Parenting Beyond Belief: On Raising Ethical, Caring Kids Without Religion (Paperback)

by Dale McGowan (Editor)
Key Phrases: seeking community, living with religion, secular parents, Parenting Beyond Belief, United States, Camp Quest (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
Engaging and down-to-earth,[this book is highly recommended for large public libraries and parenting collections. -- Library Journal

Parents on both sides of the culture war will find this book a compelling read. -- NEWSWEEK July 16, 2007

Review

“Parents on both sides of the culture war will find this book a compelling read.”

-Newsweek, July 16, 2007

“…Parenting Beyond Belief provides engaging anecdotes about the challenges of raising children without religion.” Humanist

“Parenting Beyond Belief serves not only as a guide to families who choose not to make that identification, but it also made me feel that those of us who are struggling with these issues are not so alone.”

--PunditMom (blogspot.com)

“The editor, Dale McGowan, a writer, educator, husband and parent of three, has pulled off the difficult task of weaving together diverse parts into a very cohesive whole. It sure helps that most of these parts (the individual essays) are simply terrific! … Parenting Beyond Belief is not only an interesting and enjoyable read, it is also stuffed full with good information and pointers to other sources.”

--John Logsdon, "Sex, Genes, & Evolution" and the Iowa Secularists Newsletter

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: AMACOM (April 25, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0814474268
• ISBN-13: 978-0814474266
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #9,270 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So Happy To Have Found This Book, July 12, 2007

By	Eliza (Maine, USA) - See all my reviews

This book fills a definite void in parenting literature. It contains a collection of perspectives from people who are dealing with raising children in mixed or nonreligious households. It covers topics like dealing with mixed beliefs, death and consolation, values, holidays, community, and critical thinking. It is not prescriptive in that you won't find a set answer for any topic but rather a variety of viewpoints and shared experiences from those who are dealing with them now or have dealt with them as they were raising their own children. It provides the background and resources to adopt those strategies that you feel are right for you or adapt your own. It has been great for me in thinking about issues and developing ideas with my husband as we are planning to start our family.

49 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thank you, thank you, thank you!, April 20, 2007

By	Brian Hamilton "brianhamilton.com" (Anderson, SC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Finally, SOMETHING!

My wife and I are about to bring our first child into the world and were happy when we found a book that discusses ways to deal with the issue of holidays, belief in Santa/Easter Bunny, moral development in children without the threat of eternal punishment, how to tackle the questions kids are bound to ask about life/death, and so much more. Overall, it is a great resource for humanist or atheist parents (or wannabe parents) who wish to raise rational, freethinking children with the skills to make up their own minds as adults.

The essays are from a wide variety of people with viewpoints, backgrounds, and ideas not always similar. It was the contrast of ideas that helped my wife and I form a game plan on how we can raise children who will never stop asking "why?" for the right reasons. Our favorite sections are Does God Exist, which is written in a wonderfully and easy to understand conversational style by Stephen Law, and Dealing with Death in a Secular family by Kendyl Gibbons. Although the piece that I'm sure we'll go back to over and over is the list famous freethinkers. Ahhh resources, magnificent, beautiful resources...

My only complaint, and it is to be unavoidable, is that this book didn't come sooner. It was my hope to find a solid community to immediately fall into, but it was not meant to be. And even though there are over 20 million of us in the US, it IS hard to rally secular people around that single ideal. So I send my heartfelt thanks to Dale McGowan for helping to foster our community.

Read the book, raise intelligent, freethinking children, and the next generation will not have to work so hard to find a common identity.

Edit: I also wish that more of the books suggested were still in print.

40 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as great as I was expecting, August 28, 2008

By	Scott Roberts - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'm an atheist and have read extensively on the subject, but practical advice for child rearing has always been lacking in this area, so I had high expectations for this book. The reviews here all seem to be excellent, so I was expecting a lot more than I received.

The book is basically a collection of anecdotes from various writers. I don't have a problem with this format, but some of the writers didn't even have children. This was perhaps done to give a perspective from a child's viewpoint of what atheism is about, but I didn't really need this perspective. Again, I have read so many other books that having someone discuss what it means to be an atheist isn't helpful when I was expecting a book about raising children.

The other aspect of this book is that the principle writers seem to be more of the "angry" or missionary atheists, mostly wanting to convince people of the benefits of atheism. Again, I don't need to be converted, I've been an atheist now for over 20 years. The less preachy of the writers was Dwakins, so you can imagine what the others were like.

I hate to provide the lowest review of this book to date, but I think people buying this book should know what to expect. This is not a book that will answer any questions for you and others have noted this in their reviews as well, but it should be emphasized. It will however give you reassurance that you're not the only person with these questions. Still, if you've been an atheist a long time, you're likely not going to read anything new or insightful in this book.