Quaker nontheists have a web site, http://www.nontheistfriends.org .

Enjoy!

Os

Just my way of saying your kids are pretty awesome!

Lessie, just a thought:

Idaho Falls UU Church.

One thing that’s nice about liberal congregations of any type is that they tend to be very low pressure. (one reason why they’re bleeding members, however)

Also, I like that they have different (slightly) views and can discuss them rationally. And that CatGirl relates “equality” to her age, rather than to her gender, is quite awesome.

Wren, I saw the same control issue with local interfaith projects, though I wonder if this varies from stake to stake. I’m still officially a member, mostly for Jana’s sake, but I will probably take my name off the books at some point.

Lessie, I think that just being open and honest with your children is enough. Jana and I were honest with the things we took issue with, like women and the priesthood, and I was open but not overbearing with my atheism. I answered a lot of questions in this way: well, Mormons believe X. I believe Y. Others may believe Z. I wanted my kids to have a real choice, which most kids raised in the church do not get.

On distance: I can relate to Lessie. When I emotionally divorced from the Church, I threw myself wholeheartedly into the anti-war movement, and was kind of devastated by how little all my efforts achieved. Since we left the Church a couple of years ago, I’ve been very hesitant to devote myself to another community or cause. Also, between family, work, school, writing and blogging, there’s a lot on my plate, and I’m protective of my time.

Even though I’ve sort of put some distance between myself and the formal Friends Meeting, about half of our social network comes from it. We have a handful of wonderful, wonderful friends who are Friends.

And there was a calculated aspect to our move to Quakerism as well: we realized that it would be difficult to remove our family from the considerable social support network that is Mormonism and not have something to replace it. In Quakerism, we had an activist institution we could back without reservation, an emotional and spiritual support network and a deep tradition to replace Mormonism. This was very important because we made our move as a family, and we wanted to help the children to have some measure of security as we went through this major disruption.

Like Wren, I’m curious also about your distance from the community. I feel pretty jaded right now as far as institutions go. I’m reluctant to get really involved with any others. I went to a local political meeting this weekend and enjoyed myself thoroughly, but was hesitant to give any money or jump on a volunteer opportunity just yet. Not sure how to overcome my trust issues there, but that’s what it boils down to.

I find CatGirl’s observation about feeling free to make a difference now relatable. One thing I’m felt more free and driven to do since leaving the proverbial lds garden is reach out and contribute more within the community. I feel the lds are exceptional at helping their own. And I believe the relief provided around the world is great too. On the local community level, however, my old stake did very little. They didn’t want to be involved in any joint efforts with other churches unless the were managing it.

Case in point, someone I knew wanted to get a group from the ward and or stake involved in a multi-faith house build Habitat for Humanity was doing. The response was no and it was strongly implied that reason was it being a multi-faith thing. They had no problem, however, working with other churches getting petitions and flyers distributed to pass a state amendment in defense of marriage. Frankly, I wouldn’t have had the time when I was lds to be involved in service to the community.

I’m curious to hear more about your deliberate distance you speak of. What motivates it? Also, what is your relationship with the lds church today, if you feel comfortable sharing that?

Back to your kids, sounds like you and Jana are raising some great minds.