When do you teach your child about other religions?

[Anonymous]

DD is almost three-years-old and goes to a Jewish preschool. We don’t keep kosher or have any food restrictions at home but her one set of grandparents are more observant and do keep kosher. We celebrate Shabbat every Friday. DD’s beloved nanny and her best friend are Catholic. Her best friend’s nanny is Muslim.

How do we teach our religion while introducing other religions? She will not be attending a Jewish school beyond preschool.

TIA

[Anonymous]

Now is a great time to start--you have the perfect context since she has close friends of other faiths. My kids understood religion at least conceptually at three. It doesn't need to be more involved than "different people believe different things--here's what people in our family believe" (or "here's what I believe" if beliefs vary in your family, as they do in ours).

Some of this depends on how you intend to teach your religion, too. We are also Jewish but not observant and while DC does go to a monthly Sunday school program, it's definitely Judaism Lite. We mainly want him to understand it culturally, and we are explicit about the fact that he can form his own beliefs as he gets older. There are certainly families who feel more strongly about instilling beliefs, and you and your spouse need to get on the same page about that so that you can explain how your household does things and how that might differ from a friend's household. That also shapes the narrative.

[Anonymous]

We explained it like languages. All religions go to the same place but just different ways of expressing it. We encouraged our kids to go to different faith based event with friends - like Shabbat dinners and festivals.


Here is what not to do. My BIL told his kids that only Christians go to heaven and only his religion was true. His kids are so screwed up.

[Anonymous]

This is a great question. Especially for church going families who are not narrow minded, I wonder about how to teach our faith but not at the exclusion of others.

Being exposed to friends and families with different beliefs is probably the best way to achieve this. There are also some books or media that might help - particularly if it's a story centered around a holiday or celebration.

Will be following for others suggestions.

[Anonymous]

It is never too early to learn which is the One True Faith Destined To Triumph Over Infidels Who Will Burn In Hell For Eternity.

[Anonymous]

You're really overthinking this OP. She's 3!

[Anonymous]

"Yes, honey, a lot of people believe in God and Jesus, but they don't actually exist. You can't ever tell your friends that, though, because it could make them very sad or very angry."

[Anonymous]

This may be OT, but how do you teach your child WHAT a religion is in the first place? It seems awfully abstract for children who take everything literally. Like if they learn a creation story, isn't that going to conflict with scientific explanation later? What do you tell them, there are just two stories and some people believe one . . . ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You're really overthinking this OP. She's 3!

this

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Yes, honey, a lot of people believe in God and Jesus, but they don't actually exist. You can't ever tell your friends that, though, because it could make them very sad or very angry."

Stop being a fool, PP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Yes, honey, a lot of people believe in God and Jesus, but they don't actually exist. You can't ever tell your friends that, though, because it could make them very sad or very angry."

I know this is tongue-in-cheek, but you can actually have some surprisingly nuanced conversations with relatively young kids about this. My Jewish kid goes to an Episcopal school, so absolutely Jesus comes up with some regularity. And we do absolutely talk about the fact that we know historically that Jesus existed, but while some people believe that he was the son of God (and Christmas, Easter, etc.), our family believes that he was just a man. And it's okay for people to have different beliefs about that (and about God, other deities, or the lack thereof).

Honestly, the God and Jesus conversations are pretty easy--he gets that different people believe in different supreme beings. The tougher talks have been about things like whether people have souls (and if they do, what are they?) and what happens when you die.

But luckily you have a little time on some of that stuff with a three-year-old!

[Anonymous]

Probably around 2 when she noticed Christmas lights. "Other people believe _____. We believe _______."

[Anonymous]

I am Jewish and DH is Catholic. It was easy for us because our kids experienced both religions when with extended family. My kids knew there was a difference between Judaism and Catholicism at three. We never got into details until they were older. They never judged.

My oldest is a Buddhist now and wrote a very funny college application essay about being a Jewish-Catholic-Buddhist. My college aged daughter self identifies as Jewish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You're really overthinking this OP. She's 3!

+1

But that’s ok, we all do it about something. We are a non religious family with older kids, but we’ve always mentioned the role religion plays in history and science. I actually try and focus on the things that are similar about all religions.

[Anonymous]

I actually have been thinking about this topic. I went to Catholic school all my life and truly believed in 1st grade that non Catholics didn’t love their children. No clue where I got that since my mother was Protestant and my parents were very progressive.

I also believe that if you understand religion, you can better understand the problems of the world.

We are a nonreligious family but I do want to introduce my kids to the concept.