What Do Your Kids Think About God?

Our outspoken panelists range from devout Christians all the way to live-and-let-live agnostics. Today, more than ever, your family's religious beliefs are an expression of your cultural identity and your family's spiritual foundations. Even if you don't realize it, children of a certain age really do talk about God and think about worshipping, in their own style, even among their friends. So, what will you do -- or not do -- to further this conversation?

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silver4004
2 yearss ago

@ FromA2J Momversation can't really be blamed if this seemed a little one-sided, they just show whatever the panelists actually feel about the topic. I thought there were definitely some different views in here, just maybe not exactly yours.

FromA2J
2 yearss ago

I found this momisode to be pretty one sided. All of the opinions may not have been fully religious, but they were pretty much all the same. Kind of disappointing... I am an atheist/secularist and have no intentions of teaching my son about God. I will wait until he approaches us with questions himself. I want to raise my son to be a free-thinker and I believe that to be difficult when the mind becomes bogged down with religion. There is a way to raise your child with morals without having to incorporate, or resort to, religion. There is an excellent book on the topic, actually, titled Parenting Beyond Belief. I believe that everyone is entitled to their own beliefs and belief structure. But I do get highly annoyed when I hear other parents who are atheists talk about teaching their children about God, because they believe it is "good for them". Seems like backwards thinking to me. Not only that, but confusing to the child... "You should believe in God, but we don't". Great topic - as always - just wish the content in the momisode would have been more diverse.

Dana
2 yearss ago

Just as NOT teaching your kids about faith is intentionally teaching them about it whether you realize it or not. Just because someone chooses to approach the instruction of faith differently doesn't mean that they themselves or their children are any less "free thinkers" than you and your family with your beliefs. Diversity is the spice of life! ;)

theambershow
2 yearss ago

Well, it's one-sided because most people (in the US at least) are some sort of religious or spiritual, and with a small sampling of three families, the chances are good you are going to get three spiritual-sort of answers. I don't think that's the producers being one-sided intentionally. I'm not a parent yet, but I LOVED reading Parenting Beyond Belief, and I keep up with "The Memeing of Life", the author's blog. It's helped me figure out what to say (from a humanist, atheist, ethical standpoint) about holidays and gods and religions. I don't agree with your stance, though, on not bringing things up until he asks. Maybe you can start a conversation from a free-thinking perspective. I dunno... I have a while until I have to worry about it! Good luck :)

SewerBubble
2 yearss ago

Both my husband and I were raised Catholic and we have both strayed from that path for different reasons. I tend to question Catholicism and religion a lot. I don't agree in a set mindset because I don't agree that one religion or one belief is 100% accurate. I know I believe in God, a higher being that has put us on Earth with a purpose, I just haven't found Him yet. One really awesome idea I read in a book once was that God was our light source that gave us life. And that we departed from his light to come down to Earth. After we die we will rejoin into his light and be complete. My son is only 11 months old and I fear that once he's older I will be without answers to his questions. I'm also scared that I'm wrong and if I fail to teach him about God or faith that he'll be damned to hell.

Andrea in Chica...
2 yearss ago

I was raised Catholic, my husband was raised Lutheran, and both of our children were baptized Catholic. Our kids, ages 6 and 3, have grown up with age-appropriate Bible stories and believe in God, Jesus, angels and saints. We attend a progressive Catholic Church, where the kids participate in religious ed. The two main takeaways: God is a loving God, and we see God in each other. I can't imagine for one second that God, who loves us enough to create us, would punish us for being human. I don't think God cares which denomination church we attend, or whether we read the Bible, Koran or Torah—or never learn organized religion, but love others as God loves us. We talk about heaven, and how we'll all be together with God when we die. That's our style, our spiritual identity. It's been a long time coming, but I'm finally pleased with what we'll pass on to our kids.

