An atheist dishes on St. Francis (or, transubstantiation is gross)
Posted on June 22nd, 2012
Yes, we’re atheists. No, I still haven’t gotten over the guy on “Darwin Day” who chastised me for my child’s Biblical name. Was I supposed to name Pea “Skeptical Serenity” or something? What the heck? (The guy, by the way, bears the name of an archangel.) After that, I was done with organized skeptic groups. For one thing, they feel like church coffee hours. I know church coffee hours, having done hundreds of them, and, well…why would I do that, only with people who are even more holier-than-thou than most church goers? Oh, irony.
Anyway. Both my husband and I have religious backgrounds. He was something of a religious wingnut before I met him, but if I’m remembering correctly, he came to atheism before I did. And yes, we gave our kid a Biblical name. We like it. Everyone else needs to get the heck over it.
So, that said:
Not too far from us is the National Sanctuary of Our Sorrowful Mother (“the Grotto”). I don’t know what it means, really, because I am completely ignorant of Catholic everything. Admittedly, every time I’ve gone to a Catholic church I develop ADHD because I am so busy looking at all the pictures and statues. They have art! In the sanctuary! And all the candles! I can’t pay attention to anything else. I do get weirded out by the body on the cross; if we’re going to parse theology, I’m more into the risen Christ then the dying one. Also, transubstantiation is gross.
But we’re atheists. And yet, it’s a favorite place for me to take Pea. The grounds are gorgeous, there are birds everywhere, and it’s calm and peaceful. If you pay $4, you can take an elevator up the mountain and walk around and enjoy more gardens and a lovely view.
It’s also where Pea discovered Francis of Assisi. There’s a statute of Francis with the animals in the upper gardens. It’s her favorite place. She loves him and the stories about him. (Yep, we keep to the animal stories. I’m not explaining stigmata to a five-year-old, no way.)
Yesterday I asked what she wanted to do (thinking the Grotto was as far as I wanted to drive) and she coincidentally said “St. Francis!” We looked up Francis of Assisi online and talked about his life, and she asked me how to spell his name. I did, wrote it out for her, and she drew a picture of him with a lot of animals, including ostriches.
We visited the statute and walked through the grounds. Fortunately, she didn’t ask about any of the statutes showing the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, because like stigmata, I’m not ready for that one yet. But the labyrinth! We walked it twice, because it’s just that much fun for a five-year-old to go on a life-sized maze.
I can only wonder what Atheist Archangel-Name thinks about skeptics teaching their child about St. Francis. Our reaction is why not? It’s cultural literacy — and it’s a good story. He was a man who was kind to animals. What’s not to like about that? The Grotto is not some sort of religious gateway drug.
My feeling is keeping your child from all exposure to religion is only going to make them more interested in it later on. Let them figure it out for themselves. If Pea gets to an age where she wants to go to church — we’ll take her. Hey, I still like singing hymns.
Far side of the labyrinth
Zealots of any stripe annoy me, but zealous atheists are the most irritating, since they won’t just own up to the fact that their atheism is a form of religious belief. (I’m referring to Archangel-Name, not you.) By all means, teach Pea about St. Francis, as well as other religious stories, while you’re at it. One simply can’t understand Western art and literature without a decent grasp of Christianity. In college a friend and I, both products of pretty devout Lutheran families and pretty meh rural schools, had a major leg up on our otherwise better-educated, proudly atheist urban classmates in literature classes, because we actually got all the religious allusions.
I love that you are talking about religion almost like it’s drugs or guns or something.
I suppose it has as much power as more tangible “dangers”, and is best exposed to children by responsible parents who explain to them how best to wield it (or the lack of it, of course). I will say, “the Bible as literature” class I took in college was one of my most transforming – the King James Bible has some beautiful poetry, and some of the more charming stories (properly edited) are sweet little morality tales for children. It also helped me step away from my at-that-time-crazy-cultish absorption in my religion, and to view it as the powerful cultural force it is. (We studied many other religious texts, as well. Great class.) Anyhoodle, I like Pea’s name. It never occurred to me that it would be weird for you to name her that. This story about archangel name supports what I wrote in my former blog post – you don’t need organized religion to be a crazy, judgmental cult-member – you just need the right personality and a convenient set of rigid unflinching beliefs. It’s EASIER to do it with religion, and easier to slip into it when you are an actively religious (but intellectually lazy) person, but religion is not necessary!
Sounds like a great attitude… I think that children and adults ought to explore and make their own decisions about religion.
On a slightly-related note, I spent a bunch of time this morning pondering an appropriate atheist response when someone says goodbye to me with “God Bless You”.
I assume you’re kidding, but just in case you’re not, the appropriate response, atheist or otherwise, would be something along the lines of “Good bye”, “Have a good one”, or “Take care”.
I’m a live-and-let-live kind of atheist. I’ll respect your right to believe as long as you respect my right not to believe. And my kids just finished up a week of vacation bible school and attend church semi-regularly. As joy said, they need the social and historical background, and I don’t want them pushed into my belief system any more than I was pushed into Christianity as a child. My kids are exposed to both sides of the story and can decide for themselves when they are ready.
Doctrinaire atheists lose sight of the great strengths of non-belief; the freedom from doctrine. It enables us to use our natural sense of justice and fairness. It enables us to make moral choices based on knowledge and compassion. “Shoulds” and “shouldn’ts” from an atheist strays a little too close to sounding like a religion, as you say.
Exposing your child to religious stuff helps him/her to be much more historically and culturally knowledgable and informed. Take it from the child of a person who hates all organized religion. I wish I had had some sort of Sunday school-type lessons (or taken a comparative religion class) – there’s an awful lot I don’t know. My Catholic school-raised husband kicks my butt in any sort of historical knowledge contest.
Ooh! I’ve never been! Can we go with you when we come in a week? A life-sized maze sounds awesome!
I agree with everyone about the cultural literacy. You miss so much by not knowing the stories. Although recently I had to explain Noah’s Arc to Pea and just found myself grateful she wasn’t having to build one out of sugar cubes in Sunday School.
I’m put off by anyone who has to preach to me. Either your doctrine is good enough to withstand scrutiny or it’s not. If you’re preaching, you’re trying too hard. Proselytizing pisses me off, as does the zeal of the newly converted.
That said, we have contemplated converting to Catholicism for the reduced tuition rates. I wish I was joking.
And Anna — yes! That would be lovely! (It’s not like a hedge maze, though, but a follow the colored stones type of maze. Still, it’s a beautiful place and it’s rarely crowded!)
I actually think that St. Francis is a great patron saint for the modern world. He honored nature and animals. He believed in living simply. He was modest. He was poetic. Whether you are believer or not, I think these are all virtues which are underrated in modern society. (I totally sound sanctimonious, don’t I?)
No, not at all. I completely agree!