“For secular people, morality is predicated on one simple principle: empathetic reciprocity, widely known as the Golden Rule. Treating other people as you would like to be treated. It is an ancient, universal ethical imperative. And it requires no supernatural beliefs.” – Phil Zuckerman, The LA Times
Religion is losing steam in America. Even though a majority of the country considers themselves Christians, fewer people are heading to church. A study out of Duke University found that a non-religious/secular lifestyle may be healthier for children. They found that kids who are raised this way are less racist, less likely to give into peer pressure, and they are “less vengeful, less nationalistic, less militaristic, less authoritarian, and more tolerant, on average, than religious adults.”
In an op-ed piece in The LA Times, Phil Zuckerman wrote “secular households provide a sound and solid foundation for children, according to Vern Bengston, a USC professor of gerontology and sociology.” Secular parents give their children a sense of morals by instilling empathy versus religious parents who teach morals based on religious writings.
“If your morality is all tied in with God,” one secular mom wrote, “what if you at some point start to question the existence of God? Does that mean your moral sense suddenly crumbles? The way we are teaching our children … no matter what they choose to believe later in life, even if they become religious or whatever, they are still going to have that system.”
Are you raising your kids in a religion?
