Hello there. I am a mother of 3. My children are 7, 5, and 3 years old, and their father, as well as the rest of our extended family, are christians. This is a very touchy deal. I am afraid that you might have decided to start this dialogue with your children a bit late, but there is still time. She isn't going to believe you because the truth is less fancy, and she is going to wonder why you are just now relaying the facts to her. I am afraid there is no easy way, but I believe that the best way would be a direct approach. Comments are so passive. What you need is a dialogue.
Sit her down and make sure to make it clear that you want to have a serious conversation with her, but try not to be too somber. Explain to her that her grandparents' beliefs are one set of many beliefs that are held by many different people all around the world. Tell her about Judaism, Hinduism, Wicca, and any other religion you can think of. Tell her that her grandparents aren't liars, they're great people who love her, but they believe in their god, which is only one of thousands of gods that have been worshiped throughout history, and no one has ever seen a god. Tell her your reasons for not believing in gods, and try to make it relevant to her by comparing religion to fairy tales. Also, tell her that you want so much more for her than a life spent worrying about what is going to happen when life is over.
She is going to go her own way, as they all do, but the best thing would be to open a dialogue about it, and keep it open. Don't just make it a one time discussion. I play a game with my kids where we make up our own religions. Each one of us contributes several different rules, sins, descriptions of deities, creation stories, and afterlife scenarios. This helps to keep them in touch with what's real and what's contrived. Educate her about science and history! That is a must! Talk about it every other day if possible, and encourage her to skeptically interrogate everything she is told, even the things you tell her yourself.
I am a firm believer that if we teach our children to question everything, especially authority, and be passionate about the truth, there is no possible way they can believe a myth like christianity.
Sit her down and make sure to make it clear that you want to have a serious conversation with her, but try not to be too somber. Explain to her that her grandparents' beliefs are one set of many beliefs that are held by many different people all around the world. Tell her about Judaism, Hinduism, Wicca, and any other religion you can think of. Tell her that her grandparents aren't liars, they're great people who love her, but they believe in their god, which is only one of thousands of gods that have been worshiped throughout history, and no one has ever seen a god. Tell her your reasons for not believing in gods, and try to make it relevant to her by comparing religion to fairy tales. Also, tell her that you want so much more for her than a life spent worrying about what is going to happen when life is over.
She is going to go her own way, as they all do, but the best thing would be to open a dialogue about it, and keep it open. Don't just make it a one time discussion. I play a game with my kids where we make up our own religions. Each one of us contributes several different rules, sins, descriptions of deities, creation stories, and afterlife scenarios. This helps to keep them in touch with what's real and what's contrived. Educate her about science and history! That is a must! Talk about it every other day if possible, and encourage her to skeptically interrogate everything she is told, even the things you tell her yourself.
I am a firm believer that if we teach our children to question everything, especially authority, and be passionate about the truth, there is no possible way they can believe a myth like christianity.
42
