From: cortese@skid.ps.uci.edu (Janis Maria Cortese)
Subject: Re: the next generation...?
Newsgroups: alt.pagan
Organization: University of California, Irvine
Date: 22 Jan 93 02:31:30 GMT

In article <kre-210193205220@b61693.student.cwru.edu> kre@po.CWRU.edu (Keith R. Elflein) writes:
>In reading some of these articles and also from my own mind :) I have come
>across an issue that i would like some input on. When I get married, my
>wife will most likely not be a Wiccan..(who knows though, mebbe she will be
>:) anyways, whether she is or not, what do you think about what to do when
>the children come? Theoretically, one could do several things. Depending on
>your situation, if both parents are Wiccan, you could introduce the
>children to wicca very early..much like the judeo-christian religions do
>with their children. If one parent is a wiccan and the other belongs to one
>of the other religions, there could potentially be some SERIOUS conflict :)

If the Wiccan in question has a SERIOUS conflict about their kids not
being Wiccan, they have some SERIOUS problems.  For any kids, just let
them grow up and ask questions.  They'll clue in however they want.  If
they ask you, "Where do we go when we die?" just tell them, "Well,
people who agree with me think this, but other people think some pther
things."  Maybe you can give the kid a little Whitman's Sampler of what
people think, and then tell them, "But there are peple who don't agree
with any of these, either, and they have their own opinions."  Just let
the kid know that their parents may think one thing, but basically, it's
still an open question.  This can be done for any number of profound
questions that any spirituality deals with.  

>about how to guide the child in religion. In regards to the first, is there
>anyone that you know of who has always been wiccan? (meaning their parents
>were wican and they have been raised wiccan) i would find that
>fascinating...I would like to teach my children Wicca because i feel that
>it is not only a religion, but an entire way of life that i feel is
>correct. (i mean the bond between humans and the rest of nature that we are

Watch out.  A way of life is correct for YOU.  Your kids might not
agree.  What to do if they dig Discordia?  I'd expose them to it, as I
prefer the Wiccan worldview as well, but ultimately they'll have to
arrive at it for themselves.  You don't want to do with Wicca what the
catholics do with catholicism and little kids, which is give it to them
au fait and make them think it's the only way to go.  You'll just make
them sick, and once they get into the "rebellious" phase that this
culture appears to insist on, that'll be the first thing to go.

Just teach them to question and think for themselves, and they'll arrive
at something sooner or later.  If your future spouse insists on raising
the kids one way, think harder about the marriage. 

>a part of)...but then again, i don't know if my children would appreciate
>it if i forced my religion down their throats, like my parents did with me.
>That was probably one of the reasons i left the "religious company" that i
>was a part of after discovering Wicca. Perhaps if the child was interested,
>and asked questions, then i could answer and teach..but only if interested.
>Maybe that is the best method. I think i really feel that the child should
>be left to discover religion for (his)(her)self..with some guidance and a
>lot of support from the parents :) What do you think?

Gotcha!  Just let the kid grow up with a sense of logic and rationality
sbout the universe, and that the universe is open to questions, and that
there are some things that you CAN get the answers to, and some things
that no one yet knows the answers to, and some things beyond asking
questions . . . They'll get the hang of it for themselves. 

Blessings,
Janis 

>"All the Gods are one God, and all the Goddesses are one Goddess, and there
>is one Initiator." 

Why, with the last word of this sentence, do I imagine some deity
somewhere with a wooden paddle, smacking souls in heaven on the ass
while they say, "Thank you sir/madam may I have another!"  Just sick, I
guess. 

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