What place does religion have for you in raising your LO?

I love the cultural part of every religion; sharing food on festival days, family get togethers, socialising with every one, across caste/class/religious boundaries. The way churches reach out those in need. I have close Muslim friends and to me, their stories are fascinating.
What has been disturbing to me is this right wingism that's gaining currency. It feels like suddenly voices of moderation have become silent or have been silenced. I do not know if I am dwelling too much in the negative, or I am just sensitive to the changes around me; all this church burning, idol desecrating, muslim witch-huntig nonsense is making me a little fearful of the society's influence (at least the right wing one) overriding the values with which even moderates bring up their children.
As children, I think we all loved to hear stories from Ramayana and Mahabaratha. To me they are myths that are an important part of our religious/cultural/history. But why not the Bible stories or tenets of Islam? Why not eastern religions or nature worshipping paganism? Incidentally, has anyone seen the animation strip about Bheem doing an Al Gore and saving the world from global warming. I am tempted to say let's read the Mahabaratha or Ramayana as literary masterpieces and move on; not contemporise it to appeal to today's children. Of late, there has been this blurring of lines between myth and reality, in the public/political domain. I am not sure it is a healthy thing.

Because of this free rein that I was given, I grew to respect the institution of religion and was always curious to learn about the specifics of each religion. I've attended Midnight Mass with a Catholic friend, gone to a synagogue with Jewish people I knew in Cleveland, visited temples and gurdwaras when I was in India, and I sit in churches as often as I can because I love the architecture and sense of peace.

I keep coming back to this para, in your post Ansuya, and keep wondering, if my child will ever have a chance of growing up like this! I have gone completely off topic, but I think the changing India has bothered me more than I realised. Thanks for listening.

Hi Krithika,
I'm late to this thread.My opinion about Religion is it brings self discipline, motivation, inspiration and everything to my life.I'm strong believer of HINDU religion and its principles.I do believe that the epics are real incidents.I would like to pass that to my daughter also.I'm not going to force her to sit with me and recite Shlokas but I would like her to sit with me when I recite them.If she is choosing something better to do in that time its fine.But I think I would "like" her to have religious beliefs .I personally feel the scriptures and Shlokas are upto personal interpretation.For me they give me enomorous strength and mental power to accomplish things in life.The reason why I don't read Bible or other scriptures is b'cos I never found the need to read them.Everytime I read the scriptures I have I get the path/answer for what I'm looking for so there is no need for me to read things outside my religion.But on the other hand I do respect other religious beliefs.I think we need to teach the children to respect other values and make them, open minded so they can choose the path they want. At the end whatever we do this is truly a self realization path .I would say we should follow what we should believe in and explain the logistics and once they reach the capability they will decide what to do.In my house me and my sister are believers and non-believer of GOD.I think my parents never forced us to do anything.We are doing whatever we found best for our life style.

Thanks
Mangai

Thanks, Nandhu! As some of you have pointed out, one of the most outstanding features of Hinduism is its tolerance of other religious beliefs. Although not all Hindus understand or put into practise this particular characteristic, it makes me proud of my Hindu roots, even if the path I've chosen is non-belief.

Ansuya, I think confusion stems from the fact I am questioning Hinduism and perhaps moving away from it as it is practised by a majority here. My FIL, a non-buddhist buddhist scholar, is only making it worse for me by telling me such wonderful anecdotes of gender equity and tolerance LOL. I feel impelled to question Hinduism now, even though I keep going back to its scriptures or chant when I feel troubled.
I have a feeling I am dwelling too much in the negative given the slew of Hindu extremist backlash against tribals and the silence, a God awful silence, amongst the more moderate. Sorry, this thread has moved from personal to political.

I was reading this article this morning and remembered your thread - Publication | Indian Publication News | Indian Publication Aggregator | Regional Publication News | Leading Publications India

Originally Posted by Srama

I was reading this article this morning and remembered your thread - Publication | Indian Publication News | Indian Publication Aggregator | Regional Publication News | Leading Publications India

Interesting article. Well I've always thought that you dont need religion to be a good person - an opinion I find not easily accepted in India.

Vanathi.

An interesting article Rama, Got me thinking more.
Ditto on what Vanathi said. Tolerance for alternative points of view is becoming very sparse and I am trying to see if i can marry off that tolerance to the good things that religion brings.

It is indeed disturbing to see the growing conflict all over the world, often in the name of religion. It seems like there is this resurgence of conflict and violence in the international arena - not just in India. While to most of us all this appears irrational and illogical I think it is just a complex issue because of emotions involved and historical undertones/context.

What we can do as parents is to instil values of tolerance, inclusiveness, respect for other ways of life and understanding in our children at a young age.

Hello, Krithika

It is really encouraging to read how thoughtful and even-handed your deliberation of this issue is, especially since religion is not something everyone "thinks" about - rather, it can become something that is passed on from parent to child through generations, without question. In my opinion, this is dangerous, because to blindly follow any ideology (even atheism or agnosticism) without exploring its dimensions fully for yourself can be detrimental to the individual, and to society. I think your son is lucky to have a mother who takes such an active role in this aspect of his development.

You're absolutely right about the rise of right-wing conservatism, but be aware that it's happening throughout the world, not just in India, and across all religions. As you've also pointed out, the deadly silence of moderates just feeds the growing ultra-orthodoxy. It's not a trend that bodes well for the future, and I can't see it being checked anytime soon since it has become almost taboo to speak out against religion or religious people, even those whose ideologies are proving harmful to themselves or others.

However, I don't think this means that we should be afraid to speak our mind or point out the hypocrisy of "religious" people who behave in most unreligious ways, ironically in the name of religion (e.g. killing or condoning the slaughter of human beings on religious grounds). Part and parcel of this is questioning extremist Hinduism (and all other extremist belief systems).

I don't consider this "dwelling too much in the negative", as you write. If things are deteriorating, it is our duty to speak out against injustice and immorality. Or, at the very least, we should seek to stop the cycle of hatred and intolerance by making sure we don't bring our children up to behave or believe in such radical ways. This seems to be what you're grappling with, and it is encouraging that you're engaging with your child in this way even at his young age.

As for becoming disillusioned about the changes in India, that is your right, so don't apologise for it! It is an important part of being a responsible and patriotic citizen to consider the actions of government and country impartially and intelligently. Otherwise, as you've said, a dangerous culture of silence arises which is an implicit condonation of whatever corruption or injustice exists.

It is wonderful to hear your very enlightened views, and like I've said, your son and husband are lucky to have such a conscientious and socially responsible woman in their lives. You are the kind of person that I met in India who made me proud of my Indian ancestry. As such, you have a duty to propagate your intellectually robust ways of looking at the world. Don't stop the questions!

Ansuya

Originally Posted by Srama

I was reading this article this morning and remembered your thread - Publication | Indian Publication News | Indian Publication Aggregator | Regional Publication News | Leading Publications India

Did you guys read the original publication ?
I did'nt find anything concrete in the above link.We don't know what type of input data was used to generate the observation.And I strongly feel we always don't need to follow religion to bring up a child. Believers like me use Religion as a medium to incorporate values to my LO.I think thats not the only way.As I said before my sister who is non-believer has 2 kids and as far as I know they are very disciplined and well mannered kids.But since some of you say you recite shlokas I'm starting to wonder what you guys mean by non-believer .Maybe the definition what I'm thinking and what you guys are referring as non-believer is different I believe.

Thanks
Mangai