Scouting-related

[ciroccoj]

• I pick Daniel up from Scouts and he's changing his indoor shoes for boots. He hands me his boots and I look at him, wondering what he thinks I'm going to do with them, seeing as how we're not going home in the car and I don't have my backpack.
  
  "So Mama can you take them and..." he pauses for a moment. "I dunno, put them in whatever magical place you seem to put all the stuff we give you?"
  
  
  
• In other scouting-related news, Justin is going to talk to his Cub leaders about not saying the part of the oath where he "promises to serve God," because he feels like he's lying to himself and to his leaders when he says that, because he doesn't believe in God.
  
  Ambivalent doesn't come anywhere near describing how I feel about this.
  
  Proud that he thinks about this stuff. Sad that it bothers him. Odd that it's not me, the atheist parent, who's talked him into atheism, but Chris, the agnostic-Buddhist one. Uncertain as to the depth of his atheism and leaning towards believing that he doesn't really understand the spiritual viewpoint he claims to have. Mindful of the fact that I held the same beliefs, at about the same age, and after a long wander through agnosticism I came back to them and found myself believing pretty much exactly the same as I did back then - tempered with a bit more respect and understanding of other religious/spiritual beliefs - no more "deeply" than I had before.
  
  And that's not even touching any of my ambivalent feelings about atheism itself, and emotional maturity, and The God Delusion, a book I have yet to finish despite starting many times just because of the intense emotional and intellectual discomfort it causes me...
  
  Way too many diametrically opposed emotions and beliefs to untangle there. Will go to bed instead.

Comments

[naatz.livejournal.com]

1) LOLLOL. Where did you put it?

2) Back in bootcamp, right before we had to take the oath, we were explained we had to do it over a Bible. Everyody got to swear on their own Bible -- Jewish, Christian and Muslim. I was being a smartass, and asked the officer, "What about the atheists?". The officer said, "They still swear over a Bible." Later people went all "who the fuck was that idiot who asked about atheism?" really angrily, and I was really happy it was dark when I asked it and nobody recognised it. >_> {not even my tentmates, which was odd}

|Meduza|

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

1) LOLLOL. Where did you put it?
Back to him :D :D

2) Back in bootcamp, right before we had to take the oath, we were explained we had to do it over a Bible. Everyody got to swear on their own Bible -- Jewish, Christian and Muslim. I was being a smartass, and asked the officer, "What about the atheists?". The officer said, "They still swear over a Bible." Later people went all "who the fuck was that idiot who asked about atheism?" really angrily, and I was really happy it was dark when I asked it and nobody recognised it. >_> {not even my tentmates, which was odd}
Doh, and also: eep!

When I was in elementary school Ontario still had the Lord's Prayer every morning. I just didn't say it. Nobody ever called me on it. Years later when I went to work for Canada Customs, we had to take an oath and the boss dude was very clear that if your religion said you didn't do oaths, you didn't have to; you could 'affirm' instead. But it had to be on a Bible.

Didn't ask the atheist question. Don't know what the answer would've been. I would be surprised, though, if the Bible thing was still in force.

[navhelowife.livejournal.com]

love the comment about the stuff...I think my kids have seen Mary Poppins too many times - you know the scene where she pulls all that out of her bag...and the scene where it all fits back in!!!!

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

Yeah, same with mine :D :D :D