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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is not a complicated situation but I do wonder why people view Christianity as inherently so reactionary. You do not have to go to a toxic megachurch. I grew up in NY, our pastor was a gay alcoholic man who was committed to serving the (mostly illegal) local Guatemalan population. Our youth group was always doing food pantries and donation drives for homeless and immigrant populations. This was in the 80s/90s. Our current pastor uses she/them pronouns and is very active in homeless and prison support. I never knew anyone who thought the Bible was “literal” until I got to college or subscribed to any type of evangelical faith. I do think it is nice to believe in something if you can find a faith that resonates. It gives structure to your life and ideally helps makes you a better person, situated in a framework larger then yourself / family.

And all of those can be accomplished without belief in a supernatural being that carries with it inherently other things that ARE harmful to humanity at large. I would venture to say that it would be better if everyone focused on THIS life, THIS reality, and the people there here NOW, not wasting any time or energy on things that may happen after you are dead, based upon threats. If you are a good person, you don't need a god to make you a good person that does good things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let he go to a church and see if she likes it. UU is pretty mild. What are you afraid of? Are you one of them book burners.

Do you offer any spiritual fulfillment to your child?

Lol. There would have to be a spirit to fulfill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is not a complicated situation but I do wonder why people view Christianity as inherently so reactionary. You do not have to go to a toxic megachurch. I grew up in NY, our pastor was a gay alcoholic man who was committed to serving the (mostly illegal) local Guatemalan population. Our youth group was always doing food pantries and donation drives for homeless and immigrant populations. This was in the 80s/90s. Our current pastor uses she/them pronouns and is very active in homeless and prison support. I never knew anyone who thought the Bible was “literal” until I got to college or subscribed to any type of evangelical faith. I do think it is nice to believe in something if you can find a faith that resonates. It gives structure to your life and ideally helps makes you a better person, situated in a framework larger then yourself / family.

I absolutely don't think that danger is unique to Christianity. That just tends to get the most attention because of the rabid Christians running around. And in reality, *most* of the problems aren't with religious beliefs themselves, but with the cults that run the various churches. It is wrong to brainwash kids before they're able to think rationally for themselves. There should be legal protections prohibiting that.

[Anonymous]

My kids also wanted to go to church after seeing it in books and movies. They kept asking to go so we found a little church nearby that happened to be non denominational. They ended up thinking it was boring and they hated the children’s class and we never went back.

[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?

+1. And I could add a few. Or several…

I'm disabled because I didn't pray hard enough. I was born with this disability.

Anyway, OP you could buy her a few age appropriate religious books; take her and let her see what it is; or tell you don't think now is the right time.

Also, when did those books get religious?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You sound really immature

+1 But really, this is just an an intentionally provocative post to induce mass rage posting.

OP here. No it’s not. Why would you say that?

NP
But I agree with the PP that this is either a fake post or intentionally provocative.
First, if you and your DH agreed not to encourage a religious upbringing, it’s not very responsible parenting that she accidentally got curious from a book that you somehow had NO idea contained religious content. She’s six, not sixteen. I’d recommend being a little more on top of the content she is consuming.
But assuming it is true that you just let her check out a slew of berenstain bears books without realizing they had a faith focus, it’s really not that difficult to tell your kid the truth that you are just not a family that practices religion. And if it IS difficult, then maybe there is a reason it’s difficult for you and you are questioning your decision?
But the point is, no one here can tell you what to do that isn’t obvious if you want to stick to what you and your DH decided. Maybe introduce her to other books and move on to a new topic. She’s six. It doesnt need to be that complicated .

[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.

If your kid found a book about Islam at the library and wanted to go to a Mosque, would you feel comfortable taking your 6 year old there, sending them into a Sunday School classroom where they will teach her about the Quran, and you just wait in the lobby playing on your phone?

If not, why not? And if not, why would you suggest that a parent who isn't religious send their child into your Christian classroom to learn about God, Jesus and the Bible?