09.19.07
Will the real atheist please stand up.
oh, I guess they mean me.
We’re lucky, we live in a smallish community of about 50,000 people and we not only have one local homeschooling group, but actually have 3.
Three! serving a population (if you believe 2% of school age population is being homeschooled) of at most 350 kids. Now that’s a fair number of kids, but my experience is that a lot of people for one reason or another never join/participate in a local group.
So, we have these three groups.
The first one is a ’statement-of-faith’ Christian group. (For those who have never had the pleasure, that means they have a religious ’statement’ that you have to agree with and sign and then they also want you to identify which church you regularly attend. Kind of nosy if you ask me.) It’s a large group, though I really don’t know how many families pay to maintain their membership. Yep, they have dues and a governing board. I know quite a number of people that are connected to it because we do live in a small town so our kids cross paths often and because Hubby works with a number of the fathers of families involved in the group.
I’m on polite speaking terms with their organizers and at least on the surface we have agreed to inform newbies of each other’s existence.
My group is the second local group. It’s inclusive though we prefer to call it eclectic. We have everything from unschoolers to fairly structured and all sorts of family backgrounds/religions. We don’t charge dues (way too much hassle) and the calendar is an open source for anyone to add to or suggest changing. The group has been around for awhile, but for the last couple of years it’s been attracting more families and growing.
The last group is a Catholic group. I don’t know much about them other than they are small and have accepted friends of Catholic homeschoolers into their group from time to time. They aren’t the point of this post.
For a little bit I’ve been having the feeling in the back of my head that someone has been convincing newbies that they don’t want to join us, and getting them to join the Christian group. I have had no proof and really I don’t care if they are just finding that the other group fits them better. That should be why we have multiple groups.
Then one of our newbies, R, was talking last week. She just brought her kids home and two of them had gone to a local Christian private school. She’s been getting phone calls. More than one.
I’m not sure I have her exact words, but here’s the idea - ‘How come you got involved with THAT group? Don’t you know they have members who are Mormon? And I’ve heard that there is one family that is Atheist.’ R has been having to defend her choice to participate in our group.
So, I guess I need to stand up and be identified. Except I really don’t identify myself as Atheist. If asked I say non-religious or secular. The fact is is that Atheists are so focused on dealing with religion that it feels like another religion to me.
Hubby had the best response when I got home and told him the story. ‘That’s the best advertising your group could possible have.’
September 19, 2007 at 6:03 pm
Ugh. And I’m sure these “Christian” people would be among the first to protest when fundamental evangelicals are categorized as unloving, intolerant, and ignorant. I am a homeschooling Mom and an unconventional Christian who has found that I rarely fit in with other Christian homeschoolers. I’d be proud to join your group!
September 19, 2007 at 7:25 pm
Mormons and Atheists … heaven forbid!
Your hubby has a point. If a member of a home schooling group made a statement like that to me, it would send me running in the other direction.
I am a member of 3 local home schooling groups. One is a “Name the Church You Belong To” Christian group. At this point, we’re just in it for the newsletters. The other two are inclusive organizations. I much prefer being in an eclectic group. With a few exceptions, I don’t even know which members of our home schooling community believe in God, and I don’t really care.
September 20, 2007 at 11:14 pm
Your husband is correct!
contemplator said,
September 21, 2007 at 11:50 am
Ha! It would have sent me running straight to you, as well. Actually, having a group specifically define themselves as Christian is usually enough to do it for me. That tends to mean they have no idea what they all believe.
Jamie said,
September 21, 2007 at 2:48 pm
Yup, I’d be banging down your door to join. Inclusive, eclectic, it all sounds great to me.
While I do consider myself an atheist (lousy word, IMO), it is in the more literal, classically derived translation (i.e., not believing in one or more supernatural gods). Unfortunately, the word has a (somewhat deservedly) bad reputation due to people who are angry and want to strike out at/mock religious communities or beliefs for real or perceived wrongs. I prefer the live and let live manner of existance.
Kim said,
September 21, 2007 at 9:07 pm
People (well, one person in particular) tried to recruit us to the Christian group. I’ve met some of them and decided that fundamental conservative Christian that I am, I don’t need anyone trying to push their views of different beliefs on my children.
We are all human and whether we are Mormon, Athiest, Wiccan (best friend), or whatever, we all need to learn to get along with each other and I did not see that in my dealings with some of the people from the other group that tried to recruit me.
Get In, Hang On » Welcome! said,
December 1, 2007 at 12:53 pm
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Teresa said,
September 11, 2008 at 7:32 pm
Our grp is inclusive/eclectic too, although we do charge fees (and I’m thinking we shouldn’t, so tell me more about your group and how they handle things like newsletters and website, or if you don’t bother with that).
As for atheism, hm, maybe I should quote George Carlin and say that there are no bad words.
I consider myself atheist, or non-religious, or secular…they’re all pretty interchangeable in my mind. Maybe they shouldn’t be. I don’t know. My point is that, after examining all the evidence, I don’t believe in a god or gods, but I don’t care if others do as long as they all behave civilly and nicely.
(I’m coming late into a conversation, as always.)
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November 24, 2008 at 3:56 pm
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