Contributors include Richard Dawkins, Penn Jillette, Julia Sweeney, and Dr. Donald B. Ardell
Its hard enough to live a secular life in a religious world. And bringing up children without religious influence can be even more daunting. Despite the difficulties, a large and growing number of parents are choosing to raise their kids without religion.
In Parenting Beyond Belief, Dale McGowan celebrates the freedom that comes with raising kids without formal indoctrination and advises parents on the most effective way to raise freethinking children. With advice from educators, doctors, psychologists, and philosophers as well as wisdom from everyday parents, the book offers tips and insights on a variety of topics, from "mixed marriages" to coping with death and loss, and from morality and ethics to dealing with holidays. Sensitive and timely, Parenting Beyond Belief features reflections from such freethinkers as Mark Twain, Richard Dawkins, Bertrand Russell, and wellness guru Dr. Don Ardell that will empower every parent to raise both caring and independent children without constraints.
©2007 Dale McGowan; (P)2009 Audible, Inc.
"Parents on both sides of the culture war will find this book a compelling read." (Newsweek)
"I'm so glad I found this book"
This book gives many ideas from different parents on how to raise your child without religion and how to address the sticky points you are sure to encounter. You will agree with some authors and not with others, but you will certainly find plenty to help you with this daunting adventure.
The narrator was ok, but a bit on the slow side. Also, I wish the narrator or producer had left more space between essays and chapters. A couple seconds of silence here and there would have made it much easier to follow.
As soon as I finished this audiobook, I purchased McGowan's follow up hardcopy book: Raising Freethinkers: a Practical Guide for Parenting Beyond Belief.
"Good reading for religious vegans."
I enjoyed the varieties of experience, many points of view within the nonbelieving community.
If you are looking for a book putting forward the virtues of the Freethinking experience, this is more of the reverse -- some of the strongest negative language is reserved for descriptions of groups of freethinkers. Interesting . . . .
"Preachy, if you can believe it."
Didactic, for a purportedly free-thinking book. There were a few good essays, but most were real snoozers.
"Should be called Parenting against belief."
The author is self important and stereotypically Atheist. The book takes, from the outset, a negative position against religion. I was looking for a more open minded text.