I was having a conversation with a friend today about what to say to someone else's kids if the subject of religion comes up when you find yourself alone with them. This is both an easy subject and a difficult one. The easy thing to remember is this child is not your child and you cannot disrupt what that child's parents want to teach him/her. OK, that makes total sense and that is what I would do in every case......but there are exceptions to this rule and that's what I want to discuss.
My first example is the time my nephew questioned me about heaven. He was 10 years old and my sister made it very clear to me that she considers my atheism to be stupid and that I'm not to discuss it with her child. Fair enough. I told him that he needed to discuss heaven with his mother because I had different opinions. I didn't elaborate and he didn't ask. I was relieved.
There were several thoughts going through my mind during this transaction. One was respect for my sister, another was that my nephew wasn't ready to hear what I had to say, and yet another was I simply wasn't prepared to give a good answer that fit that circumstance. The exception would have been if this had happened a few years in the future and he was aware of my atheism. My hope for my nephew is that his mother and father are not entirely closing his mind up for new ideas. My sister wants him to be a doctor when he grows up and for that to happen he must be open minded. I think that since information is getting easier and easier to obtain via the Internet that chances will be high that he will abandon these myths for better information and for higher morals.
7 comments:
I give these tracks out to the parents of the kids. I am respectful and say something like “can I give this to your kid?” they always or 95% of them say “Yea sure”. On the front it says “Hay Kids test your memory and see if you are a genius!” on the inside it says this.
I also give them out for Halloween, along with the treats of course.
For Him,
Dan
Remind me not to come into your neighborhood.....
I may have said, I am an atheist and then explain it. But who's to say for SURE if I would really say that?
Oh, and I'll stay out of his neighborhood too.
I will stay out of his neighborhood too, LOL.
I am with Dawkins on this one: Indoctrinating children with religious ideology IS child abuse on a mental scale.
This further propagates a close-minded thought process that inevitably perpetuates throughout the generations.
The Christian Meme.
Aw oh, summer squirrel, you have an intellectual on your hands now. (Larro)He's fun to blog with though, so controversial.
I respect you decision. I think you should judge the situation on a case by case basis.
I like to be as open and honest as possible with kids tell them my opinions but state that they are perfectly entitled their own.
But the situation will dictate the response.
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