Religion: please or no thank you

I was looking to see what upcoming holidays were coming up and it made me ponder on something that has been on my mind here and there.

Although I grew up in a religious household I never grew up with it feeling like it was a part of my identity.  I never really cared that it didn't or that it wouldn't - it was just the way it was and I was totally fine with that.

However once I became a mother I started to think about religion more and more. I don't know if it was after the fiftieth time I heard my mom say a Punjabi phrase that is somewhat equivalent to "oh, God bless his heart" when A smiled at her or if it was after the nth time a proud church goer came to our door to tell us how awesome their church is and we are missing out for not going, but something got me thinking.  Was I doing my children wrong by not being a religious person?  Are they going to grow up incomplete?  

I got to a point to where I realized this is not something I can dwell on alone and after plenty of "don't worry our kids will be fine and be great" from Dude was not enough I did what any rational person would do... I posted the thought and question on Facebook. I got quite a few responses from friends and friends of friends and came out of the experience feeling much better about who I was and how I am as a mother and a person.  People from all religious backgrounds all said the same thing - as long as you teach them to be good people and love they will be great.  

Not that I need Facebook comments to tell me what to do but it did help that people that I know that know me well and some that do not validated what I knew all along.  Love and respect your children and teach your children to love and respect others - that is the base and foundation.

For some, religion provides a common base and foundation.  I don't want to exclude my children from having that so Dude and I are coming up with our own base and foundation.  Some of the very same fundamentals found in most religions: don't lie, respect everyone, show love to be loved and so on.    

I do want to open the boys to religion and ultimately leave it to them to choose.  When A & J are old enough we can have them learn about Hanukkah, Easter, Diwali, Baisakhi, Ramadan, Bastille Day and all the other special events that take place in various religions. It will be a great learning experience for all of us in the family to do together.