Intro

The following story is from a recent New York Times article:

“IN April, Bob Sweeney’s son, Ryan, 13, suddenly announced he wanted to start going to church. While Mr. Sweeney had been quite religious once — in his 20s he’d taken an oath of celibacy with plans to spend his life as a Roman Catholic brother — he’d stopped attending church 40 years ago, and he and his wife had raised their son without religion.

“I said O.K., fine,” Mr. Sweeney recalled, assuming this was a whim. “We let the conversation end without coming to conclusions or decisions.” But later that week, on the ride home from middle school, Ryan said, “You know what we’re doing this weekend, Dad?” “No,” Mr. Sweeney said, figuring he had forgotten one of his son’s track meets. “We’re going to church,” Ryan said. Several weeks later the whole family was regularly attending church and becoming involved in the congregation Ryan chose. “54 percent of children raised unaffiliated with a religion later choose one — three-fourths of them by age 24. So Ryan’s not the exception; he’s just early.” With so many choosing a religion you may ask the question “What are the consequences of their new found religious lifestyle?”

For the purposes of the discussion here a religious lifestyle means being committed to and following through with a system of beliefs that provides a context for existence. That system of beliefs may proclaim that there is some higher power or force at work in life, that there is a God, or that there are many gods. These beliefs can have a significant effect on families. We will consider the term family to represent one or more parents with children, biological or adopted. To address the effects of a religious lifestyle on a family we will address various aspects of what makes a strong family within three groupings. Many things can affect the strength of a family. “Strengths come from how family members interact with each other, how they treat one another, and what families do as a group and as individuals to support the adults and children in the family.” This is from a university of Missouri informational article based on research from the August 2002 Child Trends Research Brief. Six aspects of what makes a family strong are covered in this article, and we will address these within each of the three groupings. The six aspects are: Positive mental health in parents; Everyday routines, Spending time together, Communication and praise, Monitoring, supervision, and involvement, and Warm and supportive relationships between the parent and child. So, what are the consequences of a religious lifestyle on families? Read on to find out.