Divorced Parents - Different Faiths

[MystyPines]

I was wondering if anyone here is in a situation where they are divorced with an ex-spouse of a different faith. Does it become a problem teaching your child Paganism when your spouse is non-Pagan? Can it cause legal problems? I have been divorced 2 1/2 years and when I was married, I was Pagan and my ex-husband seemed to have no problem with it, although it was not his cup of tea. For the most part, my children have "not" been exposed to Paganism. There are many Pagan family festivals, rituals, picnics and gatherings in my area which include children but I do not know how my children would react if I took them to one. And, the fear of how my ex-spouse would react if he found out. My children currently are not being raised in any faith. My ex-spouse does not attend his Catholic church nor did he attend when the children were toddlers -- I was the one that took them to church every week and arranged for their Baptisms. Nor has my older son received his First Communion (which would have been 2 years ago). Do you think I should just let my children grow up without any particular path? Any input would be greatly appreciated!

:D

[Yvonne Belisle]

I grew up with one Jewish parent (mother) and one catholic (father). My parents didn't push any religion on me but let me explore them all. I went to passover diner and lit candles at my
Aunts and had christmas and easter at home. It was great! I have no problem with my youngest sons father over religion he doesn't know where we are for other reasons but the older childrens father is very christian and doesn't know how I feel. I have tried to teach my children in generalities and priciples. It seems to work well for us. They also are aloud to go to church with friends if they want. It works for us.

[Twilight Garden]

My fiance just ended (in August) a very ugly court battle his ex-wife started, mostly trying to use my religion against him. She tried to say that I was teaching her daughter witchcraft. :rolleyes: I wasn't. I felt that she wasn't my daughter to teach or guide religiously. (Although I am very open about my religion.) The funny thing is that while they were married, the ex-wife was a Dianic Wiccan. She even had 'pagan' on her military dogtags!

She was just using whatever she could to try to gain control where she had lost it. It didn't work. My fiance still has the "primary residential responsability." :D Their new agreement says that everyday things (that includes religion) are determined by the parent the daughter is with at the time.

We now go to a Unitarian Universalist church to expose the little one to various beliefs.:)

[Twilight Garden]

Do you think I should just let my children grow up without any particular path?You can try to slowly incorporate things of your beliefs into everyday life. Let them see you doing stuff and explain why you do it. If you want to take them to a pagan picnic or gathering, make sure it's during your allotted time with the children and ex-hubby cannot complain. He may try, but most divorces in recent times either specify the childs religion (I'm guessing you didn't) or leave it up to the parent that has the child at the time. The children would probably be just as intimidated going to any new church as they would meeting the friendly pagans at a picnic or gathering. The age of the kids can make a difference, too.

[MystyPines]

Thanks for the input everyone! LunarMist, I am interested in the Unitarian Universalist Church, what is it like?

[Twilight Garden]

I *bump*ed a thread on this in Just Talk. Some UU churches have a group called CUUPS. It's a chapter of a larger group of Unitarian Universalist Pagans. Most may not, I'm not sure. To be a little too general about it, they teach different spiritualities and don't really believe in the trinity.(Father, Son, Holy Ghost) It really isn't for everyone, but my family likes it. :)

Check out the thread on it.

[MystyPines]

Thank you LunarMist, I am going to check it out now!

:D :D