was about 16 - and immediately it felt right.
But you cant tell your very straight mother about the Tree of Life and Skyclad rituals in the moonlight...or about the Tuatha De Danann and Faerie...lol So I didnt.
Mum knew I held different beliefs, but it wasnt until she was diagnosed last August that we had a talk about how and what I believed, and she could understand how I was dealing and reacting to her dying through the faith I had Druidry.
I hope your DD will share her spiritual journey with you if you want that, but trust me when I say that it was not a negative experience for me. I felt the freedom to try new ideas on and see how they fit, without anyone knowing my every move, or feeling I would be judged as fickle...It was freedom and that is the essence of how I came upon the path I am one- through embracing and seeking true freedom of my mind from others.
**sorry for the epic response! Felt the explanation was necessary**
Last edited by LimeSlice; June 24th, 2009 at 02:07 AM.
If my DD grows up to be very religious (given i am not, but the same would be true if she grew up to not be religious when i was) i would not question her so long as she was happy. The same as if she grew up to be homosexual (which i'm not) or very attached to material wealth (which i'm not) or incredibly interested in her appearance (guess what, i'm not! lol!).
To me the relationship a person has between themself and their Faith/God/Allah/Source/Love - whatever they know It to be - is incredibly personal. More personal even than their relationship with their partner. It is NONE of my business what my DD believes unless it is causing her pain and making her deeply unhappy (i.e. if she was in an abusive relationship, which God tends not to go in for). Every person, IMO, has a right to their beliefs. It is easy for me, because i do not believe my way is the only or right way (and i understand why those who do believe that DO believe it - i.e. the quran, bible and torah all state it to be the case, i'm not implying the belief is baseless) so there is a lot of wiggle-room for me. DD could believe a lot of things without it overtly challenging me. I don't have the answers, i don't know the truth, part of the gift i give her by having her at all is the opportunity to go out into the world and see if SHE can make sense of it.
Oscaroscar i was raised by non-relgious parents but had 2 Christian phases, one when i was 8-9 and one when i was 19-20. I began asking "but why do they believe that?" when i was 4 though. My father is an engineer and he demanded i explain my beliefs but loved me despite his inability to understand (it was his probing which highlighted to me the fact that i was "pretending" as Limeslice put it). My mother regarded religion as a crutch, because of HER life experiences, but i know she didn't necessarily think it a worthless one because she included a psalm and a reading from the book of revelations in her otherwise Humanist funeral plan to comfort those friends she had who were Christian.
Bx
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