GUS/Secular Roll Call

[Tangerine]

I'm secular.

 

Loverboy is a a straying Mormon.

 

Dd is 3.5. We do some reading and some Saxon K Math.

 

Junior (boy or girl) due at the end of November.

 

 

Hi! I am an atheist married to a Mormon apostate. :)

[kittysmom]

I'm a longtime lurker and recent poster. We're embarking on our 7th year of homeschooling and we're most definitely secular. :001_smile:

[Elisa]

:seeya:

[Cammie]

Growing up my parents called me their "Hari-Christian" for my mix of Hindu and Christian ideas. I am married to a Hindu and the children are being raised to respect, honor and value both religions (yes it is possible!)

[jazzyfizzle]

We are strange here. We are definitely not homeschooling for religious reasons- so secular, but I like a few programs for how they work for us. If I had to give myself a label, I would say Panentheist.

[Truscifi]

I'm confused. I thought homeopathy was herbal teas and natural medicinal plants and such. I didn't realize that was a believe in/not believe in sort of thing. Unless it is like when people say they don't believe in immunizations, meaning they don't agree with them. But that doesn't really make sense in this context.

 

Or does it mean something else altogether and I really am just confused?

[C_l_e_0..Q_c]

Former atheist here. I was officially raised Catholic, but from a family of atheists. I was atheist from the age of 18 till God called me back, dragged me back kicking and screaming ;-) (well not really, but I can't deny the spiritual experience I had for 2 years). Anyway, I'm now a practicing Catholic, but I still feel empathy towards atheists. DH is still one.

 

I just can't bring myself to raise the kids in any way other than secular. They do get a religious education, but it's very open-ended. God will call them at one point, and it may not be toward Catholicism. I just don't want to 'brainwash' my kids. Secular all the way in schooling, and in most of life too.

[MelanieM]

I'm confused. I thought homeopathy was herbal teas and natural medicinal plants and such. I didn't realize that was a believe in/not believe in sort of thing. Unless it is like when people say they don't believe in immunizations, meaning they don't agree with them. But that doesn't really make sense in this context.

 

Or does it mean something else altogether and I really am just confused?

 

Here's a great article that outlines the basics of homeopathy. The reason some people say they don't believe in it is because the remedies are created with such a small amount of the original substance as to have no chemically active ingredients. Basically, it's a form of energetic medicine.

[Audrey]

Here's a great article that outlines the basics of homeopathy. The reason some people say they don't believe in it is because the remedies are created with such a small amount of the original substance as to have no chemically active ingredients. Basically, it's a form of energetic medicine.

 

Good link Melanie. Also, it's important not to confuse homeopathy with herbal medicine, which does use herbs, but not in the way that homeopathy does. They are not the same thing.

[MelanieM]

Good link Melanie. Also, it's important not to confuse homeopathy with herbal medicine, which does use herbs, but not in the way that homeopathy does. They are not the same thing.

 

Yes, absolutely! There are many homeopathic remedies that I use with great success in my family but I would never take the actual herb. Heck, there are many homeopathic remedies where ingesting the actual substance could kill you! Very different modalities.

 

I have seen some amazing things with homeopathy. Perhaps we should have a spin-off thread so we can talk about it some more. (Or is that destined to go the way of crockpots and shoes in the house? ;))

[Truscifi]

Here's a great article that outlines the basics of homeopathy. The reason some people say they don't believe in it is because the remedies are created with such a small amount of the original substance as to have no chemically active ingredients. Basically, it's a form of energetic medicine.

 

 

Ok, based on that I don't think I believe in homeopathy either. I didn't realize it was different than herbal medicine.

[yellowperch]

Cautiously optimistic agnostics here. Raised a liberal, social justice activist, kumbaya-singing Catholic. Wish that church still existed.

 

The only religious "training" my children have received is a comparitive lit approach--many Catholics believe this, some Muslims believe this, your born-again cousin believes this, your Jewish cousins believe that.

