RE: Teaching our kids
March 20, 2012 at 5:43 am
(This post was last modified: March 20, 2012 at 5:46 am by NoMoreFaith.)
I have a 7 and a 10 year old. In both cases I've done my best not to express an opinion on the matter.
However, as a parent, it is also important to promote moral being, and in this I do my best to highlight basic moral philosophy.
I've spoken about world religions, and I've spoken about non-religious beliefs, and done my best to avoid herding them into an avenue. Thats really hard.. personal bias is hard to overcome.
The only thing I go out of my way to do, is to promote critical thinking, to teach them how to approach an idea, which is to see the evidence and weigh it up themselves. I put particular emphasis on the idea that "Mum and Dad" gets things wrong.. often. I express delight if they prove me wrong on something, and they always feel pleased about it too.
If I am guilty of anything, it is indoctrination of empricism.
However, in my defence, neither of them express a religious view, they are not atheist children, not christian, and it would even be a stretch to say the are agnostic. They simply have not expressed an opinion on any matter in terms of religion as it is not relevant to their life, and they are aware that whatever the decide, will be met with love and affection.
I hope that I'm doing my best by them, but its always a worry, and a struggle to prevent my personal biases from coming out too strongly.
EDIT: Quick correction, my 7 year old whilst doing homework on Christianity declared that he believed Jesus was real, but couldn't perform miracles. So perhaps he is at least agnostic. I was quite pleased with that, since I personally think Jesus was not real, more an amalgamation of several people. So he's come to a different conclusion than my own beliefs.
However, as a parent, it is also important to promote moral being, and in this I do my best to highlight basic moral philosophy.
I've spoken about world religions, and I've spoken about non-religious beliefs, and done my best to avoid herding them into an avenue. Thats really hard.. personal bias is hard to overcome.
The only thing I go out of my way to do, is to promote critical thinking, to teach them how to approach an idea, which is to see the evidence and weigh it up themselves. I put particular emphasis on the idea that "Mum and Dad" gets things wrong.. often. I express delight if they prove me wrong on something, and they always feel pleased about it too.
If I am guilty of anything, it is indoctrination of empricism.
However, in my defence, neither of them express a religious view, they are not atheist children, not christian, and it would even be a stretch to say the are agnostic. They simply have not expressed an opinion on any matter in terms of religion as it is not relevant to their life, and they are aware that whatever the decide, will be met with love and affection.
I hope that I'm doing my best by them, but its always a worry, and a struggle to prevent my personal biases from coming out too strongly.
EDIT: Quick correction, my 7 year old whilst doing homework on Christianity declared that he believed Jesus was real, but couldn't perform miracles. So perhaps he is at least agnostic. I was quite pleased with that, since I personally think Jesus was not real, more an amalgamation of several people. So he's come to a different conclusion than my own beliefs.
Self-authenticating private evidence is useless, because it is indistinguishable from the illusion of it. ― Kel, Kelosophy Blog
If you’re going to watch tele, you should watch Scooby Doo. That show was so cool because every time there’s a church with a ghoul, or a ghost in a school. They looked beneath the mask and what was inside?
The f**king janitor or the dude who runs the waterslide. Throughout history every mystery. Ever solved has turned out to be. Not Magic. ― Tim Minchin, Storm
If you’re going to watch tele, you should watch Scooby Doo. That show was so cool because every time there’s a church with a ghoul, or a ghost in a school. They looked beneath the mask and what was inside?
The f**king janitor or the dude who runs the waterslide. Throughout history every mystery. Ever solved has turned out to be. Not Magic. ― Tim Minchin, Storm
