I have not even told my own kids that there is no god, let alone had the audacity to tell someone else's child that there is no god.  What on this great big earth makes people think it's ok for them to espouse their beliefs as facts to my children.  Strangers, let alone family feel they have the right to forcibly indoctrinate to children who are not theirs.  I can not tolerate people telling my kids their beliefs as facts and stand idly by.  

If you feel the need to force your religious beliefs onto my children, expect to hear something in return.  There will be no polite nods, no half-smiles, no shrugs, no quiet walk-aways from this corner.  If you feel the need to tell my children "god bless you" (when they haven't sneezed!) I will respond.  I will tell my child that some people believe in god, and some people don't.  I will continue to inform you when you tell my children 'what pretty church dresses they are wearing" that we do not go to church, sometimes we get dressed up to go to the park.  I ask politely... please, please respect that everyone in the world does not believe as you.  To think so is presumptive, disrespectful and incredibly arrogant.  You might find one day that you happen across a stranger, an acquantance, a family member who pronounces to your children that there is no god.  Let me know what you think when it happens again, and again, and again. 

So, while we are not indoctrinating our children with our beliefs, many other people around us are attempting to do it with their beliefs.  It is tempting to want to counter this, and to inundate our children with atheist propoganda, I hope critical thinking will be enough.  But sheesh, are these people trying to force our hands or what?   

I thought starting off with a little Pink pop culture reference might be fun, especially since I can't get that freakin' song out of my head!  So, in the wide world of blogs this is just another one.  This is one is dedicated to parenting, our kiddos, rants and thoughts from me, and well, the muddy waters we are wading through balancing the dicotomy between critical thought and a religious society. 

My husband, DaddySkeptic and I appear on the outside to be good Christian folk.  We fit the mold pretty well.  We live in the suburbs in the bible belt.  We've been married for over 11 years now and intentionally waited before having kids (shout out to all you dinks out there!).  We have 2 kids (no .5 here!), a dog, a cat, some fish (last time I checked) and rats for our SkepKids.  We are decent, ethical people raising ethical children and we are doing it without religion or spirituality. 

Though I have been atheist/agnostic since I was a teen I am not entirely 'out' about my beliefs.  Yeah, my family knows, all my friends know, but our neigbhors don't know, skepkids friends and their families don't know (but I can tell you what religion each and every one of them follow).  My inlaws don't even know!  When asked what my religion is by people I don't know well I typically respond "I was raised Jewish".  While I identify as a cultural (atheist/secular) Jew, it's a past tense response and a non-answer.  People don't seem to care that I'm not really answering their queston, but I do.  I would love to respond with an accurate statement and say "I'm an atheist".  Well, this blog is my part of my process in doing just that. 

We're bringing skeptic back....