 

Funny/interesting conversation with my children. We were talking about the greek gods (DS2 loves reading about them) and the differences between them and God as their (liberal Catholic kumbaya-singing)grandmother understands God. My son observed that the Greek gods did not dictate morality in any sense that we understand it. He wondered if there was a moral code associated with Greek mythology. My older son suggested that the word gods and God are only nominally related, but they have little to do with each other. We carried on a fun conversation about what a radical concept monotheism coupled with a moral code must have been when Judaism developed.

 

Then we talked about mono and poly and all the words that are derived from each.

[mattie5]

I am a professional WTM lurker homeschooling 3 of my five children. I haven't settled on a label yet as I have only recently deconverted from christianty. I am learning to think for myself and asking questions and trying to teach my children to do the same. I am enjoying my freedom (freedom for me) immensely.

 

Matona

pondering big stuff over a cold beer

raising book lovers in Alabama

dd (12,11,5)

ds (9,7)

[elise1mds]

Add me to the list!

[LauraGB]

Secular homeschooler whose kids study religions as intensely as they study history.

Edited July 3, 2010 by LauraGB
added an s to religion

[dragons in the flower bed]

I am teaching a secular eighth grade to please my non-Pagan kid. But I am a religious non-Christian homeschooler, not a secular one; me and the kids are religious in school and life. So I'm divided here, "Goddess/Universe/Spirit" would seem to indicate that I'm okay adding myself to this roll call, but I think secular means not being religious. So...:confused: I'm not an equal and opposite to CC! I don't even teach using just secular stuff, although in some areas, yeah, no compromise.

 

- Rose here

- teaching four kids, currently 8th grade and 12 years old, 5th/9, 2nd/7, and K/4,

- living in sin with their daddio for a good long time and planning to keep at it,

- using an LCC approach,

- Neopagan Druid

- actually not a relativist so much (eek!) and not a humanist either

Edited July 3, 2010 by dragons in the flower bed
splicey splicing

[cmarango]

We are a non religious family. I have never felt a need to go beyond that though.

 

We are planning on studying the bible as literature in the future. There are just way too many biblical references in Western literature that go right over my head.

[MelanieM]

I am teaching a secular eighth grade to please my non-Pagan kid. But I am a religious non-Christian homeschooler, not a secular one. Goddess/Universe/Spirit would seem to indicate that I'm okay adding myself to this roll call.

 

Oh yeah, I meant to address this earlier... While I am not religious in the organized religion sense of the word, I am most certainly very spiritual, and therefore wouldn't call myself secular because I define secular as non-religious/non-spiritual.

 

GUS (God(des)/Universe/Source) is meant to be an all inclusive word to define a set of spiritual beliefs. Using my above definition of secular (non-religious/spiritual) I wouldn't say it refers to secular content. (And on the original thread where it was discussed, I thought the idea was that Pagans (and those who throw in with that group in some way) would use it on related threads, similar to how Christians use CC on some threads. (Again, I don't really see how Paganism is secular.)

 

Ramble ramble... all of this has me wondering if, in homeschooling circles, secular is being used as a synonym for non-Christian. ?

Edited July 3, 2010 by MelanieM

[dragons in the flower bed]

Okay, I see. Yes, I'm one of those ornery old-fashioned types that objects to the division between religion and spirituality, 'cause my religion is a good conduit for my spirituality and my spirituality is in fine tune with my religion. So can I remove myself from the roll call? Ah well.

 

 

Ramble ramble... all of this has me wondering if, in homeschooling circles, secular is being used as a synonym for non-Christian. ?

 

Yes, in homeschooling circles secular is used as a synonym for non-Christian, similar to the way curriculum is used to mean publisher or materials.

[Mad Jenny Flint]

Atheist in the Bible Belt.

[MelanieM]

Okay, I see. Yes, I'm one of those ornery old-fashioned types that objects to the division between religion and spirituality, 'cause my religion is a good conduit for my spirituality and my spirituality is in fine tune with my religion. So can I remove myself from the roll call? Ah well.

 

 

Nuh-uh, you're not going anywhere! Especially not before I get some rest so I can come back with a clear head tomorrow and think about what the word 'religion' really means to me. Besides, I like ornery, old-fashioned types.

