I don't want to offend anyone's faith here but this is a real question.
We discuss how our kids like to research stuff right? (...)
A bit hard for me since I didn't go to Catholic school and had 3 Cathecism classes before my first communion, but there is all this Creation stuff and Father and Son stuff. But what really is hard is the contradiction. Like there is a prayer that says that you will not call anyone father on earth, it is reserved for God, yet (aside from fathers) we always called the priest father etc.
I don't mean to offend either, but if your own formation in the Catholic faith is limited to three classes that you attended in early elementary school, I'm not sure how you expect to be able to discuss these sorts of issues with your daughter in a balanced and meaningful way.
"In the right corner, wearing red trunks, weighing in at 200 lbs, are several large stacks of secular history books written for college educated adults.
And in the left corner, in the green trunks, weighing in at 3 lbs, is
My Friend Jesus, a religious education book written for the average seven year old."
One doesn't have to be HG to see that there's a bit of a mismatch in terms of depth and rigor.
If you could share your criteria for a "scholarly" work, or give specific examples of books you've been reading, perhaps others could suggest some comparable Catholic authors. (Just off the top of my head, I'd recommend anything by Fr. Stanley Jaki on the subject of science and religion.)
And please, I do have faith, just not the religious doctrine associated with any one faith. But like any holiday festival, it is a nice tradition.
I'm not exactly sure what this means, but wanted to point out that observant Muslims, Jews, and even most Protestants haven't historically considered the Catholic Eucharist to be a "nice tradition." They saw it more as blasphemy, idolatry, and perhaps cannibalism. Many people have been put to death over it. It's not like a Quinceanera, or having cranberry sauce on Thanksgiving.
Anyway, for what it's worth, my husband and I are believing and practicing Catholics, and we see no conflict between our religious faith and our intellectual lives. But we are pretty hard-headed about it. I find it's often the people who are on the fence who are more sentimental. Maybe because they can just sort of blip over the uncomfortable parts, whereas we have to account for the good, the bad, and the Borgias... *and* explain it all in terms that are understandable to asynchronous 6 year olds.
