As a child of mine once said, "If I am wrong and there is no God, we have lost nothing because there will be nothing.  I have lived a good life.  However, If YOU are wrong, then I will be in heaven and where will you be my friend?  I will miss you."

OK, I haven't read the story so perhaps I post too soon buttttt...........   I want to know exactly what they mean by "religious" and is this something that lies solely within the judeo-christian confines?  Did they include Buddhists and Muslims and Hindus and Wiccans and such??  What about radical athiests??  

I guess I have a jaundiced eye regarding this too.  We have chosen, for various reasons, to raise our child Unitarian Universalist. I would like to think that we are not necessarily raising our son to be religous, but hopefully instead, to be a moral and upright citizen no matter what his spiritual beliefs.  Granted, most religions (including UUs or any other organized group) is going to have various support mechanisms in place to help the parents, child, etc.  But I ask, is this not possible othrwise?  Does it necessarily mean a person is "religious"?  

Oh the mind reels.  

Sorry Lisa, but it always completely ticks me off that people think you have to raise your child in a religion in order to be a "moral and upright citizen." (even religion-lite like UU)

I'm a moral and upright citizen, I was not raised in a religion. My husband was raised Catholic, rejected it at 13, and he's "moral and upright." We are excellent members of the community, artists and not-for-profit workers, we're happily together for 10 years (married for 5) and our child is happy and well-adjusted.

And sorry Grammy, but if you're just believe in order to "hedge your bets" in case there really IS a god, well, that just seems silly to me. Don't you think "god" is going to see thru that one, if (s)he is really omnipotent?

Didn't the study say the religious kids are more "well-behaved" not necessarily more upright and moral. In that case, maybe the better behavior can simply be attributed to more practice/exposure to regular attendance in a setting where they are expected to sit still, be quiet, listen, etc. (not that they necessarily do that, but they have more opportunities to be in that situation where that is the expectation). Maybe it's just a matter of being aruond more adults, something that, if we heathens wanted to keep up with, we could attempt to do with our kids. You know, political rallies, lots of family gatherings, public meetings, etc.

ZeitgeistMama -- I guess I didn't make my point clear.  I DO NOT think that you need a religion to raise moral, upright citizens.  Quite the contrary actually.  That is not why we chose the church we did either -- it's a long story there.  My dh was not raised in a religion and many will argue in the future that our ds was not either.

No, you do not need a religion to raise a moral, upright, well adjusted child.  I think you just need moral, upright, well adjusted parents instead.  

While I think it's entirely possible to raise moral and well-adjusted kids without religion, I also think that religion can be a wonderful thing in a child's life.  My parents raised us kids Methodist, with Catholic schools, and the structure and comfort that that upbringing gave me is something that I want to impart to my kids as well.  So often popular culture paints religious people as crazy bigots, but I like to think that my family is proof that you can be religious, liberal, tolerant, and kind all at once.

"Religious" is such a broad term that it renders this study almost meaningless, I think.  We need to define terms: Regularly observant? Or just "spiritual" (good luck defining that one, too)?  Does this mean someone who goes to church/synagogue/mosque? Someone who also sends kids to Sunday/Hebrew school?  Does it necessarily include belief in a god (some major religions are not deist or faith-based)? Or just someone who defines him or herself as being in a certain religion, even if they don't actually belong to a house of worship? You know -- what do they MEAN by "religious"?  

AND, as long as we're defining terms, what the hell does "well-behaved" mean in this context, too?  Blindly obedient? Polite? Well mannered?  Or just less likely to be caught misbehaving? WHAT?

ZeitgeistMama  no, I am one of those really true believers.  However, I also believe you can choose for yourself what you want to do.  That was my child's opinion.  I don't feel a need to hedge my bets.  I am sure in my heart.  I know there are good people out there everywhere.  

Religion has been a hot-topic on Babble these days. Today Sarah offers up her perspective based on an article that claims that religion is good for kids , and recently, on Babble, Erin K. Blakeley discussed choosing a religion for her son . Blakeley and

Sarah, I found this this post very offensive. If I hear one more "Molesting priest" joke I am going to scream, get a new punchline already. You're free to believe, or not, however you wish, but if you're going to be critical of organized religion please actually think through an argument instead of just spouting "I knew these religious people and didn't like them so all religion sucks." It's a very childish attitude and I expect better form Babble. I don't mind people not believing in God or practicing a religion -- I stopped at atheist, agnostic and indifferent on my personal spiritual path. I'm not a big fan of moral absolutes. However, I have a problem with people who don't have a particular religion spouting thoughtless vitriol and assuming anyone who's religious is stupid and bigoted. Do my religious views help me raise my kid? Heck yeah. Is it the right path for everyone?No. Can people be moral, ethical, kind people who raise the same without it? Absolutely. But one thing that helps is being open minded and respectful, qualities that were sorely lacking in your post.

Ditto to what AmyinMotown said.

I'd like to add that I think it is ironic that so many people who claim to be liberal, open-minded, free thinkers are so judgmental of "religious" people.

How are you any different than the elementary kids in school who were preaching their beliefs to you? Aren't you preaching your beliefs here? Any thinking person has beliefs, and you should be able to believe and say what you want. But don't tell me you think that you have better social skills than those kids did. At least they were kids at the time, what's your excuse?