Debate - Raising your kids with religion

[boobaloo]

ooh, did this stem partly from my response to the santa thing??? lol


i believe that children have the right to experience aspects of a lot of religions, or none at all, and make an educated decision for themselves when they are old enough to do so. i will take my children to religious festivals - be it buddhist, catholic, muslim, whtever - so that they can develop a respect and understanding of religions and what they mean to other people.

i think that it is unfair when parents put thier religious beliefs onto their children - especially fundamentalists - as they do not give thier children the opportunity to excercise freedom of choice; but instead instills into them the belief that this religion is THE truth, THE way of life, THE greater way to be.

an example for me that springs to mind is the 'duggar family' off foxtel, they have 18 children and are fundamentalist catholics, the children aren't even allowed to hold hands with someone outside the family until they are engaged to them, cannot share 1 kiss until they are married, spruke the 'truth' about evolution and how non-believers don't know the real story about creation. the mother wont even allow the children to see her belly as it gets bigger with a baby, as she has to remain modest - these are her own children- and all of the kids have to wear these ridiculous swimming head to toe suits to go for a swim.

obviously there are more things they do, but those readily sprung to mind.

i believe in the freedom of choice, and the respect for all people, whether they are religious or not. i don't know what's in the here-after, if there's a heaven or not, but i figure if i treat people with love and respect, that they'll let me through the gates.

btw - great topic, gets my blood boiling!!!

[Maruschke]

ooh, did this stem partly from my response to the santa thing??? lol

Yep, stemmed from that response LOL. I thought it deserved it's own thread .

i believe in the freedom of choice, and the respect for all people, whether they are religious or not. i don't know what's in the here-after, if there's a heaven or not, but i figure if i treat people with love and respect, that they'll let me through the gates.

This is what you believe and it will come through in the way you raise your child. You are raising your child and instilling in them your own beliefs, just like us. You believe that love and respect is enough to get you through the gates, others believe that Jesus is what gets them through the gates, others believe there is no gates and no heaven. But we all transmit our beliefs to our children, even unintentionally and unconsciously at times.

[Trillian]

I actually find it quite easy as I am not any religion at all and neither are my children, so we aren't starting off with a preconceived faith system kwim?

That said, we do make our children attend non-denominational scripture classes at school as I feel it is important that they learn that other people do have religion in their lives and how to respect that and their religious traditions and holidays etc. We openly speak about Jewish holidays, Islamic traditions - halal meat etc and why some people wear the clothes that they do and all sorts of things.

[Bumperstump Cummerbund]

Hahaa, I've been reading all the previous posts, and now I've forgotten the question!

I agree with everyone about teaching your children about your 'one true religion' - if you don't believe yours is the truth, then perhaps it's time to prove it to yourself?

As a JW, I was taught a bit about other religions, but was also encouraged to dig deeper into them. We are taught from when we're small to respect others, and not to force our beliefs on people, because Jehovah created us with free will. I was also told to really dig into my own religion, and prove it to myself. For a few years, I did look at other religions, but I always kept coming back to this one, because this is the one I know in my heart to be true.

For this reason, I would instil these beliefs in my children. I firmly believe that, even if I wasn't a JW, I would still hold the same values and behaviours, because I understand the reasoning behind them, and they have never failed before. I wantt my children to have these values, so of course I would teach them!

[christy]

Okay... I will attempt a reply....but it is after a 10 hour day of work, so if you need clarification, please ask.

Is it right / fair / meritious to raise your child in a particular religion as the one true religion? For example, to raise your child as a christian / catholic / buddhist ONLY, and not introduce or teach other religions. To clarify, the opposite of this would be to attempt to educate your child about all religions, and allow them to choose for themselves when they are older.

Our experiences are that we are Christians, but not born to Christian families. My family went to church growing up, but BUT did not practice Christian beliefs within the household. I don't consider affairs and infidelity to be a part of Christian beliefs, so I don't say I grew up in a Christian household. DH's family were anti-Christianity. So we have our beliefs on our own accord rather than a tradition built from our family.
In saying all that, we bring our kids to church when we can make it. We pray at night with the girls before bed.... we pray positive affirmations over our girls every night. We don't ask our girls to pray with us, if they want too they can, but we don't ask them too. We have decided that they will do this with us as a family, until they are old enough to take care of themselves at home and decide they don't want to come.
Matilda actually asked about a lady she say wearing a head covering the other day why she was, and I said that some people believe that is something that God wants them to do. She asked me if it was something that God wanted me to do, and I told her He hadn't told me that yet, but if he did I would. I told her other people believe different things about God and that some people don't believe in God at all. She didn't ask anymore, and I didn't offer anymore. I'm happy to answer questions, and relate things as what I believe... so if she asks me questions about God I will say "I believe..." rather than say "The truth is..." because although I believe it to be the truth, I want her in her maturity to make her own decisions.
*breath* Now.... my top belief of all time is that God has called us all to Love. So in my role as a parent to her, my job in the religious stakes is to show her how to love EVERYBODY. People from other religions, people of other races, people of other social status, people of other sexual persuations etc etc etc. Its what I believe the most strongly. That is something I will urge onto Matilda from now. I will show her in my actions and I will urge her to do in her life as well. Love everybody. I don't want to hear her talking negatively about another person unnecesarily, not on.

Now this brings us onto the other topic going at the moment which is about the swimsuit. sorry.... To me and what I believe (again because this is all about me ) I think if its what the Dugger's do... its what they do. Its not how I would handle it, but *meh* it doesn't hurt them does it? I believe we should love out bodies and respect them enough to not have to reveal too much. I love my body, I don't need to show it off in order to feel this way. I do like to cover up at the beach, mainly because I feel more comfortable and it really isn't about how much skin to show... its about enjoying myself at the beach. I wear a one piece in the pool because to me its about exercise... not about what I look like. With my girls... I will encourage them to appreciate the body they were given and to wear what they want within reason. If they want to wear mini-skirts, than I will offer leggings.... I want them to think high enough about their body's that they don't need to flaunt them.