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August 2016

August 17, 2016

Cheers! God Can Kill You With the Push of a Button

In celebration of my daughter's 11th birthday — ELEVEN, PEOPLE — I offer you a...

August 10, 2016

Science Camp Teaches About God, and It Reminds Me of Insane Clown Posse

"Where there's a will, and there is a fucking will, there's a way, and there is a...

September 2015

September 25, 2015

7-Year-Old: ‘Why Would God Care Whether I Believe in Him?’

Happy Friday, everyone! Here's one from the archives. Originally posted July 4, 2013. ••••• My...

January 2015

January 09, 2015

‘I Love God, Even Though God Is Not Real’

I realize my last blog was depressing as shit. Sorry about that. Hey, it's been a...

April 2014

April 22, 2014

My Kid’s New (And Adorably Diplomatic) Theory of Evolution

My daughter has this tendency to go all existentialist on me while riding in the...

February 2014

February 18, 2014

From the Mind of an 8-year-old: ‘Who Made Up God?’

My daughter is on her rope swing, looking out into the blue sky just beyond...

September 2013

September 16, 2013

Addressing ‘God’ in Secular Families: When is the Right Time?

When my daughter was 2, and barely out of diapers, she had her first Potty...

June 2013

June 10, 2013

12 Simple Differences Between Catholics and Protestants

The rapid rise of the "Nones" — those unaffiliated with religious groups — was back...

May 2013

May 30, 2013

A Nonbeliever’s Near-Death Experience

So can we talk about near-death experiences for a minute? You know — the whole tunnels-and-bright-lights...

May 13, 2013

Daddy, Daughter Discuss God (Again); More Cuteness Ensues

My husband and 7-year-old daughter had another totally awesome conversation about God a few days...

February 2013

February 25, 2013

One Set of ‘Footprints in the Sand’ is Plenty for This Kid

When I was growing up — Missouri, 1980s — half the kids I knew had...

February 18, 2013

God’s (Alleged) Gender Proves Problematic for Some Parents

About a year ago — when my daughter was six — I noticed that she...

January 2013

January 24, 2013

A Newer (And More Laid Back) Brand of Atheism

Religiously speaking, this is an unusual time in our history. Secularism is clearly on the rise,...

November 2012

November 15, 2012

Taking the ‘Myth’ out of the Bible

Oh, Bible. You do confound us so. You are so very dense, complicated and repetitive,...

October 2012

October 01, 2012

The Inheritance of Anxiety

Sometimes, in looking through the responses to my Survey for Nonreligious Parents, I'm faced with...

September 2012

September 06, 2012

A Political Side Note: Relax, Democrats, It’s Just ‘God’

Have y'all been following the buzz over the decision to drop the word "God" from...

August 2012

August 27, 2012

God Saves! (But For Real This Time)

OUT in the Cold is a great little independent documentary about homeless gay kids funded by...

August 23, 2012

‘My Friend Said If You Don’t Believe in God, You Go Into Fire’

My daughter was sitting next to me on the couch earlier this week, playing a...

August 09, 2012

Letting Kids Choose Their Clothes (And Their Faith)

When my daughter was still an infant, my husband and I took her to a...

June 2012

June 07, 2012

How to Tell if Your Child is ‘Ready’ to Talk about God

I wish there hard-and-fast rules about when to have the "tough talks" with our kids....

May 2012

May 31, 2012

You Don’t Have to Be Religious to Sing about God

A couple of weeks ago, as you may recall, my daughter cut me off midway...

May 24, 2012

Where’s an Omniscient Policeman When You Need One?

Whenever my daughter starts talking about God, I try really hard to treat it like...

March 2012

March 26, 2012

The God Book: A Tale for Children

If you’ve never read a Todd Parr book, you might want to check one out....

March 19, 2012

‘Kids Who Don’t Believe in God go to a Very, Very Bad School’

Six-year-olds are fickle little things. In the last year and a half, Maxine has gone...

February 2012

February 27, 2012

Honesty, Shmonesty: When Did Lying to Kids Get Such a Bad Wrap?

I’ve gotten in the habit of writing some pretty opinionated blogs lately, but the truth...

December 2011

December 21, 2011

Those Scary Three-Letter Words

For those new to Relax, It's Just God, this blog post is probably a good...

November 2011

November 18, 2011

Bonus Blog: Responding to a Reader About the ‘M’ Word

A friend told me recently that the people who read my blog are really smart....

November 03, 2011

Respecting Things We Don’t Believe

First of all, thank you all for your great comments on Monday’s blog! You made...

September 2011

September 15, 2011

Daddy, Daughter Discuss God; Cuteness Ensues

Since my husband and I started talking with our 6-year-old daughter about God, the cuteness...

September 08, 2011

What God Looks Like (Surprising, I know)

Maxine found some glitter glue and a piece of typing paper in her room yesterday...