Increasing Number of Parents are Raising Kids Without Religion

An Increasing Number of Parents are Raising Kids Without Religion

Increasing Number of Parents are Raising Kids Without Religion

Younger parents foster their kids curiosity

Families who do not identify with any faith now teach their children to do the same.[/tweetit] This is a different path from those parents who do not believe in a higher power yet teach their children some semblance of religion as they believe a little belief is a must for a moral and compassionate child. For the former, it is harder. When children visit religious relatives, children then ask their parents questions about religious figures. These soft indoctrination methods could be the stepping stone to harder religious learning.

An Increasing Number of Parents are Raising Kids Without Religion[/tweetthis]

A Pew Research Center survey revealed a quarter of U.S. citizens are not affiliated with any religion. The proportion increases when those under 30-years-old are considered, which means many young parents may be religious nones.

Compared with older Americans, fewer young adults believe in active, engaged God

Families identifying as nones want their kids to know and feel compassion and love. They do not, however, want their children to listen to Bible stories. This is as the stories have an indoctrination element. Since children believe anything told to them, it is natural the stories may convert them into religious individuals. No wonder parents suffer difficult conversations with their God-loving parents. They do not want grandparents breaking the secular mold they make to educate their children and make them better human beings. 

As per Professor Christel Manning, religion has a “life cycle” pattern. Manning points out in her book, Losing Our Religion: How Unaffiliated Parents Are Raising Their Children, people desert their religion when they are teenagers. She said the baby boomer generation was the first to leave in large numbers. However, almost 50 percent have gone back to religion. 

The premise of turning back to religion does not hold true for the present generation of parents as they are not reverting back to religion. Raising a child for them in a secular way brings multiple benefits. The child becomes curious due to the inability to hide behind the cloak of obscurantism which is the mainstay of religious education. This curiosity leads to their own research instead of the simple answer that God is the reason for everything.

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