Finding Religion

My parents each had their own religion. My mom was a practicing Buddhist and my dad would profess to anyone who would listen that he was Catholic. As for attending church or temple, as a family we rarely did either. My dad made a few attempts when we were really young, but we never asked to go, and he never really pushed it. On the other hand, my mom made a yearly pilgrimage to the temple in Chinatown (a good 2-3 hour drive away), and took us with her, but even then a yearly visit, doesn't instill much religious belief in a child.

Fast forward 35 plus years and I've got a child of my own. While I grew up with minimal religion, I know it's not something I want for my own daughter. Strangely enough I was just reading an article in the Mercury News saying that more Americans say they have no religion.

While I think it's important that Lauren understands that there are different religions and learns to respect others views, I also want to make sure she isn't trying to assimilate different religions, and get left with no belief like I was as a child. I want religion and faith to be there to comfort her in the difficult times.

The question then is how to balance those desires. This last year we've been to Buddhist temple quite a bit, and we've also started going to a United Church of Christ. As a family I know we'll continue to go to UCC for services, but how much do I expose her to Buddhism, without adversely affecting her developing faith in Christ? I certainly don't want her to lose out on her culture and heritage, of which Buddhism plays an important part, yet I want to make sure religion is there for her when she needs it.