Keep this in mind, always: world culture, and expecially that of the US is over-saturated with bullshit on account of what children, most who now walk around in adult bodies, were either taught to believe or were never disabused of when they were little. This applies to anything which would lead to self-delusional behavior, not necessarily religious. Therefore, if a child comes to you asking for the truth on something, give him no less than the truth! However, this does not mean that you need to spin it as darkly as you may have seen it at times, because you also want to inspire children with the motivation to do what they can to make their own world better, and move the rest of it toward a more positive ideal. Let them know that it's up to them to build a new and better culture, and if they can get together on doing that, than no non-metaphysical improvement in their future is beyond their ability.
Every time I see a parent recommend witholding a straight answer from a child, this makes by blood boil! I'm no child myself at nearly 50, and while this is hardly the most eyebrow-raising error committed by my parents, it is what I find myself least able to forgive them for. Parents who dodge their responsibility to inform children when they are seeking answers aren't really protecting anyone other than themselves from having to see their cute little boys and girls outgrow their childish innocence ignorance.
Of course children don't need to know all the seedy, gory details on things, but please don't ever say "When you're older..." - when they are mature enough to formulate questions, they are mature enough for a valid answer in some form. Encourage them to ask more questions, especially when it comes to sex and relationships. These especially - they need to know from you how to deal with this safely, and if you won't help them then they will find out on their own! Don't let them grow up naive about political relations either, especially when it makes the difference which would cause them to get pulled under by disillusionment. If you are a child's parent, you have to be the one who he can trust above all others, and that means you must not risk his trust by handling his questions with any appearance of secrecy or deceit as you steer him around life's dark alleys.
There are of course some judgements which a child needs to make for himself, least among them religious ideas. While I am anti-theist and am down only the most infinitesimally small gap from the top of the Dawkins scale, it was me who decided this for myself, and I believe any child who isn't allowed to do the same would be fairly assessed as indoctrinated on the subject. So I would tell him that I see no good reason to believe in gods for lack of evidence, and teach him the difference between a falsifiable argument and those which support belief in gods, encouraging him to decide for himself what to believe or not.
Every time I see a parent recommend witholding a straight answer from a child, this makes by blood boil! I'm no child myself at nearly 50, and while this is hardly the most eyebrow-raising error committed by my parents, it is what I find myself least able to forgive them for. Parents who dodge their responsibility to inform children when they are seeking answers aren't really protecting anyone other than themselves from having to see their cute little boys and girls outgrow their childish innocence ignorance.
Of course children don't need to know all the seedy, gory details on things, but please don't ever say "When you're older..." - when they are mature enough to formulate questions, they are mature enough for a valid answer in some form. Encourage them to ask more questions, especially when it comes to sex and relationships. These especially - they need to know from you how to deal with this safely, and if you won't help them then they will find out on their own! Don't let them grow up naive about political relations either, especially when it makes the difference which would cause them to get pulled under by disillusionment. If you are a child's parent, you have to be the one who he can trust above all others, and that means you must not risk his trust by handling his questions with any appearance of secrecy or deceit as you steer him around life's dark alleys.
There are of course some judgements which a child needs to make for himself, least among them religious ideas. While I am anti-theist and am down only the most infinitesimally small gap from the top of the Dawkins scale, it was me who decided this for myself, and I believe any child who isn't allowed to do the same would be fairly assessed as indoctrinated on the subject. So I would tell him that I see no good reason to believe in gods for lack of evidence, and teach him the difference between a falsifiable argument and those which support belief in gods, encouraging him to decide for himself what to believe or not.
Mr. Hanky loves you!
