How would I go about doing so?
I’m currently in a serious relationship and perhaps it would be a few years before I have my own children, but I was wondering what I would tell them when they ask about things of a theistic nature.
I wouldn’t want to tell them there is no god and no heaven at a young age perhaps frightening them, but I don’t want them to grow up thinking that a specific religion is correct.
Posted: February 2nd 2009
Daniel Midgley www
Just having you as an example of a secular mom or dad to look up to will help them to avoid religious dogma in future.
I’ve handled this by reading lots of stories with my boys. We’ve borrowed library books about fairy tales, stories about heroes in Greek mythology, Celtic legends, and Bible stories. There are many good books of this sort geared to children. I present these as incredible stories that people made up. There’s no need to be heavy-handed or doctrinaire about this point; kids get it.
I think exposing children to religion in this way will help to inoculate them against it. I have known people who grew up without being exposed to religion, and they have joined churches later, thinking they’ve hit upon some great knowledge that they were denied in childhood. But if your kids have heard it already from you in a dogma-free environment, then it won’t be new and appealing later.
And be sure to find books in your library about science, the history of inventions, and so on. When children hear those fanciful Bible stories, they’ll see that they’re much more similar to the fairy tales, compared to the amazing but down-to-earth exploits of real scientists.
Posted: January 28th 2010
Eric_PK
First off, young children deal mostly in the here and now. You wouldn’t frighten them saying there was no god because they haven’t been indoctrinated to know what god is. You might, however, frighten them if you told them that there was a being who could see them at all times and would punish them forever if they did the wrong thing. I know quite a few people who were frightened of that as kids.
For my daughter, all we did was say that certain people believe certain things, and tell them a few details about the beliefs in different religions, including old ones (greek / roman, for example) along with the current ones.
Initially, kids don’t really differentiate between fantasy and reality, but as they get a little older (I think around 4-5), they get the ability to do that, and if you haven’t reinforced “god exists” will likely lump god beliefs in with other fantasy beliefs.
They may, however, be a bit incredulous when they find out that some of their friends actually believe this stuff…
Posted: February 5th 2009