Thank you for your replies, to be more clear than I feel like I was initially. I mean for this thread to cover the many aspects of secular parenting. From religious education (as opposed to indoctrination), to creating a secular ethics (I do find the humanist ethics compelling), to interacting with believers. Feel free to pose your own questions. In short: it isn't all about me.
I have been told by multiple sources that the community a church provides is very beneficial to the development of a child. Reasons vary but include the extra safety net, to the social interaction with people of all ages, the extra resources for the parents as well. Probably one of the most notable was a Big Brothers/Sisters Rep who had a list of all kinds of things that are shown to result in more successful children.
I also think religious education is important. I didn't learn the 'lord's prayer' until I was 14 which is a very basic thing, and I had no idea where/how all these people had learned it. My own lack of religious education left me with a huge ignorance of a significant part of my peers' lives. I don't want my son to have that same experience. My fear of just taking him to church is the emotional blackmail(if you don't believe; you're going to hell!). Not to mention, a basic understanding of the contents of the Bible is essential to the study of English Literature.
My fear is that they're going to get that from the family anyway. Do any of you have a parent or grandparents who just didn't get it? How do you deal with that?
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Originally Posted by Baraka_Guru
As an aside, the humanist community might provide a "replacement" for a religious community; that is, if you believe in what they stand for.
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I'm somewhat familiar with humanism and I've searched high and low but there is no local group or meeting. The UU church seems like it might be an alternative, but I don't know much about it which is why I asked.
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Originally Posted by snowy
I liked the church community as a kid, but it wasn't something that couldn't be easily replaced by Scouting or some other group.
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Scouting is right out. BSA has a somewhat infamous
stance against homosexuality, as well as the belief that a person cannot be moral without a deity. I realize that depending on your local chapter these things may or may not come up, but I'd rather my child not be associated with it in the same way I'd rather he not be associated with the loonies who drink poison, speak in tongues and dance with venomous snakes.