Tuesday

Ignorance and Children

Many of you have seen the "Nasty Pagan" Kathy Lee clip.  (If not you can watch it here.  The comment is at about 4:30).  She made a blanket apology (watch it here, at about 2:20).  When I was growing up, my mother taught me and my sister both that when you make an apology, you should always tell the person what you're sorry about.  This blanket apology does not seem anywhere near sincere in the least. 

But what about kids?  When your child makes a prejudiced statement what do you do? Or when they hear a derogatory statement, what do you tell them? Children can say mean things.  Not to long ago, my younger sister got into a fight at school with some girls who had called her 'nigger'.  Even though I'm against violence, I was proud of her for sticking up for both herself and other African Americans.  But like I said.  I don't condone violence in the least, so what happens if your seven year old is told that his (or her) parents are Satanists?  Make sure your little one is informed enough to know what's true and false.  This isn't to say that you have to give your five year old a talk on Christian verses pagan holidays, it means they should know enough about your family's beliefs to say "We don't believe in Satan." or something along those lines. 

You should also be prepared to answer a lot of questions from your son or daughter about your beliefs.  Explain to them in simple terms what the holidays that you're celebrating with them stand for.  Just like a good Christian will teach their children that Christmas is meant to celebrate the birth of Christ, you should be ready to teach your child that Yule is meant to celebrate the days becoming longer and to honor the Triple Goddess.

One of the things I can't wait to do is teach my daughter about the Wheel of the Year and show her what the different holidays mean to both Christians and Pagans.

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