Temporarily Suspended…

By Wendy Thomas Russell | April 11, 2013

Sorry, no new post today! I’m taking a weekend vacation to Vancouver, but I’ll be back with you on Monday. In the meantime, feel free to reach me here: Read more – ‘Temporarily Suspended…’.

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Don’t Just Hang in There: It’s Time to Retire Certain Myths about Grief

By Wendy Thomas Russell | April 8, 2013

If this poster looks at all familiar, you were probably alive in the 80s. For many years, a kitten hanging from a tree branch with the tagline “Hang in there” was as ubiquitous an image as you were likely to find. The pre-Internet version of LOLCats. (What is up with Americans’ weird fascination with captioned cat pictures?) Anyway, the reason I bring it up is because that poster informed how I looked at “hard times” when I was a kid. “Sometimes life sucks and you’ve just got to hold on,” is what I took from [...] Read more – ‘Don’t Just Hang in There: It’s Time to Retire Certain Myths about Grief’.

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Thinking About the Best Ways to Comfort Grieving Kids? Think Again.

By Wendy Thomas Russell | April 4, 2013

Ten months ago, I wrote a blog called Heaven Doesn’t Help Us: Talking to Kids About Death. It’s all about how religious platitudes are useless when it comes to explaining death to young children. In fact, according to numerous child psychologists and grief experts I’d interviewed at the time, talk of heaven is rarely a comfort at all. But what I failed to realize at the time — in fact, what I failed to realize until this week — is that this whole notion of comfort is part of the problem. Russell Friedman, co-founder of [...] Read more – ‘Thinking About the Best Ways to Comfort Grieving Kids? Think Again.’.

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Only Five Religious Books Have Won the Caldecott — Most Before 1963

By Wendy Thomas Russell | April 1, 2013

If you’ve ever perused the religion books within the children’s section of your local library, you’re probably aware that it can be a bit underwhelming. Whether you’re going for a book about the life of Buddha, the history of Confucianism, or the holiday of Easter, so many of the books are old and outdated, clearly written for religious children, or without much literary merit. It sticks out particularly because there are so many great secular children’s books — brilliant, award-winning books that will stick with our kids for the rest of our lives. Sometimes it’s [...] Read more – ‘Only Five Religious Books Have Won the Caldecott — Most Before 1963’.

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Quick! What the Hell is Easter?

By Wendy Thomas Russell | March 28, 2013

My favorite anecdote told by Teach Not Preach blogger Jim Morrison appears in one of his first blogs. As you may recall, Morrison is a World Religion teacher at a Minnesota high school, and has been for decades. This particular anecdote involves a junior named Angel — Angel! —  who approached Morrison after class one day in 1997 to ask one, discreet question. “Is Jesus dead?” Morrison said the girl had waited until they were alone and appeared to be blushing when she asked the question. Morrison played it off warmly, but, inside, he was [...] Read more – ‘Quick! What the Hell is Easter?’.

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Quick! What the Hell is Holi?

By Wendy Thomas Russell | March 25, 2013

I’ll be writing more about some of the slightly more obscure (to mainstream America) holidays in the coming months. Again, I do this because it’s a great and easy way to inject a bit of religious literacy into a child’s day-to-day. I always suggest using dinnertime or car rides to talk a little bit about each holiday, its roots and its rituals. And, if you’re game, you can “celebrate” the holidays yourselves with food, music and associated activities. Because, really, why not? First up: Holi, a Hindu holiday officially observed on Wednesday. Holiday: Holi AKA: “Festival [...] Read more – ‘Quick! What the Hell is Holi?’.

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12 Reasons We Indoctrinate Kids — and Why We Shouldn’t

By Wendy Thomas Russell | March 21, 2013

In nonreligious circles, “indoctrination” has become a pejorative. Something to resist and avoid. The way secularists see it, instructing children to accept any religious faith uncritically deprives them of their own unique reflections, observations and opinions. At its worst, indoctrination is a requirement to blindly follow, to believe without question, to respect and obey authority figures simply because they have been branded as such. Yet, millions of parents throughout the world indoctrinate their children. Why? 1. Comfort: The idea of heaven can be undeniably comforting, especially to children with anxieties about death or dying. By [...] Read more – ‘12 Reasons We Indoctrinate Kids — and Why We Shouldn’t’.

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Quick! What the Hell is Passover?

By Wendy Thomas Russell | March 18, 2013

Most Christians (current and cultural) are all too familar with the story of the Last Supper, in which Jesus hosts his 12 disciples for one last meal before he’s crucified. What’s rarely made clear, though, is that Jesus’ final meal was quite likely a Passover meal. After all, the Jewish holiday of Passover was the reason Jesus had made his entrance into Jerusalem in the first place that year. Even if it wasn’t technically a Seder (pronounced SAY-der and referring to that day’s big feast), I have a hard time believing Jesus wasn’t inspired by the [...] Read more – ‘Quick! What the Hell is Passover?’.

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‘Up Series’ Captures the Magic of Age 7

By Wendy Thomas Russell | March 11, 2013

One of my all-time favorite things IN THE WORLD is the Up Series, a British documentary series that follows 14 socio-economically diverse 7-year-olds throughout their lives. Interviewed about their dreams, ambitions, passions and beliefs for the 1964 film Seven Up!, these children were revisited again seven years later — when they were 14, then again at 21, and so on. Now, the “children” are 56 years old, and the latest of the films — 56 Up — is about to be available in the United States. Here’s a trailor for it. The films were based [...] Read more – ‘‘Up Series’ Captures the Magic of Age 7’.

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Kids Leaving Parents’ Religion Certainly Gets People Talking

By Wendy Thomas Russell | March 7, 2013

I’m hella busy today, but wanted to link to a few recent news posts about children leaving the faiths into which they were born. The first is informative, the second is instructive, and the third — well, the third is just trash. But watch it for the comedic value. Study: Religious Parents’ Divorce May Cause Children to Leave the Church The Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion released a study Tuesday finding that children who have two religious parents are twice as likely to lose that religion if the parents divorce. The journal does [...] Read more – ‘Kids Leaving Parents’ Religion Certainly Gets People Talking’.

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Relax, It’s Just God

A Blog for Secular Parents
For parents who aren’t religious, the task of talking to children about religion can be daunting. So daunting, in fact, that the entire subject often gets glossed over or ignored completely. Relax, It’s Just God is a blog (and soon a book) intended to help parents break their silence without breaking a sweat.
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