The Whys and Hows of Religious Transmission

Abstract

This chapter takes a look at the cultural model that runs in the background of and helps to guide American religious parents' approach to handing on religious faith and practice to their children. This is determined by the content of all of the cultural models examined in the previous chapter. Here, parents do good and well to pass on religious faith and practice to their offspring, because religion can help growing children successfully navigate the journey of life in the world that they will soon face. Life's journey can be a difficult one, and parents' primary job is to prepare and provision their children for safety and success on the road. Religion offers particularly valuable help in the forms of guidance, comfort, and rest stops offering rejuvenation and aid along the way.