Do you teach your children about religion (or would you)

[Insomniac]

This is a very interesting topic. I've been away for a long time, first time back here in months. Red Glitter, that music is haunting. It's beautiful.

[watermark]

This is a good topic. I have four kids the two oldest now 22 and 20 went to church with me when I became a believer. It was pure hell though taking them to the service because their dad wasn't into going to church and I had to manage the boys on my own. I had stint playing in our bell choir and can tell you this was the most excruciating experience standing in the front of the congregation trying to keep focused on the music while watching my sons goofing around in the pews. We went to a Methodist church (they loved everybody and have great hymns too) but noone had the guts to tell my sons to knock it off.

I think it's important to offer kids a spiritual path to follow and the best kind would be the one the parent knows. To me all spiritual paths are equally valid as long as they are sincere ones, but from what I can tell many parents have a hard time knowing what their's are. Unless they were raised in a Christian household and came into parenting as a churched passing along a heritage as well as a faith.

I came from a family without church-- after we were very young my dad decided he wanted to stop going because we weren't going regularly and he felt like a holiday goer (I guess). For me I did go to all my friends churches at least once. I truly was attached to the Catholic church but wasn't able to partake in the services because I wasn't Catholic. Plus I don't think my parents appreciated the faith at all.

E

Originally Posted by Accountable

At the base of most religion is what is right and wrong. A kid's head is not sophisticated enough, imo, to hear 100 different opinions of right and wrong and choose the right one. A kid needs a parent to make those decisions for him/her. It's a parent's responsibility to teach right & wrong and to teach which religion to follow, if any.

Save the religion buffet for when the kid's mature enough to discern the subtle differences.

I could not agree with you more, well said and my mian thought coming into this discussion so far.

I was raised on the bible as a regular meal three squares a day, with dessert in the evening. From birth till I left the farm at 17, with the exception of one year in my uncles care, I did not miss a sunday service (2 on sunday, plus sunday school) Unless I was sick, had to care for another family member or we were snowed in. In addition to that, we started the day with bible and prayer time every single day I was alive during that time. Sundays were whollly given over as God's Day, and it was set aside for worship and service. Wednesday evenings were prayer meetings, and my father also held additional classes at various ages for all of us kids. Before I graduated highschool I had memorized most of the new testament and large passages of the old testament, I had translated them into my own words, in a 'prayer journal' that my father insisted us boys kept. By the time I was 15 I could get up and preach sermons better than most pastors could. We sang as a family, my older brothers filled pulpits of neigboring churches and we traveled to nearby hospitals and nursing homes to sing and teach the bible, not to mention dozens of trips to rescue missions each year.

All that was doen under NO RELIGION!

My father did not believe in an orginazed religion, we did not and were never part of any mainline denomination.

We simply lived the new testament bible church and thats about it.

I see some good in almost every denomination I know of, but I don't always see God operating in them. That sounds harsh and I don't mean it in a judgemental way, but I have to say that when I have visited I dont get the feeling that God is really there workign in their midst.

The way I was brought up gave me a pretty intense sense of right and wrong. I live by that same simple justice that the bible talks about, protect the innocent, love everybody that you can, help anybody that you can, pray for anybody that asks for prayer or that God lays on your heart to pray for, fight for whats right, etc.

I have pretty much raised my kids the same way, I dont think Im as intense as my father, but Im also not as faithful as he is nor as confident, but I do teach to my kids all Im sure of, and what Im not sure of I tell them, and ask what thier opinion is, and I have found that God gives them wisdom sometimes that is way beyond mine. And Im glad for it.

The more I think about it here the more I think I teach and train up my kids NOT to be religious, I think that it is possible and likely that religions (meaning denominations) can get lockstepped into a false doctrine fairly easily, most folks will go along with the crowd without critically thinking why.

[mrsK]

I taught my children about religion.
Then they made their own decisions about what they wanted to do with religion

[Ted]

Our children attended church with us on a regular basis until they were able to decide for themselves. We raised them to seek out justice and to be kind.

We can talk of right and wrong but that tends to be cultural. They were taught right and wrong as it pertains to our culture. They were also taught to keep and open mind and think.

Shalom
Ted

[Chezzie]

I didnt attend church really as a child but went to the Sunday School every week as it was fun. My mother was a battered wife, left with 3 young children to raise, myself just a baby. My father has never paid a penny towards our upkeep but demanded all three of us were christained catholics.

The ysplit and divorced before I was 2 years old, the local methodist church was a release on a sunday, we got to draw, paint and have a little fun, I was especially excited to have my attendance card stamped each week as when it was full, you were given a new book.

The fun part didnt last and neither did the belief im afraid.

My children can choose what path they want to lead when their of the correct age, I dont push my "disbeliefs" onto them.

At 9 and 8 years, they sing quite alot of hymns but the eldest has said she dont believe in god and wants to become a buddist monk...from the mouth of babes lol...

Sorry if this offends, but I dont think iv'e turned out badly for this path I have taken.
I married my first long term boyfriend
Then had 2 beautiful children
We both work and always have, ive never received a hand out of the government.
I dont smoke, rarely drink but do have a pash for chocolate...
I have never been arrested
I do bits n bobs for charity
I own my own home
Lifes sweet for me.............

[moonpie]

I have a really great husband. My only bone with him to pick is the fact that he does not understand why people get into any religeon whatsoever.

My mother was a Catholic and my father was raised Protestant. The thing she made sure of was to have us kids Baptised into the RC religeon. She had us kids go through Catechism, Confirmation and Communion. She never pushed Religeon on us really hard afterwards.

My husband's parents never had any religeous instruction whatsoever while the kids were growing up, and I think this is one of the reasons he cannot believe in any religeon. I think this is wrong that his parents never did anything like giving them some sort of an idea that this was out there for them, and if they wanted they could make a choice.

I can't say that I totally agree with the Roman Catholics now because it disgusts me what some of the priests have done to little boys, or hear the stories about those horrible mean nuns either. I don't wan't to generalize nuns or priests, but it certainly makes me want to start walking backwards from them.

All I guess I am trying to say is that children should have some sort of spiritual instruction when they are young and they can make their own choices after that. I just don't think my in-laws did their kids any favours by not giving them that. That is my opinion, and hope I don't upset anyone.

[Ted]

Cheezie

A sad story with a good ending. Congratulations and blessings.

Shalom
Ted

[AussiePam]

Originally Posted by moonpie

All I guess I am trying to say is that children should have some sort of spiritual instruction when they are young and they can make their own choices after that. I just don't think my in-laws did their kids any favours by not giving them that. That is my opinion, and hope I don't upset anyone.

I agree.