Beyond the Surface

So.. this year, Ethan and Emma will be here for Christmas. That makes four of us in the household with very different religious beliefs and backgrounds all celebrating a religious holiday that none of us celebrate for religious reasons. Through and through, I’m a witch. Ryan is Athiest/Agnosticish and very anti-religion. Ethan spent the last 2 years in catholic school (much to my chagrin) as well as attending and participating in various Pagan events and Emma has been carefully shielded from all things religious. Wow.. what a diverse group just WAITING for religion to explode all over the place. Like a bowl of spaghetti in the microwave. Or something.

Plan A is we’re going to try to get through Christmas without the topic of God, Jesus or religion coming up. I’m sure Ethan is getting a healthy dose of The Reason for the Season in school right now so that will be tough. So should it come up, plan B is to run interferance and offer them cupcakes and homemade sugar cookies. Short of that, Plan C is to batten down the hatches and hope for the best.

Ethan is really, really, really bad when it comes to religion about jumping up on the pulpit of what ‘he knows to be true because Sister So-and-So told him so’. He doesnt seem to have been tempered very will with tollerance of all beliefs or lack thereof. Ryan is VERY short tempered with people less than 4 feet tall standing on pulpits of any sort. Emma will have no clue about anything and will be very impressionable and will ask questions that will only make Ryan madder because he would like very much to shield her from all things remotely religious.

I will try to step in and make sure that Ethan understands what’s going on and temper his enthusiasm as much as possible in that moment while distracting Emma on to other things so that she doesnt dwell too much on things she shouldn’t be dwelling on and attempt to ease Ryan’s irritation. Over the years, I expect this to decrease as either Emma becomes aware that other people have religions and either less curious about them or gets the go ahead from her parents to learn about them and Ethan becomes more educated about more religions and becomes more aware that there is more than one way to skin a god. Ryan and I have always existed peacefully religion-wise. I don’t mind that he believes what he believes and he doesn’t mind that I believe what I believe. We talk about it sometimes.. I tell him how things go in class sometimes when something really interesting happens and we are supportive of whatever the other person wants to believe… while not pushing each other. I want the kids to be the same way… free to believe what they want to believe and tollerant of everyone else. It just won’t be this year.