Can’t Win For Losing

offended-angryMaybe it’s the lack of sleep over the past few days and I’m feeling a little touchy.

But can someone tell me what I said, in my first comment to this blog post, if anything, to invite a thorough critique of the idea of raising my children with my religion?

I thought it was nice and simple. In my first (and what I intended to be my only) comment, I sympathized with the author’s opinion, noted that I thought it was impractical to think a parent wouldn’t raise children with dearly-held values and beliefs, and then added that I thought it would be shitty to shut that child out later on if they reject those values and views.

And then I get a comment saying, this post was about “religion” not “values,” thus prompting what I felt was a need to clarify my position and the fact it didn’t matter what term you used, which prompted at least two comments that are aimed at me and (a) the supposed ridiculousness of adding religion to the pile of things I pass down to my kid and (b) suggesting that I said people without religion have no values or weaker values.

All too often, Christians get panned for being “holy rollers” and getting all judgmental. I defend the drive to pass down religion and focus on the need to love and embrace your child even if they reject those values, and I still catch shit.

If anyone non-Christian out there wonders why sometimes Christians feel a bit persecuted even though this is still a largely Christian nation, that is why. It gets tiresome to gently mention my faith and be supportive of dissenting beliefs and encourage that we love everyone, and still get painted as being closed-minded and shallow and supersitious.

Yes, I’m ranting. And if you see this, Votar, I still love you, man (in the platonic, I-only-know-you-online-anyway kind of way). But shit, I wasn’t aiming to debate religion, just encourage acceptance of different parenting styles with regard to religion and urging that we cannot reject our kids if they do choose to reject our values.

4 thoughts on “Can’t Win For Losing

  1. Big Man

    I commented over at that blog. I don’t know if the author will let it through.

    Anyway, don’t get so bent out of shape that folks treated you with less than complete respect. It is what it is. You did a good job of presenting your beliefs and it’s pretty much impossible to convince people who see religion as foolish that it is something to pass down to kids.

    Reply
  2. Deacon Blue

    He lets fools and idiots through along with the rest, and since you’re neither, you’ll certainly get through.

    To the best of my knowledge, the only thing Chez has failed to approve in recent memory was something that was disparaging or nasty about his infant girl.

    I generally don’t let the anti-religion crowd get to me. I think what set me off this time was how utterly innocent my first comment was. It seemed snarky the way Votar “put me in my place” with his two-line comment. I like the guy 90% of the time, and I think he generally respects me, but he definitely gets set off by religious stuff.

    Reply
  3. Esquire

    Definitely agree with this post and like your blog.

    What kills me is how they complain about how religious people view them and then turn right away and give the same treatment to those of us who try to appreciate their point of view. It is definitely frustrating.

    Reply
  4. Deacon Blue

    Thanks, Esquire. Yeah, I agree that it happens like that a bit more often than I’d like. It’s sort of like the liberals vs. the conservatives when that left gets mad at right wing clamping down on them and then returns the favor by shutting down folks with dissenting views and saying THEY should shut up.

    Human nature
    😛

    Reply

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