I wonder what's going to happen when my son gets old enough that other people start preaching at him. Fortunately my parents are christians of the absolute most passive kind. In fact I'm 31 and I had no idea what my parent's religious beliefs actually were so color me shocked when I decided to ask them and they said christian. My mother in-law knows I hate religion because whenever we go to visit her mother, who is die hard old school catholic, they've tried to make get me to go for appearances sake. They went as far as to pay me 20 bucks one time but now they just tell my wife's grandma that I'm not feeling well and need to sleep in. The only one left is my father in-law who I believe thinks I'm a christian because I have professed some knowledge in the bible without saying it's not what I believe. He's not overtly religious but is still one of those people that thinks atheists are all ammoral.
I respect him very much and he is the best father in-law anyone could ask for but I would have no problem saying to his face not to talk to my kid about religion. My wife really doesn't want me to let him know because she has a huge family that are all catholic and everyone knows everything about everyone. If that line was crossed though where someone tried to preach to my son, I would have no problem telling them never to discuss their own beliefs in front of my kid. There's a fine line between standing up for your rights and being a total dick so it would be a touchy situation but I wouldn't avoid it to stop conflict.
Christians need to respect other parent's rights no matter who the child is, even if it's their grandchild. I would NEVER try to convince someone else's kid to believe what I believe and they damn well better not do it to mine. If you don't stand up to them now it could open the flood gates and then they will think it's open season on your kid's "salvation."
I respect him very much and he is the best father in-law anyone could ask for but I would have no problem saying to his face not to talk to my kid about religion. My wife really doesn't want me to let him know because she has a huge family that are all catholic and everyone knows everything about everyone. If that line was crossed though where someone tried to preach to my son, I would have no problem telling them never to discuss their own beliefs in front of my kid. There's a fine line between standing up for your rights and being a total dick so it would be a touchy situation but I wouldn't avoid it to stop conflict.
Christians need to respect other parent's rights no matter who the child is, even if it's their grandchild. I would NEVER try to convince someone else's kid to believe what I believe and they damn well better not do it to mine. If you don't stand up to them now it could open the flood gates and then they will think it's open season on your kid's "salvation."
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own - Bertrand Russell