 

Yes, in homeschooling circles secular is used as a synonym for non-Christian, similar to the way curriculum is used to mean publisher or materials.

 

Ok, so this would be the answer to my confusion. I'm not sure I want to adopt this practice, myself. It feels rather like the mythology = falsehood misnomer.

[Peela]

Secular homeschooler. Quiet belief in God and Jesus Christ. Dh and boys go to church every week, but, like Ghandi, I have a problem with (some of) the 'Christians'.

 

I have always felt that human beings might need religious belief as a basis for morality, but I've never really thought very deeply about it up till this moment. Any insights?

 

I would say...it seems to be so, that people need a religious belief for morality, and morality is a good thing for the vast masses, to keep them in line.

However...although I would not for a minute want to take away morality from the masses, it is my experience that the more one grows in consciousness (awareness), the less one needs an external system of morality in order to live a good life. One can rely on one's own inner guidance and goodness, and be quite secure in the knowledge one will not go off and rape and murder, and one will try to do one's best to be kind and coonsiderate of one's fellow mankind, since one realises they are just the same as oneself.

Once you bring "the devil" into the picture, you have fear and you can be controlled by people who run religions. If you realise the devil is fear itself and has no independent ability to harm you or anyone, excpet the power you yourself give it....you can rest in knowing that GUS is good, and not need to cling to anything in order to be safe from whatever the opposite to GUS is supposed to be- although one can instead be inspired by whatever system/s inspires one to live from GUS rather than personal, small minded ego.

[Rosie_0801]

I have always felt that human beings might need religious belief as a basis for morality, but I've never really thought very deeply about it up till this moment. Any insights?

 

I'd say no, unless our resident apathists are also really radical unschoolers who make no attempt to instill any morals or train to any code of behaviour. This being a classicallish homeschooling board, I'm tipping our apathists aren't really radical homeschoolers.

 

My ds wanted to go join the Scouts; I have some reservations about this, after reading about what they think of Atheists, but I didn't say anything to ds.

 

We attended one meeting and ds was all ready to join, then we got the paper work you need to sign. It asks you sign to a statement of faith, or something to that affect, that you believe in God. Well, I signed it, I did not want my son to miss out due to my thoughts on the subject.

 

 

Interesting. We don't sign statements of faith, but promise to do our duty to God. That bit might have been updated since I finished up guides, about 6 years ago. I had no problems promising to do my duty to God, I just meant something different to what other people meant when they promised that.

 

Rosie

Edited July 3, 2010 by Rosie_0801

[dragons in the flower bed]

Ok, so this would be the answer to my confusion. I'm not sure I want to adopt this practice, myself. It feels rather like the mythology = falsehood misnomer.

 

You know just how to stroke the Neopagan, don't you? :D

[MelanieM]

You know just how to stroke the Neopagan, don't you? :D

 

Ha!!!

 

Ok, I have decided to use my sleepy brain for just a few more minutes after all, and I think I see the merit behind your objection to the division between religion and spirituality. In fact, I realize that the only reason I have ever described myself as non-religious is because of a desire not to lump myself in with a particular stereotype. Which has led me to abandon a perfectly good word... something I am always loathe to do. Actually, it's the whole secular as non-Christian thing all over again! Eep.

 

That's me in the corner... choosing my religion... (intentional mistype, there)

[Rosie_0801]

I can so relate to this. My 8yo daughter is beginning to reject her Catholicism in a pretty sensible fashion for such a young girl. However, she has been enamored of Hinduism ever since I showed the kids a series of kid-friendly videos about various world religions. Her rationale? "Reincarnation is a nice idea, and they have better stories." :laugh:

 

:D I'm all for that approach to religion. :D

 

I don't think I've mentioned it on these boards, but add another atheist to this group. I figure it's safe to say that this deep in this thread.

 

Safe? Hehehe. I haven't been toasted yet and I stick my nose in nearly everywhere!

 

Until now I've never considered limiting friendships because of different religious beliefs or values, and I'm sort of shocked at myself for even thinking about it.

 

Sometimes a Mamma has to do what a Mamma has to do.

