a review of
Parenting Without God: How to Raise Moral, Ethical, and Intelligent Children, Free from Religious Dogma Second edition by Dan Arel; forward by Jessica Mills. PM Press 2019
Although this may be beating a dead horse (that would be gods), there remains the pro-religionist argument that without God, anything is permissible. However, since under the sign of God, all horrors imaginable have occurred, it makes sense to look for a secular grounding for our ethics.
Anarchism can easily be interpreted as the ethical manifestation of the Golden Rule, but how is it applied, particularly in raising our kids?
What do we tell our children about the meaning of life and death, heaven and hell? Should we allow our kids to go to church when friends invite them? What advice do we give them when the Pledge of Allegiance is recited or prayers offered at a public gathering? Will professing atheism get them ostracized?
Dan Arel in this fairly short text tackles the big questions of existence and smaller ones of daily life in a sensible, easy to understand manner.
Related in this issue
“Godless: 150 Years of Disbelief,” FE #405, Winter, 2020