Children and religion

My siblings and I (there are four of us) were all raised Catholic and went to 12 years of Catholic school. We all stopped going to church eventually, and generally being religious, and only go when we're back home visiting our parents.

 

We don't force it on our kids. We have prayer dice that we roll before dinner that has six different prayers on it that my kids take turn reading. They like it enough that when my wife or I pick them up from school one of the first questions they ask is if it's their turn to roll the dice that night... I like that...

I think it's all about the positivity, which I don't think there is enough of, anywhere these days, and God knows a lot of churches don't have it either.

 

Oh, hell, you're really preparing them for careers as craps dealers/stickmen ...

 

I'm going to attempt to engage you in a serious discussion here, bereft of the nuthouse digs, etc.
Both you and your spouse are Christian. Assuming that holds value to you, and you subscribe to a salvation code within the same text used by both Methodists and Catholics, I'm wondering how you could say if they want to believe in something else, more power to them? As a parent in the same faith, I want my kids to understand the basics and the road to salvation as is in the Bible. Everything else you wish for your kids is short-term, unless you don't buy into the salvation thing - which would then make me wonder what the value of church is because there are "moral codes" you can instill in your children outside of church.

Wrestling with the book is a life-long battle too. When we speak of "God's will" what does that mean? I don't think it means riches or happiness or fullness of health, yet it all finds itself under the umbrella. Yet, non-believers can experience those things as well. I Tim 2:4 suggests the only thing applicable in this instance of what is a universal will of God. God is the ultimate gate keeper, we aren't, but if we're in his presence from a spiritual sense, it would seem we'd want to hold on to that.

 

Yet more people these days look for something to hope for.

The biggest problem in the church today is that it becomes identified more with culture than the church itself. Christianity is an element in but not of the world. And by that I don't necessarily mean politics, but a sense of fellowship bereft of the power-games and cliques of the world as we know it.

Our church has small groups and it's policy that the groups disperse every 6 months and start anew. I didn't understand nor like at first because it prevents you from developing deeper relationships within those groups and trust is hard to come by these days, but it also prevents the cliquishness, and that was our pastor's intent. You learn community from a broader perspective.

 

It holds value to me. It holds value to my wife. They are our values. I do not force my values or likes or dislikes on anyone, including my son.

Now, as it happens, my kid wants to do everything I do at all times. So I'm almost positive he'll end up Christian, and probably Methodist. And that's great. But if he chooses to be Jewish or Baptist or Muslim, that's his decision. As it would be if he decided to believe in nothing or be agnostic.

Belief in a higher power is not necessary for him to be a good person. There are plenty of good atheists and agnostics out there.

It is most important for me for my son to grow into a good person, not necessarily to share my religion and beliefs.

 

I suspect that dog eat dog doesn't espouse the a la carte Christianity many of us practice. Ruckus, I assume from your posts here that you don't believe that Christianity is the only route to salvation and the only route out of damnation. And I'm with you, obviously. But I don't think dog eat dog is. I think he would have trouble - and this is what he's getting at - being supportive of his children thinking for themselves on religion, because he truly believes there is only one true route.

Is that accurate, dog?

 

It's interesting... Two of my best friends from high school, who were both raised as devout Catholics, one has stopped going to church altogether and the other has converted to another religion. Both said they were sick of the negativity and the scare tactics that seemed to be a part of most Sundays...

I completely get that. I have no interest in scaring my kids into believing anything. I want them to go to church by choice, not because they feel like they have to. I mean, I went because I felt I had to until I was in my late 30s. This is really the first time in my life that going to church is something I look forward to.

 

Yeah, I have a hard time believing two-thirds of the world's population is fucked in the afterlife.

 

My kids were taught about Baal and Gilgimesh from an early age.

 

Well I'm glad I'm not on the judgment seat for that, but if out of everything in the Bible that may contradict something else, it's pretty clear God's will is for all to be saved, so I'll follow the guidelines of that if I profess to believe the Bible as the inspired word of God. If my kids at any time with their families choose another path, I can't keep them from doing that, but I'll take what seems the safer route.
I also find it interesting that Romans 1 speaks of the evidence of God throughout and from the beginning of creation (pre-Christ) that leaves all men without excuse as to belief. Kind of the scientific "this creation was something beyond man's grasp."

 

Dog, one of the best simple explanations I've heard on finding a religion and path to salvation came from Michael Savage.
Yes, that Michael Savage.
He said to think of God and all the different religions as parts of a wheel. God is the hub at the center, and the different religions are the spokes. If you follow the spokes, you always end up at the center no matter what path you take. There might be some differences along the way, but they all lead to the same place.

There's so many different religions and philosophies out there that it's impossible to say which one is right or wrong. One path that leads someone toward salvation might lead someone else to lose faith. As long as it accomplishes the end goal of making you a better person is what really matters.