parents

I’ve read my share of Christian parenting books. Some were pretty good. I’ve also been known to throw my share across the room (okay, just one actually made me that angry) in utter frustration and disbelief.

Right now I’m reading a book called Parenting Beyond Belief, a collection of essays written by secular parents. I don’t agree with all of the pieces, but for the most part, I like it a lot. Not because I have any intention of raising my children without a faith in God. But because it offers a lot of good insights to parenting in general. And because answering kids’ important questions (does God exist? seems like a biggie), in a house where the parents don’t necessarily agree, is dicey (and until now, for us, unchartered) territory at best.

What I find so striking is this. Much of Christian parenting books talk quite a bit about how difficult it is to raise “godly children” in a secular world. Parenting Beyond Belief addresses the struggles that secular parents face when raising “free-thinking children” (as the book would call them) in an overtly religious world.

Funny, huh?