Living in the Light: Freeing Your Child from the Dark Ages [Paperback]

Anne R. Stone (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 157884908X | ISBN-13: 978-1578849086 | Publication Date: January 1, 2000

By classifying the personality types of children, Anne Stone pinpoints the places where children are vulnerable to the wiles of cults and other harmful forms of religion. LIVING IN THE LIGHT is a parent's handbook for rearing children free of superstition and supernaturalism, to the end that they may grow up to be self-actualizing, happy adults.

Editorial Reviews

Review

... a useful manual with which to rear children of all personality types free of the baleful effects of supernaturalism. -- Frank R. Zindler, editor, American Atheist Press

From the Back Cover

Even if you are not a parent, if there are children for whose welfare you are concerned, you need this book. If children are to become healthy adults, they must learn the skills of reality-testing without losing the creative sense that is the glory of children everywhere. But the fantasy life of children often becomes the religious "reality" of the young adult, and young people fall prey to cults and other harmful forms of religion.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 149 pages
• Publisher: American Atheist Press (January 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 157884908X
• ISBN-13: 978-1578849086
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,256,013 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A commendable effort, August 14, 2002

By 

James Arvo (Pasadena, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Living in the Light: Freeing Your Child from the Dark Ages (Paperback)

This book addresses a very important issue that every freethinking parent eventually faces -- how to raise your child so that he/she will not fall victim to religious indoctrination. As a freethinker and a parent of a young child, I am rather dismayed by the lack of information available; I wish for my child to think for himself, and never be lured into accepting irrational dogma on blind faith. How can I best ensure this healthy outcome?

Obviously, there is no 100% effective "inoculation" short of indoctrination, which is precisely what I wish to avoid. This book makes some concrete suggestions: some are dubious, most are basically rational, and a few (very few) I would even call gems. I particularly liked Ms. Stone's continual emphasis on nurturing curiosity, and helping children to become good "scientists" -- i.e. encouraging them to ask unending questions and to seek answers for themselves. Perhaps the most insightful and valuable comment in the entire book is that humor is the best defense against indoctrination. Through humor, one can often broach topics and play with ideas that
might otherwise appear to be off limits.

What I did not like about the book is the rather pointed anti religious tone, such as the use of "godmonger" rather than a neutral word such as "theist" or "religionist". While I too dislike those who would inculcate my child with theistic thinking, I would prefer not to pass this resentment on to my child. I'd much rather foster a curiosity of and a respect for other points of view. I feel it would have been much more positive and constructive had Ms. Stone set a good example of sternly but respectfully disagreeing with religionists. There is entirely too much name calling on both sides of the issue.

The book also suffers from many typos and grammatical errors. More importantly, it's unclear where some of the suggestions come from; are they from personal experience, or controlled studies, or are they merely hearsay? There is no way to independently evaluate the merits of her suggestions. References to relevant studies, or at least more disclosure on the source of the ideas would have greatly increased the value of the book. Finally, I was not at all persuaded by the author's penchant for classifying children into personality categories; it struck me as very dogmatic and unscientific, especially given the lack of references to studies or other literature that might corroborate Ms. Stone's classification scheme.

Unfortunately, I cannot give this book a strong endorsement, despite Ms. Stone's commendable effort, and the appalling lack of books on this topic.

21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars surprising, February 27, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Living in the Light: Freeing Your Child from the Dark Ages (Paperback)

Let's face it--in the past, most stuff from American Atheist press has been cranky, whiny and intellectually pretentious. Not this book. Anne R. Stone writes with a poetic flair concerning the challenges of rearing a child without resort to religious traditions and practices. From the beautiful cover art (drawn by the author) to the lyrical descriptions of the dance of life between mother and child, this book is on an entirely different plane from the usual atheist grind. In fact, if one did not know better, the title, style and presentation of the book would suggest that the author is a New Ager or a religionist herself. She is remarkably sympathetic to believers, finding their belief rooted in universal human needs (she even recommends listening to "Jesus Christ Superstar" with your kids!) But when the rubber hits the road, she will not yield one inch to supersitition.

More women than ever before are taking their place in the bastions of freethought, resulting in a certain joy in life as it is expressed through writing and the visual arts rather than the dry intellectual asceticism of white male atheism. This book is a classic example. Readers who enjoy it might also try "The Sacred Depths of Nature" by Ursula Goodenough.

1 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good buy, July 17, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Living in the Light: Freeing Your Child from the Dark Ages (Paperback)

This is a very intelligent and well rounded book! A must for free thinking parents