I do think it’s important that my DS have respect for all religions/belief systems. Let’s say all belief systems that are based on the Golden Rule – which I think is a handy way to differentiate between belief systems and fanatical delusions. In many ways, this simplifies the process. Since most religions take the same or similar moral stands on the most important issues, studying the individual, faith based beliefs, i.e. who is the “ Supreme Being” and who is important in his/her life, becomes a study of culture, not religion. So, in our house, I try to celebrate various different holidays from different religions, with story and song. They vary year to year, with the obvious Christian ones and any that resonate with me or my DS staying each year. Depending on what we are learning, at school or through our social network, we add new ones.

I DO think is important for any child to learn about their culture – whether they live in a family of that culture or not. I’m not sure, though that religion needs to be taught though perhaps rather it is “learned”. That is, exposure to people who have a certain belief system encourages curiosity about it. So, IMHO, exposing any African American child to cultural events serves the purpose of introducing him or her to people who can encourage “learning” the religion. BTW – I happen to love Gospel music, so we actually do attend a number of Gospel events when we can and always accept an invitation to church with our African-American friends…which introduces us both to music and Christianity, as it is interpreted in the African-American community.

We celebrate all the holidays, but I’m starting to think we need more for her … Christmas and Chanukah are celebrations, but have no connection to the meaning of the holidays. Do you make a six-year-old go to Chinese school, Sunday school AND Hebrew school? Probably not. But there’s a need for some info for her, expecially when she pops the question out of the blue, “Mommy, who is Jesus?”