My girlfriend wants our kids introduced to "all major world religions"

[Abishalom]

This is basically what you said..."Critical thinking may not lead to my beliefs but they most certainly will not lead to yours." You're making a baseless assumption. You "speaking about" me as if you know what I believe.

Well you do describe yourself as a christian, so its quite obvious what you believe.

Not really. Many Christians have different fundamental beliefs. All your doing is generalizing all in one category.

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This is basically what you said..."Critical thinking may not lead to my beliefs but they most certainly will not lead to yours." You're making a baseless assumption. You "speaking about" me as if you know what I believe.

There is no assumption, other than what you've posted in this forum is a reasonably accurate reflection of relevent parts of your belief. Do you care to challenge this assumption by claiming you lied?

Those parts of your belief is utterly irreconcilable with any useful interpretation of the concept of impartial critical thinking execised with due diligence. That is spoken about you, not on your behalf.

Now you're just talking out of that hole in your hindquarters. You are assuming you know what I believe, and you made an argument based on that assumption. You said it again "your beliefs are irreconcilable with critical thinking". What are my beliefs chucky boy?

[Anomalocaris]

Listen, jesus's bitch boy, unless you happen to be a Christian who holds that there was no such thing as Christ and Jesus was, if ever existent, fits the profile of a rather psychiatrically diseased human being, your Christian beliefs don't need to nailed down any any other specifics to be properly described as contemptible and irreconcilable with any critical thinking based on due diligence minimally mandatory for one who lives in the scientific age.
You yourself descends even below the level of normal Christian contemptability by this pitiful weasling quibble about just what color the mold on your rotten Christian brain happen to assume today.

[Oldandeasilyconfused]

Yes, but then again no good can possibly come of them being around the highly religious types.

Not before the age of reason,but once they reach say 12, being around such people in controlled doses,with you to answer questions, will help them develop their critical thinking skills. Hopefully you will provide enough for your children to make informed choices about what they believe,or not.


There are plenty of decent secular books about any religion you can think of for children of all ages. Perhaps start with your local library,or go on line. I'd be wiling to bet there are LOT of parents in your position,even with kids at public schools.

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This is basically what you said..."Critical thinking may not lead to my beliefs but they most certainly will not lead to yours." You're making a baseless assumption. You "speaking about" me as if you know what I believe.

Yes it is an assumption,but a reasonable one. Your pots have given a reasonable idea of your beliefs, unless you have been lying.

As a broad generalisation, our beliefs, values, and world views are no more than an accident of birth. They are inculcated into children uncritically before the age of reason,becoming part of the person's identity. Few people ever seriously question their strongest beliefs about anything, To do so is far too threatening.

Hence, atheist are a tiny minority of the human population. There are vast numbers of people who remain loyal to a political party no matter how much of a pig's breakfast their elected officials make of the job. There are millions of Catholics who insist on continuing to defend the indefensible behaviour of the Church. Then there is special category of bloody minded ignorance;the young young earth creationists.These are people so emotionally needy,so desperate and so fearful,they have actually developed the ability to simply deny any evidence which contradicts their interpretation of the mythology of an illiterate tribe of bronze age goat herders.

[el_presidente]

Take a look at unitarian universalism. It's as broad as it gets.

[Tiberius]

My view: Introduce them to as many as possible, but always with a skeptical eye, as you should introduce them to anything. Teach them critical thinking from an early age, and they won't be taken advantage of later on in life by people with promises of eternity. New religions form every day, so you're never going to stop them getting exposed, even if you want to. The best thing to do is to prepare them, and after all, it's not the end of the world if they become religious, as long as they make their choice after thinking about it critically.

[downbeatplumb]

Ok, long story short, I was talking with my current girlfriend a couple of weeks ago and the matter of what religion, if any, would our kids practice. Considering she is an agnostic, I figured she would be apathetic about the issue and just say that we wouldn't encourage religion. Her parents are conservative Africans from Sierra Leone who do practice Protestantism, as do her sisters. The rest of her family practices Christianity or an Animist belief. For her own part, she is an anarchist and an very socially liberal. Which is why this bothers me a little. Her exact words were "They should be exposed to all the world religions, that way they can choose amongst them". This doesn't bode well with me. I would be fine with them looking at what these religions believe as an adult, but not as an impressionable child who is liable to believe what is told to him in the most fantastic and fervent manner, as I once was. What do you guys make of this and what should I tell her? Keep in mind that I am just 18 but she and I are like-minded and compatible on almost all plateaus: emotional, intellectual, sexual and dynamically. I'd hate to sound bitter saying this, but prior to meeting her love was very unreal to me. She is the only person who has ever made me feel this way. I await your replies.

Do they have to be current religions or could you sacrifice a bull to Mithras, slitting its belly from below and bathing in the blood?
Lets see how she likes them old time religions.

[jess_essential]

I would allow them the opportunity to figure out what they're interested in for themselves when they're of proper age to do so. Until then, spread science like wildfire!

[Justtristo]

Ok, long story short, I was talking with my current girlfriend a couple of weeks ago and the matter of what religion, if any, would our kids practice. Considering she is an agnostic, I figured she would be apathetic about the issue and just say that we wouldn't encourage religion. Her parents are conservative Africans from Sierra Leone who do practice Protestantism, as do her sisters. The rest of her family practices Christianity or an Animist belief. For her own part, she is an anarchist and an very socially liberal. Which is why this bothers me a little. Her exact words were "They should be exposed to all the world religions, that way they can choose amongst them". This doesn't bode well with me. I would be fine with them looking at what these religions believe as an adult, but not as an impressionable child who is liable to believe what is told to him in the most fantastic and fervent manner, as I once was. What do you guys make of this and what should I tell her? Keep in mind that I am just 18 but she and I are like-minded and compatible on almost all plateaus: emotional, intellectual, sexual and dynamically. I'd hate to sound bitter saying this, but prior to meeting her love was very unreal to me. She is the only person who has ever made me feel this way. I await your replies.

I cant see the harm if you children's education into world religions was done in a objective way. Especially if it was combined with a good education in the scientific method and critical thinking. Indeed it would help your children realize all religions are equally false.

[AthiestAtheist]

Tell her that if they want to explore a religion, then they can do it on their own, or ask you when they're ready.