Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
What did my parents tell me......
damiana:
just ask your kids what they think will happen. when they answer then tell them that whatever they want to believe is the right answer. you dont have to tell them what to believe. let them believe what they want. that is why you are who you are. you believe what you want. give them that power to take control over their own destiny and lifestyle. they will thank you in the end for not feeding them a bunch of bullshit.
PS - i have a 7 y/o who doesnt believe in anything. she knows shes going to be worm food and that is alright by her. :)
Mominator:
There appears to be more than a few atheist parents here. Go us!
I was raised in whatever church my dad's current gf was in, so I am somewhat cynical about the whole thing (church is to impress others...?), son's dad was raised Southern Baptist and apparently believes in it still. We agreed to disagree on that long ago. My current, final, did-it-right-this-time hubby is hardcore atheist raised half Catholic. We all agreed to let the kid explore any faith he wanted to. I dabbled in Buddhism and was baptized Episcopalian so I gave him those viewpoints, his dad sent him to church camp, and we answered any questions he had about it. We also kept a couple flavors of bible, the book of mormon, and some other comparative religion books around. Wow, long windup, now here's the pitch...
The message he got was "we really don't know, here's what some folks believe, here is what we believe, whatever seems right to you is okay". Stepdad and I told him that we think that you simply don't exist anymore, but if people remember you for being a good person, that's a kind of immortality, so concentrate on being nice and enjoying the time you have. We have NOT explored or brought attention to the corollary that you will be remembered just as much for being a really BAD person too...
So far, so good. He is a very kind person, goes out of his way to be nice to people, and lives life on his own terms (well, as much as you can do so in the Army). More importantly, he THINKS for himself and doesn't let anyone tell him what to believe. I count that in the WIN column.
slandurgurl:
I'm an agnostic parent. When my kids have asked me what happens when we die, is there really a god, heaven, etc., I've been honest - I don't know, nobody really knows, and anybody that tells you they know for sure is full of it. I was raised in religion - christian elementary school, lutheran high school, church every Sunday and youth group every Wednesday. Then one day I was sitting in my religion class listening to my teacher tell everyone that if someone wasn't baptized, they were going to hell, no ifs ands or buts. So I raised my hand. "So, if a tiny baby dies right after being born, God will send them to hell if a little bit of water hasn't been dribbled on their head?" "Yes." "Then I don't want to worship your God." From then on I argued with anyone who told me there was only one way to believe and worship. And I often won the arguments - nothing defeats faith better than pure logic. 'Course that didn't make me very popular...I was actually accused of being a freaking witch because I chose to do a term paper on witchcraft for my Cults and World Religions class. Good times.
ZorahG:
This is my first post as well. :-)
I am a parent and agnostic with education in sciences. I can tell you that my beliefs are unique and as a parent I would NEVER tell my child death was "just like going to sleep". Only because that is what I was told as a child, with great nonchalance and it terrified me. (I was all of 5 yrs old) I was so afraid to go to sleep after that and it was VERY hard to get over. Most Psychologists agree the best thing for YOUNG YOUNG children is to have them think of death, especially the death of a pet or loved one as an end to their suffering and pain. NOT as "bedtime/going to sleep".
When my child asks, I will be honest. We don't know for sure what happens... and like a previous poster, I will explain the different beliefs regarding dying/death. To each their own, whatever they chose to believe is fine with me, until their right to believe tramples my right to have my own beliefs.
That all said, there is some fascinating research regarding ones life, our "soul" so to speak, that there is a residual energy when we die that recycles back in a way to the greater "energy" of our world. Not some mystical jargon, but top physicists and scientists doing research with complex math and what we know about the universe.
Personally, there's just so much we DON'T know, I don't see how anyone could say for sure "this is it". But that's the glass-half-full side of me I think.
ZorahG:
--- Quote from: slandurgurl on 15 Dec 2008, 07:45 ---I'm an agnostic parent. When my kids have asked me what happens when we die, is there really a god, heaven, etc., I've been honest - I don't know, nobody really knows, and anybody that tells you they know for sure is full of it. I was raised in religion - christian elementary school, lutheran high school, church every Sunday and youth group every Wednesday. Then one day I was sitting in my religion class listening to my teacher tell everyone that if someone wasn't baptized, they were going to hell, no ifs ands or buts. So I raised my hand. "So, if a tiny baby dies right after being born, God will send them to hell if a little bit of water hasn't been dribbled on their head?" "Yes." "Then I don't want to worship your God." From then on I argued with anyone who told me there was only one way to believe and worship. And I often won the arguments - nothing defeats faith better than pure logic. 'Course that didn't make me very popular...I was actually accused of being a freaking witch because I chose to do a term paper on witchcraft for my Cults and World Religions class. Good times.
--- End quote ---
I applaud your open-minded take on things. Too often people are stuck in their "my way is the ONLY" way rut and refuse to open their minds to learn of other possibilities.
My half-sister wont let her children read "Harry Potter" because it's "witchcraft". I find that sad. Her sons LOVED to read until she started censoring their books... *sigh*
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version