"Duty to God"

RR had her first cub scout meeting of the new year Thursday. It was alright. We're working on our "duty to god" badge thing. I can say that it is a strange thing to be the only pagan in the group when they are going over this. RR knows that we as a family don't celebrate Christmas by Yule instead, but she doesn't really know too much more about what we as a family believe. 

It's been hard the past couple years to really go over it with her. Mostly because we live my parents, and my dad is currently trying to shove Christianity down their throats. It honestly completely pisses me off, but there isn't much I can do about it. He wont allow us to actually practice our faith while living in his house, because my constitutional right to freedom of religion dies once you enter the yard. If I'm honest my rights to think or believe anything that he doesn't agree with ends once you get here. He get's explosively angry and to avoid making our lives a living hell here I am trying to suck it up. Even though he never would have been able to handle it if the rolls were reversed. If I were to bring a pagan's children's book into the house he would literally lose his shit and who knows what he would through and break and it just doesn't seem worth it to me. 

All that said I do need to sit down and have a talk with her about what we believe and how we practice. Partly because she needs to for scouts, and partly because she deserves to know what it is we believe. It is important to me that she doesn't feel like she has to be Christian or she will spend all of eternity burning in hell. 

I also don't feel like my six year old even has a duty to god any religious figure head. She is six, right now, I believe that the Goddess and the God have a duty to her, they are to help protect her and such but it is not the six year old's job to do anything for a deity. Her duty is to learn and gown and become comfortable in who she is, and learn how to worship in a way that make her feel uplifted and joyful, not the way that makes me or anyone else feel that way but her. 

I also don't like the way that they are pushing a service project (explained as helping people to her den) as a way to bring glory/honor to 'god' (and theoretically they mean whatever god you believe in according to the scout book). I don't want her motivation to help people to be as a way to honor her gods. I want her motivation to be because she wants to help people, not as a way to show other people how great her god are either; which I feel is often a motivation for many Christian people/organization. 

I want her kindness and charity to come from a pure place within herself. With no other desire than to just be kind to her fellow people, because she truly believe that it is the right thing for her to do. Not in the hopes that she convinces someone else to believe what she believes. I guess the main thing is I hate the charity with strings attached, and I feel like the vast majority of charity these days have strings attached.

So that is my little rant.

-Cathrin