Judaism
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Memory Candles a Secular Way for Kids to Honor Their Dead
By Wendy Thomas Russell | May 2, 2013
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This is how my good friend Katie describes herself: “A confused Catholic married to a cultural Jew, raising a moral, but interfaithless family.” You love her too now, right? So anyway, the other day Katie and I were talking about a recent blog I’d written about the importance of talking with our kids about our dead loved ones in “happy terms.” She said she’d really struggled with this herself, having lost her mom nine years ago to cancer. She still experiences lingering pain, and sometimes the loss makes her profoundly sad. (I expect she’s not [...] Read more – ‘Memory Candles a Secular Way for Kids to Honor Their Dead’.
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Quick! What the Hell is Passover?
By Wendy Thomas Russell | March 18, 2013
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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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Kids Leaving Parents’ Religion Certainly Gets People Talking
By Wendy Thomas Russell | March 7, 2013
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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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Quick! What the Hell is Purim?
By Wendy Thomas Russell | February 22, 2013
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I always think of the Bible as sort of dry reading — difficult to understand, weighted down by archaic language and vague descriptions, full of stories that just kind of go on and on. But, of course, that’s not always true. And it’s especially not true in the Book of Esther. Reading more like a Shakespearean play, the 10-chapter Book of Esther tells one hell of an intriguing story. It’s a story of honor, greed, deception, justice, irony, death and triumph. There is a clear beginning, a clear ending and even a climax and denouement. And, [...] Read more – ‘Quick! What the Hell is Purim?’.
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God’s (Alleged) Gender Proves Problematic for Some Parents
By Wendy Thomas Russell | February 18, 2013
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About a year ago — when my daughter was six — I noticed that she had been sitting in silence for a surprisingly long time. “Are you okay?” I asked. “I’m sad,” she said. “Why are you sad?” I asked. “Because,” she said, “God is a boy and not a girl.” “How do you know?” “I just know,” she said, glumly. “And why does that make you sad?” “Because,” she said. “I’m a girl.” I don’t spend a lot of time complaining about religion. Usually, I just don’t see the point. Religion is so big [...] Read more – ‘God’s (Alleged) Gender Proves Problematic for Some Parents’.
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A Shopping Guide for Nonreligious Parents (Part II)
By Wendy Thomas Russell | December 10, 2012
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Are you looking to introduce religion to your child in a neutral and decidedly non-devotional way, but don’t know where to start? Do you lack the knowledge you think you should have? Do your eyes sort of glaze over when you hear the words “religious literacy?” Then this shopping guide is for you! In honor of the Judeo-Christian month of giving, I’ve amassed some of my favorite resources in hopes that you’ll encourage your child to learn a bit more about the religious world around them — and have some fun while they’re at it. [...] Read more – ‘A Shopping Guide for Nonreligious Parents (Part II)’.
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A Shopping Guide for Nonreligious Parents (Part I)
By Wendy Thomas Russell | November 29, 2012
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In honor of the Judeo-Christian month of giving, I’m offering a few recommendations to add to your shopping lists. These are items I have bought myself, or will buy, or might buy, or probably won’t buy but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t. Seriously, if you want some assistance in “introducing” world religion and religious concepts to your kids, these are excellent tools. I’ll be publishing this in two parts: The first today, the second on Monday. Don’t look for this list to be repeated next year, by the way. In 2013, I’ll be recommending you buy [...] Read more – ‘A Shopping Guide for Nonreligious Parents (Part I)’.
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75 Reasons to Share the Bible with Kids (Even if You Don’t Believe Any of It)
By Wendy Thomas Russell | November 19, 2012
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If we want our children to be religiously literate — and who among us doesn’t, honestly? — then it behooves us to talk about the Bible in respectful terms, even if we don’t think much of it is true. When parents call the Bible “a book of fairy tales” (direct quote from my survey for nonreligious parents), it makes the whole thing seem silly and unimportant. And not just unimportant in a religious way, but unimportant in a universal way. I grew up with parents who talked about William Shakespeare like he was THE MAN (with [...] Read more – ‘75 Reasons to Share the Bible with Kids (Even if You Don’t Believe Any of It)’.
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Taking the ‘Myth’ out of the Bible
By Wendy Thomas Russell | November 15, 2012
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Oh, Bible. You do confound us so. You are so very dense, complicated and repetitive, not to mention confusing, contradictory, outrageous and far too long-winded to actually read. And yet you are so wise, textured and powerful. You are surprising and exciting and flush with cultural references. In fact, you make it almost impossible for any of us to understand who we are as a civilization without at least getting your Cliffs Notes. As author E.D. Hirsch Jr. tells children in The First Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: The Bible is by far the best-known book [...] Read more – ‘Taking the ‘Myth’ out of the Bible’.
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Top 10 Religious Costumes for Kids
By Wendy Thomas Russell | October 29, 2012
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I don’t blame the Jesus Ween people for declaring war on Halloween. Little kids dressing up in cute costumes, going door to door to get candy from their neighbors…well, it’s just so insidious. But you’ll be glad to know that where there’s conflict, there’s a potential for a happy medium. And clearly — CUH-LEAR-LEE — this year’s happy medium resides squarely in religious costuming for kids. Because the staff here at Relax, it’s Just God aim to be helpful, above all else, “we’ve” amassed the 10 best religious costumes based on factors much too complicated [...] Read more – ‘Top 10 Religious Costumes for Kids’.
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