Do Children Need Religion?

One of my favorite books bears this title: Do Children Need Religion?: How Parents Today are Thinking About the Big Questions. The author, Martha Fay, looks at this question as much from the perspective of the bewildered parent as from the developmental needs of the child. I appreciate this perspective for it addresses the dilemma that many parents face. Our lives are so hectic, our schedules so tight, our lives feel so fragmented, that adding one more activity to our family life calls for careful thinking. Is it worth it to get up, get everyone fed, organized and out the door to get the family to the Fellowship Sunday after Sunday? Do the kids, do we, need this?

Of course, you know already that my answer is YES! Our children need the values of religion and the support of a religious community now more than ever. I suspect that this is true for parents as well. But I would also argue that we Unitarian Universalists offer a religion that meets the needs of our times particularly well. We uphold the right of the individual to seek and speak the truth as she or he sees it. We are not constrained by dogma and creed that is determined by an outside authority. We also practice a tolerance and acceptance of diversity and variety of religious approaches. Yet it is not true that anything goes. The role of the community is to offer a testing ground, a place for discussion, challenge, and redefinition. I have seen this kind of exchange and re-formation happen with children no older than six or seven. Their eyes gleamed, they were eager to share their own thoughts, knowing that those who shared in the conversation would listen to them with respect and sincere interest.

Children need religion for the same reasons that adults do. There are questions, about meaning and purpose and value that no other human endeavor can answer. Why are we here? What should I do with my life? Why do living things suffer? Is there anything after this life? These questions touch the mystery, the ambiguity of human existence that we all struggle with all our days. The TV, the mall, the world at large would have us believe that whoever dies with the most toys wins. Religion opens other doors and tells us that there is something more. Come and see for yourself

I am honored to serve as the minister for this Fellowship. My charge, as I see it, is to minister to all of the people, whatever their age. My door is always open to you and to your child. I look forward to our time together this year.

See you at the UUC,

Reverend Christine Brownlie