viernes, 20 de febrero de 2009

secularism at home

Can a child be raised in a 100% secular household? That's a question I often ask myself and I guess is something that will only answered as G grows up.

Religion is everywhere, whether we like it or not, it's a big part of who we are, of how we were raised. So far G has not been baptized, circumcised or presented in any church or temple. My partner swears she's going to get him baptized, even when she is a non practicing catholic who despises organized religion. For her it has to do with her culture, a tradition passed from one generation to another, like Christmas (but more boring and without presents). Should I get him circumcised then? Seeing as even my agnostic father had his "Pepito" sniped. (It's a good thing he's no longer alive, since he would have died if he knew I was writing on a public blog about "Pepito").

What about Easter, Christmas, Carnival, Halloween? Should we treat those holidays as a time for fun and not focus on their religious meaning or should we just ignore them altogether? Did my mother had the same questions, or are those questions for our modern times? Religion was not something we talked about at home. Abuela took me to church every Sunday and both my parents gave me presents at Christmas and for the Reyes Magos Day without attaching any kind of religious connotations to them. Did they have the same questions I have now?

I don't want G to miss out on things both my partner and I remember fondly from our childhood, but are we being hypocrites if we “celebrate” those holidays?

As I write this I’ve been told that the costume for Carnaval is a must, so I guess we’ll just decide as we go along.

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