So lately I had several encounters with people where the conversation was about something that I found sensitive. You must be wondering what could be the topic about? 

Well, it was about religious practices. 

For one, I believe that everyone should be given the opportunity to explore and find out the right religion that one wants to practice, whichever that resonates best with you. 

Perhaps being in Asia, this topic might be a little bit more sensitive as everyone thinks that their religion is the best and you shouldn't even have a conversation with others about it. 

Personally, I think everyone should be able to practice whatever religion they want. It shouldn't be a question at all, especially when the main aim of all religions is to make you a better person that you were yesterday. Or if existing religions are a little extreme and you prefer to be a unicorn, go for it! That's your call.

As parents, I do believe that you are responsible for guiding your children to be aware of the religion that you practice as a family. Not only that, teach your children why you practice things a certain why. And if you have no idea why there are certain practices dones, take some time finding out. I mean a blind cannot lead another blind and hope that things would be magically understood. Besides that, somewhere in the process, your children will mix with others with different religion and learn somewhat about other religions. They might be curious of why are there different religions and why different people have different practices. That is also your responsibility as a parent to advise them about other religions, even if you might not know much about it. There is definitely nothing wrong with knowing the basics of other religions, just to know and teach your children. Ignorance will be help educate the future generation. 

Once these children become adults, it is not your call anymore. Yes, you raised the child, but based on your direction and teaching, they must have been able to navigate through all of life's decisions. So take the opportunity to believe that you have taught them well enough and let them decide what they want. 

If you did not attempt to educate yourself to guide them in the right direction when they were children, it is your fault. But it still does not give you the right to control their decision after that point. Just because you did not question the beliefs and practices when you were young, that does not mean that kids in this generation won't question you. And when they question you, don't get offended because something right about your teaching has prompted them to think differently. Without proper guidance from parents, many children end up not understanding the importance of religions and tradition, and over time they don't practice it either, because they don't understand why they are even doing it in the first place. 

Yes, I understand the certain people do not think about this especially when it comes to raising kids, but it is a necessity. Educate yourself first. Always know why you do certain things. It is not mindful to do things because someone told you that you just should. We are so evolved and have all the access to find out more about everything, if only we wanted to. 

So challenge yourself by questioning why you practice something? It might be as simple as it gives you hope and peace. And this reasoning is enough. Also, never ever question others about their beliefs and religious practices in a rude way. Just like your religion is great, so is theirs.