My 6-year old DD is getting into religion because of the Berenstain freaking bears

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe you should support her if she’s interested. What was your bad experience with religion?

Women are less than men.

Gay people are sinners.

Listen to men who are evil like the pope that dug up another pope put his dead body on trial.

Politicians using the pulpit to spread hate.

Do you need more examples?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When my non-practicing parents learned of my interest in the Bible, at 7 years old, they brought out a children's Bible and a book about world religions. I very much appreciated both... as well as the Bible class taught at my protestant elementary school in northern Europe.

I do not practice any religion, OP. But I think it's critical for young people to have comparative religion studies, even dumbed-down ones for kids, because it will turn them into adults who are not afraid of others just because of their religious practices. Knowledge is the best weapon against fear and intolerance.

Buy her a children's book of world religions and read it with her! This is the perfect opportunity.

OP here, this is really helpful. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

Why don’t you start teaching about all religions? It’s a fact of life that many people believe in one - treat it as that, and where possible, a history lesson.

Also, the older Berenstain books are not religious. The first 50. Go back to those if you don’t want the religious ones. Not a church mention in any of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD 6 is a big fan of the Berenstain bears books. We’ve encouraged this as those books have been very helpful to her learning to read. However, a problem has risen. Those books have gotten very Christian, and she’s read the ones about religion because she reads all of them. And after reading books about the Berenstain bears going to church and stuff, she’s started asking why we don’t go to church or Sunday school and saying that she wants to attend.

Now, when DH and I got married we agreed to raise our children in a secular way as we’ve both had bad experiences with religion. I’m not saying that our daughter can never explore religion or faith, if she wants too she absolutely can. However, in my view six is a little young for this. Especially considering that she is only interested because of the Berenstain bears.

How do we handle this? I don’t want our daughter to feel that we don’t support her but we also have no interest in joining a church. Maybe there are more laid-back ways to give her a taste of religion? What would you all suggest?

I don't see a problem. My second grader just learned about greek mythology at school. I describe Christianity the same way. They're fictional stories from a time when people couldn't explain the world around them. The stories can be interesting, sometimes even a bit ridiculous, but they're obviously not true.

This.

We tested Christianity as parables.

We are Catholic.

Plus she won’t remember even being 6.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Find a church with a good Sunday school. You can take her to Sunday school and sit in the lobby and play on your phone. You don’t have to participate at all. You don’t need to join. It’s fine. I teach Sunday school and see parents doing this who are not religious but their kids express interest in church. Just like you would sign her up for soccer if that’s what she asked for.

Sunday school is for indoctrination, not religious education. This is terrible advice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe you should support her if she’s interested. What was your bad experience with religion?

Women are less than men.

Gay people are sinners.

Listen to men who are evil like the pope that dug up another pope put his dead body on trial.

Politicians using the pulpit to spread hate.

Do you need more examples?

I’m really sorry this happened to you. This is not the message of Jesus. I have been reading several memoirs of women with similar experiences and it’s absolutely heartbreaking.

[Anonymous]

Buy her some more books about religion.

Be prepared to share in a child appropriate way why you dont attend. Tell her its not your families tradition, but you might need one or two reasons why.

Agree to take her to a service if she continues to show interest. Even if you aren’t a member its good for kids that age to know how churches work and to see or hear a few different ones. She will have friends who are religious. It will be to her benefit to have an understanding of how those religions operate.

You aren't helping her by withholding information.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe you should support her if she’s interested. What was your bad experience with religion?

Women are less than men.

Gay people are sinners.

Listen to men who are evil like the pope that dug up another pope put his dead body on trial.

Politicians using the pulpit to spread hate.

Do you need more examples?

I’m really sorry this happened to you. This is not the message of Jesus. I have been reading several memoirs of women with similar experiences and it’s absolutely heartbreaking.

But it is the messages of the churches.

And don't kid yourself. Statements attributed to Jesus are highly patriarchal. He had problem with slavery, and he told people not to trust the educated class. Real or not, he's not a good role model.

[Anonymous]

Hi OP, I understand. I grew up in a conservative Catholic family and now consider myself agnostic. My husband comes from a line of lapsed Lutherans and considers himself an atheist. Our 1st grader has asked a lot of questions about church and god that he’s picked up here and there. Like another poster, we got him books about world religions and mythology to help put belief in context. It helped!

[Anonymous]

I don't follow any organized religion, but I purposely exposed my kids to different religious beliefs when they were young. We attended services, read age-appropriate texts, and gave them as much exposure as they wanted. I tihnk it's great your kid is actually asking and seeking out this information. My kids are young adults now, one is an atheist, and one is like me: spiritual and a believer in God, but does not follow any particular faith.

[Anonymous]

Unitarian

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Buy her some more books about religion.

Be prepared to share in a child appropriate way why you dont attend. Tell her its not your families tradition, but you might need one or two reasons why.

Agree to take her to a service if she continues to show interest. Even if you aren’t a member its good for kids that age to know how churches work and to see or hear a few different ones. She will have friends who are religious. It will be to her benefit to have an understanding of how those religions operate.

You aren't helping her by withholding information.

It isn't really that complicated. The OP's kid is 6. That's right around the age where they should be figuring out Santa doesn't exist.

Why do people believe in a religion? Why do kids believe in Santa. They feel good by thinking that something is just going to give them what they want. And parents go along with it because they can use in threats to encourage better behavior during the year. Religion is pretty much the exact same thing.

But sure, there's certainly nothing wrong with teaching her about religions and going to services. But teach what they really believe, not just what they like to bring up with new marks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe you should support her if she’s interested. What was your bad experience with religion?

Women are less than men.

Gay people are sinners.

Listen to men who are evil like the pope that dug up another pope put his dead body on trial.

Politicians using the pulpit to spread hate.

Do you need more examples?

I’m really sorry this happened to you. This is not the message of Jesus. I have been reading several memoirs of women with similar experiences and it’s absolutely heartbreaking.

So you believe in Jesus but not in religion?

[Anonymous]

She’s 6, it’s fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD 6 is a big fan of the Berenstain bears books. We’ve encouraged this as those books have been very helpful to her learning to read. However, a problem has risen. Those books have gotten very Christian, and she’s read the ones about religion because she reads all of them. And after reading books about the Berenstain bears going to church and stuff, she’s started asking why we don’t go to church or Sunday school and saying that she wants to attend.

Now, when DH and I got married we agreed to raise our children in a secular way as we’ve both had bad experiences with religion. I’m not saying that our daughter can never explore religion or faith, if she wants too she absolutely can. However, in my view six is a little young for this. Especially considering that she is only interested because of the Berenstain bears.

How do we handle this? I don’t want our daughter to feel that we don’t support her but we also have no interest in joining a church. Maybe there are more laid-back ways to give her a taste of religion? What would you all suggest?

I don't see a problem. My second grader just learned about greek mythology at school. I describe Christianity the same way. They're fictional stories from a time when people couldn't explain the world around them. The stories can be interesting, sometimes even a bit ridiculous, but they're obviously not true.

+1 frame it like this.