How do you explain god to your kids if you don't believe in one?

[Anonymous]

OP, to all of this I would add that you keep an open mind yourself. The holy spirit works in wonderous ways!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, to all of this I would add that you keep an open mind yourself. The holy spirit works in wonderous ways!

Agree.

[Anonymous]

You do realize that your child will be coming home with all sorts of religious beliefs, right?

So it will be confusing - for a while at least.

My son attended a Jewish preschool. (We're not Jewish but we're not very religious either.) And to this day, he still thinks he's Jewish. I think it's cute. But we do believe in God. So it's easier to discuss religion with him.

not the answer you wanted - just a bit of a "warning"
b/c you don't want your child to make remarks to his peers that may contradict their beliefs.

Anonymous wrote:My child is going to start at a religious preschool in the fall (for a variety of reasons that are right for our family). It's the religion I grew up in, so it won't be foreign to me. However as an adult I no longer believe in god. My husband is also not religious and we've never mentioned god to our children (our older child went to secular preschool so never an issue). I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to say when I get the inevitable questions. Something like "some people believe this..., but I don't and you should make up your own mind..."


If you don't believe in god, what have you told your children about it?

[Anonymous]

I said that I don't know anything about God, and that he'll learn about God as he is getting older.

[Anonymous]

I also do not understand why you are sending them to religious school, and it's not the same as sending your kid to Children's Learning Center which is technically a Jewish school,but is largely secular- and it's a pre-school first, and yes, it is lovely.
There are so many people who openly deny their religious upbringing and belief system and yet are the first to sign them up for Hebrew school or Catholic school or even join a church or shul. Why? For some it seems to be about the Bar Mitzvah. Years of Hebrew school, thousands of dollars in dues, and then..nothing really in the family regarding observance. For others it seems to be family expectations that they belong to a church, or maybe the culture of Sunday school. Not believing is a belief system, too. Why not express the belief of marginal or absent belief? What is the fear here? My kids were exposed to all through family events, but we were very upfront that religion appears to be paired with culture and sometimes it is hard to separate the two. If they asked about God we said- It's hard not to imagine a God as people have made it so important in our cultural lives, and while we aren't sure about everything, we think it answers so many questions people feel they need to know, and really, as people we do not know everything. There are so many inconsistencies with the "story"- we don't see a God making decisions for us just because it is easy for us to assume that, and dealing with life is hard which is why the story exists. When they were small and asked about heaven, we said everything that lives,... yes, everything, dies,that it is as natural as living, and it is a part of life. It is sad and it is scary because we want to be here, and we want to be with who love, but we can remember that we all came from somewhere and we are all going somewhere. When they were older, we talked about philosophy and the human condition. They are adults now. They identify themselves as Jewish agnostics/atheists (my family is Jewish- DH's family are Episcopalians) and both had very moving marriage ceremonies with very meaningful readings and vows that seem to incorporate their views of the world. God was not mentioned in the ceremony.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:dfgdfgdfg

Old thread. Bumped by these wise words.

[Anonymous]

That's easy. Make sure they know they have no soul...are just a mass of cells that by the grace of another mass of cells escaped abortion.. And they are worth less than a rock ( which will be here long after they become dust and doesn't kill and eat inumerable living things for no good reason). Have a nice day!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I treat it like "mythology" == the ways people tell stories to explain the world around them. This has happened for a long time. Like ancient egyptians didn't understand that the earth rotates around the sun, so they thought there were gods who carried the sun across the sky every day. Now, some people don't understand how the world started, so they say it's that God made it, etc., but that scientists think that the earth started (really simplified theory here)

If this is your approach then you should not choose a religious school for your child.

Of all the responses, this is the most disrespectful given the circumstances. Stick with secular schools.

How in god's name would this be "disrespectful"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That's easy. Make sure they know they have no soul...are just a mass of cells that by the grace of another mass of cells escaped abortion.. And they are worth less than a rock ( which will be here long after they become dust and doesn't kill and eat inumerable living things for no good reason). Have a nice day!

Good to see Ranting Theist is still out there frothing at the mouth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Same way I deal with Santa. I am all in until they figure it out themselves. The holes present themselves quite the same way the whole Santa thing works.

I agree with this with one major exception: As I told my DD when she figured out Santa…through the years I've gone to great lengths to pretend to be Santa, the tooth fairy, leprechauns, and moved our elf on the shelf, and lord knows what else. However I've never pretended to be God for you.

Whether or not you believe in God, this is an important distinction. Because no adults do believe in Santa/tooth fairy/etc but many adults do believe in God.

+1

This is us

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:dfgdfgdfg

Old thread. Bumped by these wise words.

God?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I tell them about all sorts of things that different people believe in. Just say it like it is. I think you will be fine.

as long as your tone of voice conveys respect you are fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's easy. Make sure they know they have no soul...are just a mass of cells that by the grace of another mass of cells escaped abortion.. And they are worth less than a rock ( which will be here long after they become dust and doesn't kill and eat inumerable living things for no good reason). Have a nice day!

Good to see Ranting Theist is still out there frothing at the mouth.

Tell me what is incorrect about this? Why would you say my mass of cells is "frothing"? Are you practicing some illogical faith or your emotions?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:dfgdfgdfg

Old thread. Bumped by these wise words.

God?

??

dog friend god

That's what I read.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, to all of this I would add that you keep an open mind yourself. The holy spirit works in wonderous ways!

Or not.