{"id":5026,"date":"2015-04-12T22:39:13","date_gmt":"2015-04-12T22:39:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thelamplighters.org\/llblog01\/?p=5026"},"modified":"2015-04-12T22:42:32","modified_gmt":"2015-04-12T22:42:32","slug":"organized-religion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelamplighters.org\/llblog01\/organized-religion\/","title":{"rendered":"Organized Religion"},"content":{"rendered":"

A few years ago I saw a billboard at the Minneapolis airport that said, \u201cThe trouble with organized religions that think they know all the answers is they don\u2019t allow any questions.\u201d That sums up the Roman Catholicism I was weaned on. In my twenties someone said, \u201cTo doubt is to believe.\u201d Another wise saying, neither one probably sanctioned by organized religion. If you are told something as if it were the truth but do not have the freedom to explore that belief to find out for yourself if it\u2019s the truth or not, you\u2019ll never really have a solid foundation of personal integrity. If your parents say, stay away from those neighbors, they\u2019re Protestants (something I was told as a child) guess what? You\u2019ll probably grow up intolerant. I\u2019m afraid I was on my way to hell early in the game when I told my father I would marry a Negro (that\u2019s what they were called when I was growing up) if I fell in love with him. I thought my Dad was going to kill me.\u00a0 The first thing that Catholic parents teach their children is to obey. Not necessarily bad, but unless coupled with wise words and phrases such as love, freedom of thought, freedom to believe, freedom to trust your own judgment, use your head, that\u2019s what it\u2019s there for, etc. they will raise a robot. That is what a lot of parents want, especially Catholic parents. Maybe\u2026\u2026\u2026hopefully\u2026\u2026things have changed in the world of child rearing since I was a child since this is what my parents attempted to achieve.<\/p>\n

Their list of commandments was different than the ones God authored:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Do what you\u2019re told<\/li>\n
  2. I\u2019ll tell you what to think<\/li>\n
  3. Don\u2019t tell your parents you have no sins to confess to the priest; that\u2019s not possible.<\/li>\n
  4. Don\u2019t speak until you\u2019re spoken to.<\/li>\n
  5. You can only read those books your parents choose.<\/li>\n
  6. No, you may not go to college.<\/li>\n
  7. No, you may not have any friends.<\/li>\n
  8. No, you may not wear makeup, choose your own taste in music and have opinions on what you like and don\u2019t like in foods.<\/li>\n
  9. Respect all adults, regardless.<\/li>\n
  10. The only one that bore any resemblance to God\u2019s list was: Honor your father and your mother. I always thought that one should have said, Honor your father and your mother if they deserve it and honor and cherish your children. Didn\u2019t seem to be much mention of children in God\u2019s commandments. I like to think he assumed parents automatically cherished their children.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I especially disagreed with number nine. When I was growing up there were certain adults that gave me the creeps, caused me to feel they were doing something wrong, lied to my face etc. One of them turned out to be a child sexual perpetrator, one was an alcoholic and the last were too many to count. Didn\u2019t matter. In my parent’s mind any human over the age of 21 was entitled to respect. Hogwash!<\/p>\n

    Even as a child I was opinionated, something not allowed in our family. The punishment? I ate so much soap that my mouth had continuous suds coming out of it. I\u2019m still opinionated only now I don\u2019t get punished for it (although my husband does periodically say to me, \u201cbe nice,\u201d not because he doesn\u2019t think I am but because he thinks it\u2019s more important to be socially correct than to disregard those you think don\u2019t deserve it).<\/p>\n

    A child raised without the freedom to choose his\/her own mindset or to even explore new ideas so they can claim some for their own is a robot. That child will be miserable their entire life. Without the wisdom of healthy choices it\u2019s obvious which choices you\u2019ll make. In a world of unhealthy choices, ones that others told you to have, you have a world of unhappy people. They stumble in the dark not even knowing why they are unhappy.<\/p>\n

    Most unruly, argumentative, feisty and strong willed children are free thinkers and deserve my continual admiration. Parents of the world, unite!!! Raise disciplined, respectful, but free thinking children. Don\u2019t raise robots! You\u2019ll be happy you did.<\/p>\n

    What do you think?<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n