Relax, It's Just God: How and Why to Talk to Kids About Religion When You're Not Religious Kindle Edition

I think that in general, this is a remarkable book that fills a very important need. This isn't the only book or tactic out there to address the topic of religion with kids in a secular family, but I think it is generally unique and I applaud the approach espoused, which is: respectfully present the facts about what others believe, and let kids decide for themselves.I think that this approach is very important since as secularists, we should be guided by skepticism and the scientific method in everything that we do, and teach our kids these values. Thus, examining religions for their strengths and weaknesses, and allowing our children to form their own conclusions both reinforces this skill, and ultimately makes their ultimate conclusion (which they reach themselves), more meaningful and stable. It also takes the pressure (and therefore, anxiety) off of us, leading to the title of the book.To this end, the author advocates that we don't shy away from addressing the religion of others, our own non-religiousness (and that's ok!) and directly encourages religious literacy (even to the point of including "cheat sheets" for major religions and holidays) with an eye on respect and mutual understanding, and this is a welcome change from many of the other secular approaches out there which teach that a belief is worthy of ridicule, without addressing WHY something is worthy of skepticism, even if the adherents are otherwise intelligent and good people (as are secularists).My two criticisms would be that:1) Even though the chapters do address different topics (including very welcome ones, such as resolving family conflict), they nevertheless seem to simply repeat the above mentioned approach ad nauseum. You don't notice it with a casual read (the author seems to be a soft spoken but humorous, well articulated and otherwise gifted wordsmith), but at the end of the book I felt that the entirety could have been condensed into an extended post on her excellent blog site.2) for all of the lip service about "presenting the facts" (to the extent that statements about what people believe can be presented as such), and that we shouldn't manipulate our children's conclusions to match our own, she nevertheless advocates doing just that, with her suggestion that discussion of "Hell" be excluded from (at least small childrens') talks since it might cause grief, even though later in the book she also advocates specifically addresses telling children of the afterlife without the concept of "Heaven" because it provides them with an unnecessary comfort about the uncertainty after death (ie, the secular position might cause them grief), as well as omitting the exclusivity of the belief of Christian salvation. Sure, those beliefs may be supernatural, but as she says, belief is based on feelings rather than reason, they nevertheless influence what real people believe and decide, and errors or deception based on omission are still as bad as those based on commission.One of the legitimate criticisms levied upon religious individuals is that they tend to "pick and choose" the tenets of their religion that they feel are most personally or contemporarily agreeable or applicable, and ignore the bad things. The author by her own admission tends to only mention Christianity (and what she feels to be the positives as well as the negatives) rather than what could be considered to be the even more negative, barbaric, misogynistic, and antiquated features of other religions (she doesn't really mention these at all), but to her credit she acknowledges this as a function of her upbringing and former faith tradition and the fact that most of the US comes from a Christian tradition.That said, if your position is to "present the facts about how a certain group believes" and let someone decide for themselves, then at worst it is hypocritical, and at best devalues the approach suggested, by taking the fact that "religion W states that if you believe X, you will experience Y- If you don't, you'll experience Z;" and instead specifically stating that "X is not exclusive [and we don't even talk about Y and Z]."Just like with anything else, making an informed choice about faith requires getting accurate information to analyze, and if you leave out core defining beliefs of a faith, you aren't permitting an accurate analysis to be made--it hurts our cause (as laid out in the book) and doesn't help anybody.

My husband and I are first generation secular parents living in the "Bible Belt." Religion is everywhere, so we struggle with the task of creating an environment for our children that encourages critical thinking, religious literacy and tolerance. This book is an amazing resource! The author guides you through the "when" and "how" to introduce religion to your children so that they aren't ambushed by peers or relatives. The author also offers practical guidance for discussing sensitive subjects like death and afterlife. She even gives tips on the dreaded business of "coming out" to your family! I am excited to offer our children the opportunity to explore and decide for themselves what they believe and don't believe. The journey ahead seems significantly less intimidating thanks to this awesome book. So, "Relax, its just God."

Great book!I was looking for something on the topic but there aren't many books like this one. I don't believe in God but married a Christian 17 years ago. With two kids 6 and 11 but we never really set out how to deal with this difference. We went to church sporadically. He recently went all Evangelical and with the kids enlisting his friends and family, which shocked me. I was not expecting that at all. I had no idea what to say to my six year old when talked about hell and the rest as I am not the kind of person to push my ideas and beliefs down other people's throat. this book gave a good starting point for me in terms of books to get for the kids to read and simple answers to big questions on the kids level. I am still in shock at how religious people have no problem conveying their belief as the truth without blinkink. I never came across that as a child and choosing religion or not as an adult is very different. All parents should be ready for these talks with their children regardless of what they believe.

This is a wonderful book for any adult, religious or nonreligious. The author addressed the importance of talking about religious beliefs and God, stressing the need for tolerance. The book contains suggestions for talking in a nonjudgmental way, when the need in the child arises and in a way that encourages the child's own thoughts to be expressed and explored. At a time when religion is often a divisive force, this book makes a positive contribution toward coming together, as well as developing religious literacy in our children. The book forces us as adults to think about how we express our own religious beliefs and ideas about God even when it is sometimes just to say "I don't know". I have placed the book in our church library.

This was the book I've been looking for! I am not really sure what I feel about religion and it's a book for people like me (and people that have stronger feelings one way or another about religion). A recent death in the family prompted me to purchase this book after eyeing it for a while, and I'm so glad I did as it's given me the tools to talk to my 3 year old about faith and things like death. I love, too, that she recommends other resources and books that children can check out to learn about religion. Note that the author's writing style is very informal, which I loved, but if you're easily offended it might not be for you (one chapter is something like "how not to be a dick").

I've read most every book on secular parenting published to date (not a huge accomplishment since there are only a handful) and Russell's is one of the warmest and most insightful and conversational out there. It was over before I knew it and I wish it just kept going. I work with two leading Humanist child education organizations, Camp Quest and the American Ethical Union, and I'll certainly be be recommending the book and incorporating some of its many ideas.