Religion

[Antoinette]

okay, this is not a debate or anything

i am an Atheist i really believe in nothing and even though it isn't important in the slightest right now i am thinking for my son (and Daughters) future and i don't want them to feel like they have to not believe in god just because i don't but i would have a VERY hard time indicating to them that "god" or a "god" exists and because schools don't teach it anymore is there any way i can introduce religion to my children young so they know that the choice is up to them and just because i don't believe doesn't mean they cant? preferably without me having to personally tell them that there is such a thing?

its not that i want them to believe. i just want them to know that they have the option and will be supported even if they decide they think there is a "god"

[xox.ilu.xox]

you could try sending them to sunday school one time to see what they think?? i dunno, im on the fence about religion, i believe that there is some higher power, but im not sure if its karma or god.

not trying to stir up debate either..

[Dadu2004]

I guess I would suggest that you teach them about different religions as they're growing up and let them know that they have a choice. And if they get invited to church or whatever, allow them to go.

[bssage]

I am going to attempt to respond without offending anyone.

IMHO. MOST religion teachings for very young children are good solid foundations for people as a whole. Dont steal, Dont lie, Be kind to others. So I think you will be OK with many of the "mainstream" types of faith.

I would if you have close friends who attend services or have children who attend youth services feel comfortable letting them attend. Most places have some type of youth meetings and/or services. There are really a lot of benefits to this that may apply regardless of your faith or lack of. Good place for Felix to interact supervised with his peer group. The kids especially in the summer get to do all kinds of cool stuff. My kids go to several different different summer church groups. Some are cool as hell (oops). We end up dragging some of Coles friends along.

You may find a friend or two in the parents group. I think what you are doing is a good thing.

Most congregations don't mind if someone attends who is not of their faith. And will welcome the opportunity to show you what they are all about.

[artcoreplayer]

Wrestling with this in my family too. I was raised christian and have since drifted very far away from the church,,, but as I look back on it, I now see this is where I really learned about compassion, forgiveness and a sense of purpose. A power greater than myself I guess (which I now see as more of a collective conscience or human spirit). But I digress,,

Lately we've decided we're going to make our kids go to a Wednesday afternoon bible school to work on instilling these values, even though we still question our own faith in a God. Imo kids have enough of a hard time deciding what theyre going to wear to school let alone if there is a divine spirit.

How old are the kids, if I may?

[IADad]

Disclaimer: I'm going from a different perspective. We're christians, our kids go to a parochial school. Now, first of all, our goal in sending them to a church operated school is not so much to indoctrinate or keep them from other thought as it is to instill and support the values we hold. We like that they have "easter" not "Spring Holiday" and "Christmas" rather than "Winter Holiday" , but beyond that it's a caring place and a community where the kids know the parents the parents know the kids and people care what happens.

So, I'm faced with a similar albeit opposite charge. I feel a responsibility to teach my kids that not everybody believes as we do and that it's important not to judge and to respect thier beliefs or non-beliefs. I think this happens when they encounter people with other beliefs. Frankly I think being open to seeing it when they encounter it and discuss it, is enough, if out of one of those discussions they wonder about it, then maybe I'd take them to a service, but religious beliefs are about so much more than a formal observation, I think talking with people of faith may be more productive than going to service and just looking at "what they" do without a lot of why.

[AmyBelle]

Bek goes to a public school and they discuss just about every religious holiday imaginable. They dont 'teach' it, because of course theyre not allowed to do that, but if there is a child in the class whose religion has something going on, they say something like "Now today Katie and Ben's religion is celebrating shrove tuesday, who knows what that is?" or "Today Jill's religion is celebrating Mawlid, who knows what Mawlid is?" etc etc.

Which I really really like. To my knowledge no parents have kicked up a fuss about it.

Im Catholic and DH is Jewish, so we try to incorporate both into our kid's lives, but at the same time we try to expose them to as much as possible.

[mom2many]

This is a direct quote from another post we had a while ago, instead of retyping it I am just going to copy and paste it.

This is pretty common in my home, I am agnostic, I neither believe or don't believe, BUT I feel that religious introduction to kids is VERY important to children, and not just one religion but most if not all of them. I may not attend church with my kids but they attend with family and friends and all of different denominations, I have one athiest DD, one DD and son who lean my way, my oldest son although not religious, at least not to any one religion is very interested in all types and belives in god..heaven..hell (my teens). And my younger three are most likely going to be the religious ones, My 7 year old will go toe to toe with my athiest DD (17) he firmly belives..nothing she says or does shakes his belief, even when she makes a point...he believes.

It is not my job to push my beliefs on my children, it is my job to inform and support whatever choice they make, they all know where I stand, it's no great big secret and when they come to me with a religious question and I can't answer it I research it and answer it to the best of my ability. There comes a point in thier lives where they make the choice (usually as teens), by supporting his inqusitiveness about religion you are supporting him, not lying to him, lying would be the intention to stop him from making informed choices.

[Antoinette]

Originally Posted by artcoreplayer

How old are the kids, if I may?

like i said, there is really no reason for me to be worried about anything right now because my children are still VERY young.. Felix is 15 months and Alegra won't be here for another month or so.. i just think about these things sometimes even though it is too early to worry too much about it, i want to know what I'm going to do now..

also, that post before me is pretty much my exact situation. just because i am an Athiest and have no belief in Heaven,Hell, a God doesn't mean that i want my kids to ever feel that this is there only option i want them to know that when they are older if they decide to try out Christianity, Buddhism, Muslim.. what ever they are interested in i will be there to support them..

i think i like the idea of a friend taking them to a youth service or something because that sounds like they would have fun and that they would be introduced to it in a positive environment. unlike if i tried to do it. i can just imagine myself trying to tell my kids about god, i really know nothing.. i celebrate christmas with him (them) and easter to an extent but not the religious side of it.. because i can't i don't know if "Jesus" died on christmas, was born on christmas, came back on christmas etc so i really would be a terrible first introduction to it or to any other religion which i know equally little about..

[singledad]

I have a similar, though not quite the same problem. I believe in God, but for reasons I don't care to discuss here, I don't practise Christianity. However, I want my daughter to be exposed to it, and although I can't push her without being a total hypocrit, if she grows up to be a Christian, I'll be happy.

She will start attending Sunday school from next year (she'll be four then) and fortunately I also have a brother who is a Christian, and I encourage him to tell her about God and Jesus etc. He has also bought her a children's bible, and I read to her from it. So she learns without me having to teach her something I don't practise myself.

I know it's probably going to get weird at some stage, but I think I have a few more years to come up with a sollution.