Sunday, September 01, 2002
Heather: Please pardon, I need a little venting.
Dale and I are at that stage of life where friends are getting married and having children (like we have in the past 3 years). One newlywed couple we know is of different faiths: she was raised Catholic, he is atheist. I don't know his background. When I saw them recently, she admired Madeleine but said, "No babies for me!" She told me that she and her husband aren't planning on having children, as he doesn't want them. She did say, though, "We're young, things could change." Dale's opinion is, if she's saying that NOW, it's only going to grow as her clock ticks down its time. I agree.
But that's not all. They're going to be practicing Unitarians. I admit I haven't done much research on what the Unitarian faith teaches; my total personal experience is from the Simpsons: "You just winged him, Bart. He's a Unitarian." The lady in question justifies it by the fact that Unitarian is the only service her atheist husband will attend willingly.
I have some questions, none of which were appropriate to ask at the time. If they aren't planning on kids, what difference does it make whether he goes to any religious service at all? I mean, one point of Dale becoming Catholic, at least in my mind, was to present a united front to our children. If there are no kids to unite for, why not let him sleep in on Sunday and go to the church she was raised in?
Additionally, doesn't it disturb her somewhat that an atheist can go along with Unitarianism? Apparently, they don't strictly teach the idea of Jesus' divinity or else he probably wouldn't be comfortable with them. (Frankly, I think if you're not occasionally uncomfortable with your actions versus your faith, you aren't giving at least one of 'em much thought.) I'm trying to come up with a comparison but I think it's something like "birds of a feather flock together." I wouldn't be comfortable hanging out with a bunch if KKK members or neo-Nazis because their views would make me quite uncomfortable AND I would worry that strangers would think I held their views too. Guilt by association, I guess. In other words, if the atheist is comfortable with Unitarians, their Christianity is diluted enough that he can swallow it (read: is virtually meaningless). [Note: That is NOT to say I think the Unitarians and their beliefs are on a par with neo-Nazis or the KKK. I'd much rather strangers think I'm Unitarian than either of the other two, though my first choice is the truth.]
They aren't the only couple I know where one is atheist, the other indifferent, and they want no children. Sad as it is, it doesn't surprise me much that atheists want no children. Why would they? It's all eventually for naught anyway; the sun is going to blow up and swallow the earth and end humanity if we don't do it ourselves before then. Yeah, I know, in five billion years, but there's still a finite end somewhere along the line. If there is no God, no afterlife, why have kids?
Dale and I are at that stage of life where friends are getting married and having children (like we have in the past 3 years). One newlywed couple we know is of different faiths: she was raised Catholic, he is atheist. I don't know his background. When I saw them recently, she admired Madeleine but said, "No babies for me!" She told me that she and her husband aren't planning on having children, as he doesn't want them. She did say, though, "We're young, things could change." Dale's opinion is, if she's saying that NOW, it's only going to grow as her clock ticks down its time. I agree.
But that's not all. They're going to be practicing Unitarians. I admit I haven't done much research on what the Unitarian faith teaches; my total personal experience is from the Simpsons: "You just winged him, Bart. He's a Unitarian." The lady in question justifies it by the fact that Unitarian is the only service her atheist husband will attend willingly.
I have some questions, none of which were appropriate to ask at the time. If they aren't planning on kids, what difference does it make whether he goes to any religious service at all? I mean, one point of Dale becoming Catholic, at least in my mind, was to present a united front to our children. If there are no kids to unite for, why not let him sleep in on Sunday and go to the church she was raised in?
Additionally, doesn't it disturb her somewhat that an atheist can go along with Unitarianism? Apparently, they don't strictly teach the idea of Jesus' divinity or else he probably wouldn't be comfortable with them. (Frankly, I think if you're not occasionally uncomfortable with your actions versus your faith, you aren't giving at least one of 'em much thought.) I'm trying to come up with a comparison but I think it's something like "birds of a feather flock together." I wouldn't be comfortable hanging out with a bunch if KKK members or neo-Nazis because their views would make me quite uncomfortable AND I would worry that strangers would think I held their views too. Guilt by association, I guess. In other words, if the atheist is comfortable with Unitarians, their Christianity is diluted enough that he can swallow it (read: is virtually meaningless). [Note: That is NOT to say I think the Unitarians and their beliefs are on a par with neo-Nazis or the KKK. I'd much rather strangers think I'm Unitarian than either of the other two, though my first choice is the truth.]
They aren't the only couple I know where one is atheist, the other indifferent, and they want no children. Sad as it is, it doesn't surprise me much that atheists want no children. Why would they? It's all eventually for naught anyway; the sun is going to blow up and swallow the earth and end humanity if we don't do it ourselves before then. Yeah, I know, in five billion years, but there's still a finite end somewhere along the line. If there is no God, no afterlife, why have kids?
