Aisha Sultan: Raising religious children

By Aisha Sultan
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
17 hrs ago

In America, there are plenty of families who embrace the cultural side of religion even if they aren’t convinced of the God part.

Some children will participate in Easter egg hunts but have never attended a church service. Others will grow up to describe themselves as secular Jews, lapsed Catholics or non-practicing Muslims. The Pew Research Center finds that one of the most well-documented shifts taking place over the past decade has been the rising share of people who are religiously unaffiliated — from 16 percent in 2007 to 23 percent in 2014.

There are more children growing up as “nones” (with no particular religion) than ever before. Of course, a parent can raise moral and empathetic children without religious beliefs.

But the majority of Americans still identify with a religious faith. For a child in such a household there are significant spiritual milestones, such as a confirmation, a Bar Mitzvah, or my own children’s recent Ameen, which marked the completion of their recitation of the Quran in Arabic.

http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/relationships-and-special-occasions/parenting/aisha-sultan/aisha-sultan-raising-religious-children/article_9beb474c-9298-542f-a13b-4cd10eb3b462.html