What do u tell ur children about god n ur religion??

[Maruschke]

I really think that kids grow up with ways around them n appreciate the fact that the world has sooo much too offer kids r like sponges they soak up everything.. I don't think there is any wrong or right answer n no wrong or right religion I think all is beautiful... Tbh I think all our kids r going to grow up with the right knowledge in their heart as long as we stay honest to ourselves we teach our kids to luv n embrace all as equally as we would want to be too

Hi Amali,

I find this approach interesting, it's different to the way DH and I will approach religious education of our children.

Many religions teach that they are the only truth. I do believe there is one and only one true religion (which implies that the others are wrong), that's offensive and arrogant to some, but it is the reality of what the Christian faith is about. I will teach my daughter that the Christian faith is the one truth faith, so the challenge for me is to teach how how to be a loving caring tolerantmember of society while not compromising her beliefs.

I realise this might be offensive to some, I hope it comes out in the right manner . It's very hard to word it without coming across confrontational (which I am not trying to be!) but this issue is usually viewed differently by those who follow a religion that claims to be the only way, versus those that claim to be one of many ways.

PX

[Nai]

DP and I are not religious at all but we will teach our children the ethics and values that we believe in. The girls are free to make up their own minds as to their own beliefs but I hope that they will be tolerant and non-judgmental of others.

[Bumperstump Cummerbund]

I know what you mean PX, I just didn't know how to say it The one thing my parents really drilled into us was that even though we believe we are the only true religion, doesn't give us the right to be rude or nasty or arrogant. 'love the sinner, hate the sin'. The story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman comes to mind, she was so surprised that a Jew would speak to a Samaritan, a female one at that!

[Maruschke]

I know what you mean PX, I just didn't know how to say it The one thing my parents really drilled into us was that even though we believe we are the only true religion, doesn't give us the right to be rude or nasty or arrogant. 'love the sinner, hate the sin'. The story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman comes to mind, she was so surprised that a Jew would speak to a Samaritan, a female one at that!

Phew! I'm glad you knew what I meant .

It's harder to teach a child tolerance when you believe you are right and others are wrong, than teach a child tolerance when everyone is right.

[Indadhanu]

It's harder to teach a child tolerance when you believe you are right and others are wrong, than teach a child tolerance when everyone is right.

I do like what I wrote in my first post... I just hope that with whatever religon she follows, she practices compassion and respect and understanding to every other being. I think that's a pretty good set of values. Teaching from the story Keike has shared, that Jesus respected, felt compassion for, and even healed those who didn't believe or agree with him... a child could understand that? My parents had a really nice set of Christian bedtime story books full of stories about Jesus and other Christian themes, which taught really nice messages, and if I was a Christian finding it hard to about teach respect and compassion to those different from myself, I'd probably look towards books like that.

[meow]

It's a tricky one because I don't believe in what I believe without believing I'm right IYKWIM.

My H and I are atheists and in the same way that we're vegetarian I'd be sad if my children didn't grow up to understand the logic behind our choices and choose to follow them themselves. Sure, I tolerate other people's choices and I would tolerate my child's choices and expect them to tolerate others too, as with most areas of diversity.

As for teaching about diversity in religion I guess we teach that other people have a variety of ideas about the world but we debate and question and discuss in our house so they would see that we pick things apart. We have already sat at the dining table in the evening with our two year for example, with the bible out and discussing the nitty-gritty of what is written in genesis vs what people practice. We question how faiths interpret their holy texts, who wrote them etc etc. We never say "this is wrong", but rather "I wonder why some people believe this?"

[Arcadia]

I was raised Catholic and I have baptised DD, but mainly so she can turn to a religion if she feels she wants to.

DH was brought up without any religious instruction and feels very out of depth in churches etc. I think it is important to expose children to some understanding of various religions so they can make up their own mind.

Personally I am wary of a religious way of life that is exclusive as I think all religions should be mindful of each other- but that is because I am not into literal interpretations of faith, but rather I see all religions as a continuum and basically trying to acheive the same thing.

[Arcadia]

I was raised Catholic and I have baptised DD, but mainly so she can turn to a religion if she feels she wants to.

DH was brought up without any religious instruction and feels very out of depth in churches etc. I think it is important to expose children to some understanding of various religions so they can make up their own mind.

Personally I am wary of a religious way of life that is exclusive as I think all religions should be mindful of each other- but that is because I am not into literal interpretations of faith, but rather I see all religions as a continuum and basically trying to acheive the same thing.