BuenoBaby
2 yearss ago

My dad was a Catholic priest for twenty five years. He met my mom in her convent [she lived in a convent because she was a nun]. They left their respective orders to be with each other and have a family. Can you imagine...a priest who wanted to marry a woman and have children? SCANDALOUS! My mother died ten years ago, so I talk to my children about God a lot and how it relates to the absence of their Nanna. We're not religious, but my children do "believe" in God and know that there is a benevolent force who loves them. http://www.buenobaby.com

jez
2 yearss ago

@Texan Mama When you say "heaven is a Christian concept", does that include Catholics and Mormons? Muslims believe Jesus was a prophet too, and they believe in heaven. Some Hindus have a concept of heaven too, as do Sikhs (they call it Sach Khand). Pure Land Buddhists have a concept similar to heaven. Really though the Zoroastrians were first to the scene with the idea of heaven - probably the Abrahamic religions got it off them. When you say "If your kids want to believe whatever they make God into, then that's okay but just realize that the end won't be Heaven" - do you mean that my beliefs determine what actually exists in the universe (reincarnation, the Christian heaven, etc)? Or that they all exist equally, but what I believe determines where I will end up? If so, exciting stuff - I can choose what happens after I die! If not, how would you convince me that what the Bible says is true? Jez.

Texan Mama
2 yearss ago

Hi Jez! Sorry if I wasn't clear... what I meant was, that, Christians believe that when they die they will go to heaven. Mormons believe that when they die, they will go somewhere depending on what they've done on earth, and one of those possibilities is to be their own god on their own planet. Hindus believe in reincarnation. Etc. My point is this: If you believe the Bible to be true, then you should a) believe in Jesus and b) follow it's guidelines and c) expect to be in heaven when you die. But, if you think the bible isn't true, then you shouldn't expect to get into heaven, because a natural following of that line of thinking would be that you would believe in something else. If you or your child wants to believe in heaven, and that they can get there without being a Christian, that's fine to believe, but what are you basing that belief on? Kind of like, if you child believes hard enough that he can become a doctor when he grows up, but he's going to do it HIS way and not the way that he's been told, then he can still do it. But can he, really? I do not believe in telling people that what they believe is wrong. Every person is free to believe what they want. But it's not okay to expect that our beliefs will not affect our outcomes. We have to own our beliefs and accept whatever outcomes our beliefs bring us. Me, I think that Christians are going to heaven and non-believers are going to Hell. But that's what *I* believe. Probably the Buddhists think I'm going somewhere else. Probably the Mormons think so too. So, in their eyes, *I'm* the non-believer. In their eyes *I* am the one who's in the wrong. But I am owning my belief in Jesus and I'm ready to face what that means. I'm also ready to accept the expectations of what it means to believe in Jesus. I seriously am not a Jesus freak. My religion is an important source of values and ethics for me and my family, especially my children. And, to whether or not the Bible is true, well I believe it is true. I can't give you a list of empirical evidence (I'm sure you could find as many to support it as you would to oppose it) although my husband could - he's a pastor. But, I think that giving kids a choice of religion just leads kids to choose nothing. I have never met (doesn't mean I never will) a person whose parents gave them a choice about religion and actually chose religion. All the folks I know chose nothing. Actually, they chose golf or tennis or sleeping in. I don't mean any offense by any of this, I just mean that basically, make a choice and own what that choice means. Study it, don't just be in the dark about it. Know what your choice will result in and be ready to face those results.

Ghanimatrix
2 yearss ago

I wish every Christian had the healthy attitude that you seem to have! As an Atheist, I find myself mostly on the margins of any conversations about god or religion. I personally find the idea of god to be completely unoffensive, but definitely not for me. Religion, on the other hand, is a different story. If all religions truly taught the tolerance of other faiths (or lack thereof) I don't think Atheists in general would be quite so judgmental of and aggressive toward those who believe. Personally, I am going to teach my son about religion, because it is so very relevant to history and what is happening all around us! How can he understand politics and history (including what is happening right now) without understanding the belief systems behind them? But I also intend to teach him my beliefs, which is that it is all a bunch of hooey. I acknowledge everyone's right to teach their children what they believe! It's intolerance that causes problems.

What Do Your Kids Think About God?

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