Kids and god (1 Viewer)

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No baptisms here. No problems. First time we got the old "ah would you not just get him cristened?". Second time it never even came up.

We've been asked by our oldest now about God and Jesus and we just explain to him what religion is and that it's something some people believe in. Matter of factly. Trying very hard not to diss it in any way.
 
This is a tough one..I don't go to mass (feminism & divorced parents = not very welcome in the catholic church, in my mind) and my family aren't really practicing catholics, although my mum gets the guilts and drags us to mass at Christmas or Easter occasionally.
But I don't want my children growing up without a sense of religion, because even though I essentially rejected mine to a point, it has still informed my life (even in the way that it showed me a lot about what is wrong with the church.)
Also, my boyfriend's family are quite religious (not in an overt way) and if we had kids I know they'd want them baptised, confirmed etc. And my own mother would probably be disappointed if I didn't, in a way.
So...I'm not any clearer about what I'll do...but if I do baptise them and if they go to a catholic school, I'll make sure I educate them myself about other religions and the pitfalls (and good points) of catholicism..I hope eventually they would chose themselves like I did.
 
Here, there's a lot of talk about educating kids about other religions - but in fairness does anyone actually know anything much about other religions? Who knows what the five (or seven) pillars of Islam are? How about the eightfold path? Or even the seven sacraments, and how many of those are considered sacraments by, say, Lutherans? Who's read the Koran or the Bhagavad Gita or, for that matter, the bible?
 
I've read the Bible. It's gas.

Nothing else though. But anyway, religion isn't about understanding what you're doing or who you're praying to. It's just a thing that you do, just because. That's what religion is all about.
 
Is telling them there are other religions not enough?

I tell you what, whoever can find time for teaching kids about different religions inbetween the nappies and the din dins and the waking up at four in the morning, wins my respect...

"And what do we do with the Koran? No... No... NO WE DO NOT EAT THE KORAN!!"

Here, there's a lot of talk about educating kids about other religions - but in fairness does anyone actually know anything much about other religions? Who knows what the five (or seven) pillars of Islam are? How about the eightfold path? Or even the seven sacraments, and how many of those are considered sacraments by, say, Lutherans? Who's read the Koran or the Bhagavad Gita or, for that matter, the bible?
 
A deeper level? Do I detect theism lurking in your heart Ro?

No, I mean that the child would eventually come to understand right and wrong as being more than a list of good things to do, and a list of bad things to do. The child might learn more about the underlying principles of respect, honesty, fairness, etc and thereby develop a 'sense' of right and wrong that would arm them in approaching situations later in life where the balance is unclear.
 
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I think even Rod and Tod might have a problem with these

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I haven't a clue what I would do, mainly because it's the sort of decision that I don't think you can really make until the babba is actually on the way, or even in the world.

I would actually be inclined to have him/her baptised as an Episcopalian, not just out of respect for me da, but because, I dunno, I somehow can't imagine not doing it. I'm not into religion, and I don't know if I believe in most of it, but I'm not an atheist, and I rather like the idea of me own da baptising his own grandchild. I think the specialness of that moment, for him and for me, would outweigh the discomfort I have with organised religion. Even though I'd never want a big wedding, the only reason that I'd even consider a proper church one is if my dad performed the ceremony. I'm sure he'd agree to keep the God-bothering to a minimum, and my guess is that he'd do it automatically, out of respect for my lack of 'faith'.

I would absolutely not baptise a child Catholic, though, not for love or money would I do that. Nor would I get married in a Catholic church. Even if it was the most beautiful church on earth, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I can't stomach the politics of the Catholic church, but also, I'd feel like a total hypocrite using a church as a backdrop, which I think is a bit of an insult to the people who genuinely believe in it.

Then again, none of this is solely my decision. But the Catholic baptism is one I just couldn't bring myself to do.
 
Here, there's a lot of talk about educating kids about other religions - but in fairness does anyone actually know anything much about other religions? Who knows what the five (or seven) pillars of Islam are? How about the eightfold path? Or even the seven sacraments, and how many of those are considered sacraments by, say, Lutherans? Who's read the Koran or the Bhagavad Gita or, for that matter, the bible?


I do, all thats thought in Junior cert Religion classes now days. Its an exam subject...
 
It seems religion is taking the place of spelling and grammar in our schools.

a sad day for pedantic athiests.
 
The child might learn more about the underlying principles of respect, honesty, fairness, etc and thereby develop a 'sense' of right and wrong that would arm them in approaching situations later in life where the balance is unclear.
Hmmm
I think understanding "kind" and "mean" is all you need for a sense of right and wrong. Religion just complicates things
 
Hey - quit rearing my imaginary children!

I don't like the idea that we need religion for morality. I don't think it holds true.
I think kids can be thought to make moral judgments without it being based on religious thinking. Or, on a more extreme level, I think kids can learn to make moral decisions for the sake of morality, rather than because being immoral means spending the rest all eternity in fiery damnation.
 
I don't like the idea that we need religion for morality. I don't think it holds true.
I think kids can be thought to make moral judgments without it being based on religious thinking. Or, on a more extreme level, I think kids can learn to make moral decisions for the sake of morality, rather than because being immoral means spending the rest all eternity in fiery damnation.

Richard Dawkins was saying the same thing on Newstalk the other day

i agree
 
Richard Dawkins was saying the same thing on Newstalk the other day

i agree

Yeah, I got his book for xmas (oh, the irony). It's what I always thought anyway, it's just that now I'd have big fancy points to back my opinion up with were I to get into a discussion about it.
 
I don't like the idea that we need religion for morality. I don't think it holds true.
.

That's not what I said. I said I think it's a useful way of teaching kids about morality, not that we 'need' it for that.

It can work for adults too. Nineteenth centrury novels are littered with references to biblical characters and their associated morality tales. The folklore of religions is often constructed around Aesop-type morality tales and these can help to illustrate fairly abstract ideas in a more digestible way, and help a kid/adult to learn to see look at a situation from the perspective of right and wrong, rather than merely assessing the balance of interests for example.
 

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