RE: Religion and children
June 28, 2014 at 10:15 am
(This post was last modified: June 28, 2014 at 10:19 am by Willow Blackbird.)
Quote:Wow. Teenagers. I've got two of those. Can't live with 'em, law won't let you shoot 'em.
Seriously though, it's a rough time for any parent so don't beat yourself up. I would continue to urge them to think critically about everything, not just religious beliefs. Let them go to church if that's really what they want to do. Forcing your decision on them will be met with resistance and anger. But, don't let the indoctrination go unchallenged. If either of my kids showed a real desire to go to church, I'd take them, talk to them about the sermon, show them where the minister/priest/pastor/shaman/medicine man got the day's message and show the biblical contradictions to it. If they think your guiding and helping instead of ordering they'll be more receptive.
Leaving your faith is hard. Raising kids is hard. Doing both at the same time must be hell.
Just my tuppence.
Thank you. I appreciate this. I think it's been very helpful to get all these responses.
(June 27, 2014 at 4:51 pm)CindysRain Wrote: Remember this, even if your kids don't want options right now, they still have them, and as they go through their own process, I think they will eventually appreciate that.
When the guilt sneaks in Willow (it will come and go), never forget that we did the best we could, with what we knew, at the time.
YES! Thank you! I think part of my angst is residual from Christianity. There is that urgent fear of your child *NOT* believing the way you have brought them up to believe. I think this has really opened my eyes to the fact that my children are their own entities, like me, and deserve to search and disagree with me.