 

Rosie

Edited July 3, 2010 by Rosie_0801

[Peela]

Okay, I see. Yes, I'm one of those ornery old-fashioned types that objects to the division between religion and spirituality, 'cause my religion is a good conduit for my spirituality and my spirituality is in fine tune with my religion. So can I remove myself from the roll call? Ah well.

 

Do you object to the division for everyone or just for yourself? 'cos I can see that religion is meant to be and certainly can be a conduit for true spirituality....but it isnt necessarily so and quite often, even the opposite (in other words, religion can be a cover for all sorts of things not remotely spiritual).

 

I have a passion for stripping away the bells and smells and seeing where there is "life" in the religious structure- where it is still a living religion, and where it has been killed by dogma and beliefs out of context, and used by priests to manipulate the masses.

But that split is not so strong in every religion and the nature based religions like paganism seem to me to be very alive because they are dealing with living energies in our present environment, which one can actually tune into, not just beliefs one needs to take on faith.

[dragons in the flower bed]

Do you object to the division for everyone or just for yourself?

 

I object to pretty few things for everyone. Murder. I guess that might be it. Maybe stealing, lying and starvation.

 

You mention stripping away. I think attaching irreligiousness to spirituality is one of those unnecessary ideas that should be stripped away to help everything stay lucid.

[elizabeth]

Cautiously optimistic agnostics here. Raised a liberal, social justice activist, kumbaya-singing Catholic. Wish that church still existed.

 

I hope it is acceptable to quote you as I could not have said it any better . This is where we are at.

[lisabees]

Agnostic/atheist family here, raising a bunch of free thinkers in a highly conservative suburb. I love being the town rebel! ;)

 

Any ideas on the best way to encourage atheist ds16 to be more tolerant and less patronizing when discussing religion?

[Rosie_0801]

Any ideas on the best way to encourage atheist ds16 to be more tolerant and less patronizing when discussing religion?

 

 

How about "Ha! You sound just like [really annoying religious relative] when you use that tone!"

 

;)

Rosie

[LaurieinCA]

We are reform Jews, and secular homeschoolers. Our kids do attend religious/ Hebrew school, but that is not part of our homeschooling day. In our large synagogue, I believe we are the only homeschoolers...?! From my experience, it seems that very few Reform/ Conservative Jewish parents homeschool... many of them are almost fanatical about the PS system, and I find myself having to constantly defend our reasons for choosing this path.

[meet me in paris]

:seeya::seeya::seeya:

 

Count us in, too!

[Peela]

Agnostic/atheist family here, raising a bunch of free thinkers in a highly conservative suburb. I love being the town rebel! ;)

 

Any ideas on the best way to encourage atheist ds16 to be more tolerant and less patronizing when discussing religion?

 

Sometimes kids tend to say what needs to be said, that adults wont say because they are being too nice, trying to be politically correct!

(Of course, I dont know how bad he is, but is he being truly offensive to others to their face, or just making politically incorrect comments that shock you, in the privacy of the family home? My kids do the latter frequently and I wouldnt want them to feel they couldn't.).

My kids became quite anti- Christian for a while there but eventually it became a non issue for them.

Ds's best friend is from a strong Christian family so suddenly it wasnt so cool to dis them .

[peacefully]

Dh is atheist, and I like to think of myself as just skeptical and tolerant. We're just beginning to homeschool, and we use secular materials. The vibe in our household is progressive, science-y, and curious. And since Mrs. Mungo mentioned political affiliation, I'll say that we've been members of the Green Party since its inception in this country (and actually before that), although I usually vote the Democratic ticket.

 

We are also going to start attending a Unitarian Universalist fellowship this summer, so that's going to be interesting. I attended church as a kid, went to a fundamentalist Baptist private school, and spent a lot of time learning about Buddhism and Paganism while in college. Dh's folks were involved with Humanistic Judaism, but he was raised without much religious education at all. Poor guy is still bitter that he wasn't bar mitzvahed -- he wanted the goods.

 

We want our kids to have lots of information about different beliefs and to have an attitude of curiosity, kindness and acceptance about the whole topic of spirituality. Lately, ds has been keenly interested in animal spirits, thanks to the nature-based day camp that he attended. He has also told me that he doesn't believe in God, but he thinks Transformers are real.

