Best way to teach kids about religion
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Anonymous
| My kids don't know when Jesus died and came back from the dead. One of them goes "Wait, he came back from the dead??".. We are not Christian but where I grew up religion was part of the school curriculum and we learnt about all religions. Is there a source I can use (TV or website) to teach them the basics. Prefer a non-biased, non-judgmental source. |
Anonymous
| How about the Bible? |
Anonymous
The Bible is not non-biased -it is the holy book for Christians. Also, the first part of it - the Hebrew scriptures or Old testament - is the holy book for Jews. Also, the Bible is not meant to be read like a book and would be very difficult for a child to understand. A children's Bible would also not be appropriate, because it is aimed toward Christian children. |
Anonymous
| I can't imagine a worse source than the Bible in order to determine if the Bible is true. |
Anonymous
| The Bible is the only historical account there is of Jesus. How do you disregard it? |
Anonymous
The bible is not an historical account of Jesus. It's stories about Jesus for which there is little or no evidence -- and scholars have been looking for centuries. The Bible is fine for what it is -- the holy book of two major religions, filled with wisdom and some pretty grisly stuff as well, an interesting look at first century writing and thinking. But an historical account, it is not. Somehow, I think OP knows that, which is why she didn't just go to the Bible instead of coming to DCUM for suggestions. |
Anonymous
| I'm in a similar position OP. DH and I are atheists (raised mainline Protestant) and our child has had no religious exposure at all. I struggle with where to even start. I'm really interested in what others have to say. |
Anonymous
|
Given that OP is not Christian and presumably does not believe that Jesus rose from the dead I assume that she is looking for a "world religions" type of exposure here. In other words, historical accuracy is not as important as just what people believe.
Correct me if I'm wrong, OP. |
Anonymous
Take a look at this: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/secular-parents-guide-teaching-kids-faith/ a PBS interview with a secular parent who wrote a book called "Relax, it's just God: How and Why to talk to your kids about religion when you're not religious" I saw the interview when it came out and was very impressed. I just found this resource online: https://www.atheistparents.org It looks promising. |
Anonymous
Actually, reading a Bible or children's Bible is a great way to learn what the Bible says: just read it like a story book. Growing up I had a Bible illustrated like a comic book, it was excellent and I wish it was still in print. Golden Books also does Bible stories for really little kids. Look, "bias" and truth are irrelevant to this discussion: OP's point is that her kids are ignorant of basic cultural context. Awareness of Biblical stories is a big part of understanding Western literature and art, cultural allusions, folk music, etc. -- it's at least as important as knowing Greek mythology, more so given the huge population of Christians alive today. If you are Western I don't think you should consider yourself educated if you haven't read the Bible or a really good summary of it. It's also important to have a working understanding of other major religions, although they're less influential on modern Western culture (just as Christianity is less influential on Eastern culture). OP should follow up with some kids' books about other major religions. I attended Catholic school K-12 (I am not Catholic) and every year we had a World Religions unit that covered all the major religions. Separately, for older kids who have a basic grasp of the Gospels, the book "Zealot" is a really interesting look at the historical context (it does not promote the holiness of Jesus, quite the opposite). |
Anonymous
I agree that the Bible is important as literature -- and think that non-religious parents have to be VERY CAREFUL that they steer away from anything that teaches bible stories or Christian dogma as truth and something you must believe in order to avoid an eternity in a terrible, real place called hell. The belief is unfortunately pervasive in our society. |
Anonymous
I don't know if this is the "best" way, but we've read through these books on occasion. Along with a book about evolution. 
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/0756617723/ https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/1465402500/ |
Anonymous
And NatGeo has some good books on mythology too - one example: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/1426320981/ (there are several) |
Anonymous
I'm the PP -- thanks! im going to check this out. |
Anonymous
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OP here. I'm a He. I was born/raised Hindu, went to Christian schools (Protestant) in India where I sat through morning prayers, visiting evangelists, etc. I was exposed to Islam, Sikhism and Buddhism through friends growing up. As an adult, I'm agnostic. I believe that all religions has wisdom to teach and pretty much teach the same things. Where they diiverge is in the adamant belief that their version of god is the only truth. It would be great to have a religion/philosophy class in school where children are taught concepts from all religions so they can grow up to respect them all, and especially our ancestors who came up with these phenomenal concepts at a time of great persecution and hardship. At a time when science is observing phenomena that cannot be explained using logic and known science and religious concepts are being explained away with science and logic, it makes sense for children to be exposed to both at the same time. Hence my quest/question..
Thanks for all your thoughts and inputs. I will check out the links. |