I Was Raised Without Religion—And Why I Won’t Make the Same Mistake with My Children
In a landscape often focused on “deconstruction,” my piece offers a perspective on spiritual construction. Raised without religion, I spent my adulthood building a faith framework centered on the idea that “there are no others.” My journey moves away from traditional dogma toward an experiential and inclusive theology of love, rooted in the belief that the Kingdom of God is in our midst (Luke 17:21).
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Howard Schreiber 216-272-3855 howard.schreiber@outlook.com
I was raised without religion. In our home, there was no Bible on the shelves, no prayers at bedtime, and no Sunday worship. While we celebrated Christmas and Easter as holidays, God was entirely missing from the picture.
My parents believed they were giving us the freedom to choose our own path by remaining neutral, but I grew up feeling spiritually adrift. They hoped to protect us from rigid dogma, but as I grew older, I felt a persistent ache—the sense that something “Big” was missing. Now, as a parent and a follower of Christ, I refuse to pass that emptiness down to my children.
The Search for a Framework. This feeling of being an outsider followed me from a young age. I remember being eight years old, riding my bike to a nearby church just to watch from the back as the congregation sang and received Communion. I would pedal home with a heart full of questions I didn’t have the language to ask.
Those questions finally demanded answers in college after the sudden death of a teammate. Standing at the edge of that loss, I was forced to confront the ultimate question: What happens next? I realized then that while being a “good person” is a noble pursuit, it provides no framework for the mystery of mortality or the depth of our purpose.
Faith as a Relationship Years of searching led me to a deep dive into theology and the Bible. However, I soon discovered that knowing God is a relationship, not an intellectual exercise or an academic pursuit. While I value the Word as a guide, I’ve come to see it as a pointer toward a lived experience rather than the entirety of God’s revelation.
My faith today is anchored in the “Christ story” as a bridge. I see the miracle in an all-powerful God sending His Son to speak our language so we wouldn’t have to be afraid of the Divine.
The Kingdom Within Once you look past the complexities of “over-organized” religion, a profound spiritual principle emerges: There are no others. This realization identifies our inherent connection to everyone else, challenging us to see ourselves in the stranger.
My touchstone is Luke 17:21: “The kingdom of God is in your midst.” Heaven is not a far-off destination or a reward for following a checklist; it is the intersection of heaven and earth, beginning right here, within the soul. It is a reinterpretation of traditional dogma into a more experiential and hopeful theology—one that explores God’s inclusive love.
Why Practice Matters for My Children. I intend to give my children a faith that is practiced and known. I want them to have the language for grief and the framework for joy that I lacked growing up. By providing them with a foundation, I am not limiting their choice; I am giving them the tools to understand the “Kingdom” that already resides within them.
People raised without religion are not doomed to be immoral, but they are often forced to navigate life without an anchor. I know what is missing when you don’t have it, and I intend to make sure my children never have to wonder.