If you were raised as a Christian, but are currently agnostic...

[Anonymous]

Do your kids know bible stories (e.g. Jonah and the whale, Noah's ark, David and Goliath, etc, etc)? If so, how did they learn them?

There are so many biblical references in American pop culture that it feels odd not to teach them--akin to a child who grows up never having read Cinderella or the three little pigs. How has your family handled this?

[Anonymous]

I've been giving this some though lately and am interested in answers too.

My 5yo is very interested in God and Bible stories. DH takes the lead on saying a prayer with him each night (DH is more spiritual than I am), and honestly, I've been teaching my son stories based on songs I learned at Christian camp as a kid and Irish songs like the Unicorn (the story of the Ark and why there aren't unicorns). We'll do the other stories (Jonah, Goliath, etc.), and I guess later instill those stories with parable meanings.

[Anonymous]

No, I'm not teaching them bible stories. They are made up stories. Any that are important enough for them to know for cultural purposes will come up in school or wherever, so we can tak about them then.

My parents are very religious and we're constantly giving the kids children's bibles or bible story books before my husband and I had a sit down with them letting them know that while we loved them dearly we were not raising our kids in any one faith and they didn't have to celebrate that decision but they did have to respect our boundaries- which meant putting an end to al of the bible stuff. They respected our decision even though I'm sure it broke their hearts a little.

Good luck, OP.

[Anonymous]

Nope. Not teaching them. Several Bible stories are what turned me off to Christianity as a child. Abraham getting ready to sacrifice Isaac, for example. I saw and read that in an illustrated children's bible story book at the doctor's office once. The picture of a dad, getting ready to stab his tied up son in the back. Oh, no no no.

[Anonymous]

I just asked this question in elementary and got a couple of interesting suggestions to review.

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/579371.page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, I'm not teaching them bible stories. They are made up stories. Any that are important enough for them to know for cultural purposes will come up in school or wherever, so we can tak about them then.

My parents are very religious and we're constantly giving the kids children's bibles or bible story books before my husband and I had a sit down with them letting them know that while we loved them dearly we were not raising our kids in any one faith and they didn't have to celebrate that decision but they did have to respect our boundaries- which meant putting an end to al of the bible stuff. They respected our decision even though I'm sure it broke their hearts a little.

Good luck, OP.

I don't disagree but stories like Little Red Riding Hood are made up too. How do you reconcile reading one but not the other?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nope. Not teaching them. Several Bible stories are what turned me off to Christianity as a child. Abraham getting ready to sacrifice Isaac, for example. I saw and read that in an illustrated children's bible story book at the doctor's office once. The picture of a dad, getting ready to stab his tied up son in the back. Oh, no no no.

Yeah, there are definitely some ugly ones that I wouldn't want to touch.

[Anonymous]

I'm more spiritual than religious. And I'm a minister. The stories you speak of are simply that - stories. They are meant to teach life lessons. When you stop thinking of them as literal, historical fact, and view them as lessons, you may see more value. You would agree that "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" uses a simple story to teach a valid life lesson, right? It's the same with many Bible stories. The story of David and Goliath demonstrates that power isn't always related to size. Noah's Ark could be used to teach the importance of being prepared, thinking clearly in crisis, and perseverance under difficult circumstances. The Creation story in Genesis is beautiful poetry that does an amazingly good job of describing the evolution of our wold if you don't read it literally. Of course, people of faith would add trusting God, obedience, etc.

Jesus spoke in parables all the time, yet so many Christians insist on literal translation of ancient text. I've never understood that. Bible stories are a part of our culture. I think they should be taught the way all ancient literature is taught. If you are a person of faith, you'll obviously view them differently. However, the stories have value to everyone. They are stories of ancient people seeking to explain the world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm more spiritual than religious. And I'm a minister. The stories you speak of are simply that - stories. They are meant to teach life lessons. When you stop thinking of them as literal, historical fact, and view them as lessons, you may see more value. You would agree that "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" uses a simple story to teach a valid life lesson, right? It's the same with many Bible stories. The story of David and Goliath demonstrates that power isn't always related to size. Noah's Ark could be used to teach the importance of being prepared, thinking clearly in crisis, and perseverance under difficult circumstances. The Creation story in Genesis is beautiful poetry that does an amazingly good job of describing the evolution of our wold if you don't read it literally. Of course, people of faith would add trusting God, obedience, etc.

Jesus spoke in parables all the time, yet so many Christians insist on literal translation of ancient text. I've never understood that. Bible stories are a part of our culture. I think they should be taught the way all ancient literature is taught. If you are a person of faith, you'll obviously view them differently. However, the stories have value to everyone. They are stories of ancient people seeking to explain the world.

This is really helpful. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nope. Not teaching them. Several Bible stories are what turned me off to Christianity as a child. Abraham getting ready to sacrifice Isaac, for example. I saw and read that in an illustrated children's bible story book at the doctor's office once. The picture of a dad, getting ready to stab his tied up son in the back. Oh, no no no.

Every single Disney story has a parent die, or somebody is locked away by a wicked witch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nope. Not teaching them. Several Bible stories are what turned me off to Christianity as a child. Abraham getting ready to sacrifice Isaac, for example. I saw and read that in an illustrated children's bible story book at the doctor's office once. The picture of a dad, getting ready to stab his tied up son in the back. Oh, no no no.

Every single Disney story has a parent die, or somebody is locked away by a wicked witch.

Not the PP you quoted, but I can't think of a single Disney story line where a parent kills their own child. That's pretty scary stuff for a kid to digest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nope. Not teaching them. Several Bible stories are what turned me off to Christianity as a child. Abraham getting ready to sacrifice Isaac, for example. I saw and read that in an illustrated children's bible story book at the doctor's office once. The picture of a dad, getting ready to stab his tied up son in the back. Oh, no no no.

Every single Disney story has a parent die, or somebody is locked away by a wicked witch.

Not the PP you quoted, but I can't think of a single Disney story line where a parent kills their own child. That's pretty scary stuff for a kid to digest.

Yes, it was horrible to read. I was about 7 at the time. Was reading by myself with no context presented by my mother. Completely different from parents dying in Disney movies. And FWIW I shielded my son from those for quite a while too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nope. Not teaching them. Several Bible stories are what turned me off to Christianity as a child. Abraham getting ready to sacrifice Isaac, for example. I saw and read that in an illustrated children's bible story book at the doctor's office once. The picture of a dad, getting ready to stab his tied up son in the back. Oh, no no no.

Every single Disney story has a parent die, or somebody is locked away by a wicked witch.

Not the PP you quoted, but I can't think of a single Disney story line where a parent kills their own child. That's pretty scary stuff for a kid to digest.

Unlike Disney, nobody is actually killed in that story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nope. Not teaching them. Several Bible stories are what turned me off to Christianity as a child. Abraham getting ready to sacrifice Isaac, for example. I saw and read that in an illustrated children's bible story book at the doctor's office once. The picture of a dad, getting ready to stab his tied up son in the back. Oh, no no no.

Every single Disney story has a parent die, or somebody is locked away by a wicked witch.

Not the PP you quoted, but I can't think of a single Disney story line where a parent kills their own child. That's pretty scary stuff for a kid to digest.

Unlike Disney, nobody is actually killed in that story.

Not Disney, but the fairy tale Hansel and Gretel is pretty darn dark. Their parent dumped them in the woods because there was a famine and the kids were eating too much. An evil witch put them in a cage so that she could fatten them up before cooking them.

There are lots of terrifying fairy tales.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nope. Not teaching them. Several Bible stories are what turned me off to Christianity as a child. Abraham getting ready to sacrifice Isaac, for example. I saw and read that in an illustrated children's bible story book at the doctor's office once. The picture of a dad, getting ready to stab his tied up son in the back. Oh, no no no.

Every single Disney story has a parent die, or somebody is locked away by a wicked witch.

Not the PP you quoted, but I can't think of a single Disney story line where a parent kills their own child. That's pretty scary stuff for a kid to digest.

I mean, I guess you can't let the kids watch The Lion King then. Dude kills his brother, and also tries to kill his nephew repeatedly.