Edited July 3, 2010 by yllek
typo

[Jenny in Atl]

:cheers2:

[HRAAB]

Cautiously optimistic agnostics here. Raised a liberal, social justice activist, kumbaya-singing Catholic. Wish that church still existed.

 

I hope it is acceptable to quote you as I could not have said it any better . This is where we are at.

 

It's is so good to know I'm not totally alone. So far I count three of us, and not one of the three IRL - that homeschools.

[Scrub Jay]

Secular homeschooler here. I just posted about our Kindergarten year today. My blog is in my signature.

[patchfire]

Another secularly homeschooling bunch here. :) Though lately I've just taken to calling myself evolutionary. :P

[Julie Kirkwood]

Count us in, too. :)

[Hannah]

Though lately I've just taken to calling myself evolutionary. :P

 

:lol:

[Ravin]

Chiming in here. We're Heathens, and our homeschool materials are secular. We mostly follow LCC with a few tweaks (such as more science, and our "Classical Studies" this year are bible stories for cultural literacy, instead of Norse Myths which she hears often in other contexts).

 

This year we'll be doing:

 

Practical Arithmetics (old Upton-Strayer text reprint)

FLL, finishing Word Mastery followed by Webster's Spelling (the version on Don Potter's site with the religious content excised), and read-alouds by DD of her choice

Astronomy with free course on www.astronomyforkids.com plus experiments in Astronomy for Every Kid (VanCleave)

Rosetta Stone Spanish (entirely because we already had it and had no money left for a Latin curric this year)

U.S. History with GuestHollow's curric tweaked to what's available at our library

American folklore for literature, mostly from the QPB Treasury of North American Folklore.

Virtues study based on the Nine Noble Virtues, using The Book of Virtues and other sources.

[KarenNC]

Hellenic Neopagan UU with Shinto/Buddhist/Reform Jewish influences;). We use secular materials because the above is a pretty niche market, not one that many publishers are interested in catering to:D.

[Novafan]

Secular homeschooling here.

[lisabees]

Sometimes kids tend to say what needs to be said, that adults wont say because they are being too nice, trying to be politically correct!

(Of course, I dont know how bad he is, but is he being truly offensive to others to their face, or just making politically incorrect comments that shock you, in the privacy of the family home? My kids do the latter frequently and I wouldnt want them to feel they couldn't.).

My kids became quite anti- Christian for a while there but eventually it became a non issue for them.

Ds's best friend is from a strong Christian family so suddenly it wasnt so cool to dis them .

 

Rosie and Peela,

 

Ds is not offensive to anyone to their face. In family conversations, though, he is angry and disgusted by religion. He just acts so pompous - that's what bothers me, I guess.

[Rosie_0801]

Rosie and Peela,

 

Ds is not offensive to anyone to their face. In family conversations, though, he is angry and disgusted by religion. He just acts so pompous - that's what bothers me, I guess.

 

 

He's 16. He'll grow out of it. :rolleyes:

 

 

;)

Rosie

[Saille]

UU Pantheist here.

 

I've been thinking about this question all day.

 

I started to say that we don't homeschool to raise little UUs, but I'm not sure, upon reflection, that that's true. Certainly the things I dislike about public school tend to violate the principles of my church, which are:

 

 

 

• The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
  
• Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
  
• Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
  
• A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
  
• The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
  
• The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
  
• Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.
  

 

And anyone who has seen the copybooks I make my kids, or read my posts on the worldview thread, knows that I choose to integrate UU history and beliefs into our curriculum. Does that make me a religious homeschooler? I don't know. But if that's what I am, that's a pretty small camp. Can I hang out here anyway?

[Just Robyn]

Well, I can't imagine anyone making it this far in the thread (I sure didn't.), but we are an atheist family.

[Geek]

 

Well, I can't imagine anyone making it this far in the thread (I sure didn't.), but we are an atheist family.

I've made it. I'm nosy that way. :tongue_smilie:

[Luckymama]

Ummm, me too :lol: