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Well being my last post was about children as well, i figured I might take this a bit further . At what age to you think is a good age to start teaching your children about your beliefs? Whether you be Native American, Wiccan, Pagan, Druid or what ever it is that your belief is.(I just listed the ones that came to mind I mean no disrespect to any that I didn't mention)

I, myself have raised my son , to chose what ever he wanted to be. But he has always had an interest in Nature, Astrology, Gods and Goddesses of all nations.
He even attended Moon School when e lived in Buffalo, which was a class geared towards children under 16, teaching them of the basic elements, Karma, Wheel of the Year and learned about each festival along with the history and meaning of each. He learned about herbs and the phases of the moon and he loved it and was only 6 going on 7.

Plus any time we had a Circle there was always one for children.


So my question to all of you, that have children or even don't have children, and for the younger crowd that is on gere as well, what are your opinions on this ?

I have a daughter that is 5 years old. We have always taken the stand that we shouldnt press upon her our beleifs, although we do not hide them from her. If she has questions, we gladly answer them, saying that other people may beleive something else. Keep an open mind and make your own descisions. Now that she is in school Im finding that she is getting alot of things from other kids about the mainsteam religions. I feel like maybe we should have preparedher better.

I brought my daughter up to beleive what she wants re: religion....

I think it is a touchy subject as I'm a satanist, she isnt but I leave it to her to believe who she wants to believe in.

And also others religions. I have (not many) friends/aquaintances that have their beliefs and I listen if I dont know much about them.

My children were raised to believe in what they want and the paths they are to take in life, yet we do look over their shoulders to make sure some of the descion do not harm them or lead them down the path of wrong. by this i mean jail time or what ever. this is how i was taught and I have given them the same choice.

think as soon as they can start learning and let them pick what they want to learn with you

I think if they see you with your own fate form day one the will learn as the grown upi

I was brought up with catholic education, and have been in catholic schooling all my life. (Until now that is). This made me open to the concept of spirituality. However, my family are all atheists, so I've also received a healthy dose of cynicism.

However, the atheism has made me struggle to be confident in any beliefs around my family, and I feel they've discouraged me somewhat.

I think that children should be raised with a chance to learn more about spirituality, and encouraged in whatever they choose to believe.

Children should be involved with faith from the begining they need to be taught right from wrong and they need to be informed. Children want to know what you are involved with and why would you no want them to know.

When the children start to ask questions and only then! as i think it is wrong to 'plant a seed in their head.'
by this i mean telling them about what you believe in at an early age, as this can put bias on their own beliefs.

I am an Atheist, i do not believe in God or the Devil, so i shall not be mentioning this to my son untill he comes and asks me. Or if he says about god i shall tell him. but only when he is ready.

As a child I was raised with my parents beliefs (Baptist) and attended church. Around the age of eleven or so I told my mother I did not wish to go anymore as I started to question it. She did not make me go again. My parents never tried to force me, or talk me into going. They said it was my choice.

After that time I looked into other beliefs and they had not problem with this. Now if I came home smoking pot and saying I did it to connect with my god- I would have been in trouble.

Parents should let children look into any belief as long as they are not harmed. We are do not have to be on the same page to enjoy the book of life.

My youngest children are 5 year old twins,And my oldest is 17 our way of life is simple.We are open to the paranormal and supernatural.We are open yet we gather at no Congregational events.I do not force my concipts on what a god is or not on my children.But when they ask me a question about something kids talk about in school I explain it to them with the understanding that this is what some people think you can think other wise.

My son has his own beliefs. He knows of my iccan beliefs, but was never interested, and I never pushed.

It is his own personal descision. However he did go to a Spiritualist Church with me one Christmas. He stated it was ok and never returned.

When it is his time he will decide.

I say let the children decide what they want in their own time and if they got questions answer them but never push your beliefs on them.

Ritual participation is a fantastic way to introduce children to Pagan religions as long as they are invited and not forced. I had a terrible childhood in which I was forced to attend religious rituals of types I had no interest in. I will name any as that is not proper.

My children also see our beliefs in our home and can choose what they want to believe as I feel forcing a child to believe only what you believe is wrong.

I am raising my children as i was raised, once they reach the age of 14 they will be versed enough to make their own decisions as to what they want to believe in or practice. I follow more than one path and dont hide that from my children, but i dont allow them to practice the wiccan faith as of yet. thats my belief, i answer their questions but they dont fully understand things yet so i raise them to understand that everyone has their own faith they believe in and thats ok. but that they will be able to choose what they want when they are older

As soon as they can talk. Little bits of info, like good, bad behavior. Let them "feel" a belief young & enjoy the security it brings. When they get older 10?, let them know about others beliefs a little more. Then you can have them decide with a brain full of info. : )

i'll teach my kids to beliece that cookies are tasty

Yes Blood, cookies are tasty but beliefs last longer.

lol

I'm really thrilled to see everyone's opinion, we have some awesome parents on here ! and some great kids too!

My parents let us decide and i will do that with my children

my mom leaves me be when it comes to belief but she used to punish me if i didnt do things christian related, i still dont and now im adult and she has to respect that

I feel that it would be best to start when the child is younger. That way they start out with an open mind from a young age.

My opinion and I haven't read all of the others but is when your child starts asking questions about your beliefs.

Nice to see so many open mined people here. Now can we get the rest of the world to be like us???

I believe that children raised in their parents religion should be given the opportunity to choose their own path when they reach the age of puberty.
I was raised in a religion which taught us as children that we should not even visit another church, and were discouraged from forming friendships with other children who were not of that religion. My religious education was not provided by my parents but by my teachers in the school operated by the church, my parents had little to do with my religious education.

I doubt that will ever happen gealachlass, but we can all hope.

I feel u should teach your children your beliefs but also let them know what other religions are out there. Then let them make thier decision on what path they follow.

Well with my son now when hes at his grandparents house he goes to church with them,and asks a million questions so they no longer want to take him to church with them, and he gets very frustrated . simply because he is curious and questions everything he is really looking fwd to Pagan Pride day, he goes every year. he enjoys learning about crafting different things swords and woodworking with staffs

well to start off I don't have kids but I think it depends on the child when you would start ontroducing religion into their lives. Usualy they will make the first step into something unknown. All We can do as parents is keep a open mind and guide them to whatever they choose.

He probably gets frustrated because the questions he asks have no answer that doesn't contadict something else! Thats when I realized it was full of crap. I kept asking why and "just because" got aweful wearing.

I have no children. And since I tend not to get all misty about children or elevate them to the level of mini-gods as I see so many people doing, perhaps that's not a bad thing.

I think the only one suited to make decisions for a child is that child's parent. Other people, parents or not, are welcome to their opinions but the final decision should be left to the parent. There is a growing drive in the U.S. to take this responsibility away from the parent, primarily because so many other parents seem to have an intense interest in promoting their own ideas of child-rearing and judging the relative worth of other parents by their own adopted standards.

It's a simply fact of life that some parents will be better than others. Children with superior parents will fare better, those with inferior parents will fare worse. It's a simply fact but one with which most people seem intensely uncomfortable. Is there an alternative?

Yes, there is one alternative -- place the responsibility for parenting in the hands of government (this is already from where much of parental responsibility is dictated). Do you want to raise your children as you see fit, or raise them to the standards set by others as they see fit?

Children raised by parents with outlandish ideas and beliefs will grow up to hold outlandish ideas and beliefs (in most cases), themselves. Christians who thought burning people at the stake for heretical thoughts (like heliocentrism and the existence of other planets), raised children who, for the most part, believed exactly the same thing. People who believed that Earth was flat raised children who believed Earth was flat. No matter what the belief, be it God/gods, angels, demons, after-lives, spirits, The Flying Spaghetti Monster, Jesus, End-Times prophecies, UFOs, Sasquatch, Giant Squid, Leprechauns, fairies, the occult, ghosts or even presidential candidates who operate on honesty and integrity -- if the parent believes it, they'll likely pass it on to their children. And whether or not it's truly the best mind-set for the mental health of the child, it's intensely preferable to allowing (or pressing), government to take over adoption and enforcement of parental standards.

Teach them what you wish, when you wish. It's your business exclusively. And that's the way it should always remain.

LadyDarkRayne,
Re: "he goes to church with them,and asks a million questions"

It seems most people who adopt a religious belief become intensely uncomfortable with honest questions. (There are some very notable exceptions to this). I believe that's because if one applies adequate questions and logic to any religious belief, it falls apart like wet toilet-paper. People who hold such beliefs often seem to have an inner awareness that their beliefs are irrational and unsupportable. But they garner such comfort and security from them that they won't allow them to be credibly assessed.

People tend to want to shield themselves from one simple fact; from the earliest known history of man, there have been assertions of gods, religions and religious ceremonies dedicated to these gods. There have been hundreds and hundreds of proposed gods and literally billions of people who held such devout belief that they could even be brought to killing their own children for these supposed gods.

And over these thousands of years, the belief in the various gods comes and goes. The vast majority (all but a small few), have held their few thousand years of devout belief and then faded to mythology. Most people today would laugh at the idea of Horus, Set, Tammuz, Osiris, Dionysus, Mithras, Zeus, Thor (the list goes on and on), etc. And yet they have their specific beliefs in gods which are, by any credible measure, no more supportable and no less absurd. Members of some of today's most popular religions are shocked and offended when shown the same bits and pieces of doctrines and stories they hold to be true, in religions from thousands of years earlier, which are now largely held to be myths.

NEVER -- Not once in the entire history of religion with all of it's thousands of proposed gods and billions of devout followers, has there ever been a single confirmed god, spirit, religion or "divinely inspired" book. Not once. In every single case where a conclusion has been reached, it's always the same conclusion. So be proud of your child for not abandoning logic and reason in favor of the irrational beliefs of relatives.

Your child should be both frustrated and proud. In my opinion, he's shown that he hasn't yet adopted the idea that questioning theological assertions is somehow disrespectful. When people are afraid of questions about what they insist is "truth", it's a good indication of how little truth it contains.

They can start at any age, my children started asking questions at around 6 but that is after they had been exposed to Vacation Bible School and went with friends to their Sunday School. At one point in my life I taught Sunday School to fifth graders and your material you are given to teach them is always written (hopefully) in an age appropriate way. As children grow older they generally make up their own minds anyways.

I think it's good to start teaching your children about your beliefs as early as possible. I also think it's important that they be able to choose what they want to believe.

I do agree that if children are taught well that they will learn from there elders

As far as i am conserned if a parent want to get there kids involved in rituals they can do it as soon as they want

but if its just a kid wanting to learn about it and other things i will not teach them until there 18 or have there perents permition in writing for legel reasons

What about teaching a child that people have many beliefs, yet we can imagine , and create a world that functions without a religion.

I feel that we and our children should be taught all beliefs and what they are therefore they may choose their own when old enought ot do so. I feel all should be respected and we should all be knowledgeable in them in order to respect them.

My mom never once pushed religion on me. I knew that right and wrong where, and I still do, she gave me the human skills to exist with other humans, she taught me not to speak of make-believe as if it was real, when I went through my church group phase (I was seeking social interaction.. as well as escape from a full house.) Teaching a child that people are moral without religion is a good thing, teaching them that they don't have to choose a religion to socialize is just as important.

Dappler , well that is what i ahve allways told him, tht there are amny religions, so that makes him very curious

have you mentioned Philosophy? How about many branches of science?

i have always let my kids choose for themselves.. i teach then about all beleafs and let them make up their own minds..i have 4 children and 3 are pagan

A child seeks acceptance from their family and they are likely to do things to appease others. I have seen kids in divorced houses used to slam the other half.. a child scorning his mother for her lack of religion.. that father actually sickens me. I await his exposer, the marrage disolved over his having an affair with a woman in his church.. now he religiously coached his child to attack his mom, telling her that he doesn't have to do what a heathen tells him.. ??? !!!

Kids can start as early as they want , I let my kids choose what they want and are interested in, My daughter is interested in the natural craft like I practice and my son is interested in the vampires my oldest is into the psychic stuff

if feel children should be encouraged to participate and attend rituals, no matter what religion you are.. it gives them a sense of belonging.. makes them feel tht thier input counts. and helps them make a well informed decision as to that faith they want to be.

I beleive there is no exact age. Each child will differ. You should start sharing your beleifs when your child starts having questions. I don't beleive we should teach our child our belief, but rather share them ours, and let them explore and find their own beliefs on their own. Guide them, but do not shape or influence them. To do so will make us no better than the church and our parents. Answer there questions truthfully to the best of your ability, but encourage them to find their own path.

Actually with my sons I have let them both make their own decisions when it comes to learning different religions. We have started teaching them about the different witches, wizards, dragons, and all that other good stuff. They do get involved in some of my candles and gem/crystal work depending on what I am doing at the time.

LDR, you and I have talked about this one. When they see a movie or read a book they get curious and ask questions. I will not hide anything from them when it comes to the questions that they ask. Its natural for a kid to ask qusetions when they don't understand something. taking them away from the thing they are curious about will not work in my eyes.

I don't have kids- but when I do have kids, I plan on letting them know what I believe, and teaching them about what I believe, but letting them know that they can explore other options.
A healthy person must make decisions for themselves, and religion may be the most important choice, so kids should learn a lot about religion growing up, so they'll have a lot of options and opinions when they're older.
I think they should be able to make their own decisions, but have their parents protect them if they want to get into some of the darker stuff that isn't for kids, obviously.

Well said Epik. The choices are thre for our children to make not for us to make for them. We are there to protect them and watch over them to make sure that they did make the right decision.

Yes, very true that is why I like seeing so many new claases that are being offred t the younger kids , for example moon school, it teachs them the basics

My parents religion was forced upon me from an early age. They are christians and still require me to go to church at the age of 15 even though I have expressed my dislike of this in a nice way. I think you should definitely let the kids have their own choices as you may have the opposite effect you intended by forcing religion upon them. Or at least inform them of the other religions out their. I did not learn of other religions until I reached high school and I still do not know about a lot of them.

Well the best way to learn is to read hun , read as much as you can about all religions there is so much out there follow what you believe we dont all fall into a certain catagory

As a child, I was forced to participate in my Mother's religion, which I hated. I have raised 4 children, and wanted to not be my "mother." I let them choose, as each one's life is their own, not mine. I have practiced Wicca for a very long time. When the kids asked questions, I answered them. Two are still following in my path, two are not. I believe that it is important to let children find their own beliefs.

i don't have children but as a teen myself i would enjoy the fact if my parents lets me choose but since they do not i have to hide my belifes infront of them

I keep picturing all those Radical Christian Kids On Soap Boxes. I mean how much is to much exposer, there are social skills that need to be developed.

was given very strict lessons in my family ways of things... yet at the same time any other thing I Wanted to learn about was offered and encouraged as well. I believe I was lucky in this. Altho my family way are very well implanted in my mind I was given the information I needed to make the decision when i was old enough. And oddly I opted to follow some of my family ways and add things that made sense to me personally.

You creative person you.

I think it's better to wait for an age where you can ask your children if they want to follow your belief or not -- give them the choice.

I was raised Christian myself and for the first 8 years of my life I followed the way. However, after that I started following a different religion, and am much happier that way.

some parents I question their enthusiem, I see a novel pride when a child can recite the things their parents imprint on them.

I believe that a child should be taught that there are many different religions and many different belief's, however, not one single religion/belief has proof that they are the only true religion/belief. It should be age appropriate and geared for the individual child, not all children are on the same level of edification.

Very true Doru.

Another eye opener for me was when I started taking a religion class in college. My sons became interested in the different religions that were out there because of this. So in return I have let them read the book to better equip them with the knowledge of all religions.

A family should be settled on their religion before a child is brought in to it, a change in spiritual path is hard enough on an adult imagine the same thing to a child.

I thought my son at age 4 just small things so he would get use to things he seven now and he knows how to wear his protective amulet and knows how to handle himself in the proper way so others will not judge him.

Ok if it is your child then I think you can start talking to them about your religion when you feel they are old enough to understand it or they choose to enter it on there own, if it is,nt your child DO NOT talk to them about it until they are 18 as it will cause problems with there family .people are funny about outsiders talking religion with there kids.

To me. You teach them when they ask what it is.

Ladt Snow, Thank you for that post.. I have seen such things as you mention wreck a community.

I believe that when a child is ready to learn about these issues they will begin to show a curiosity. It will be completely different for each child as they are all individuals. I believe it would be wrong for a parent to 'push' their religeous/spiritual beliefs onto their child/children & everyone should have the right to choose their own path!

I dont like the fact that some parents push their religion on their kids. For some kids Christian is all they know. they go to church every chance they can get, they can only hang out with christian friends, they go to a christian school, always have to pray. I dont think parents should do that. I think the kids should just decide for themselves, if they want to be christian and believe in that, then let them. if they want to be something else then let them. no need to push your beliefs on your kids...

If you have ever been privy to the parents that have their child recite chapters and verse from some text, and watched the child suppress the humiliation they are being subjected to, or watched one child that is pressured by religion try to relate to children that are just children, with children interest, you will see a child that has begun their life with a social short coming. A child that is taught that everyone should accept there religion.. is quickly exposed to the fact that not everyone does, sadly some children will confuse this for others not accepting them.. something that carries into the development years., to adulthood.

i would let me children secide what they want to be i dont belive in makeing the chose if they want to be wiccan than fine it they want to follow god so be it. but i do belive they have the chorice and i will not take it away from them

We have had some great posts on this, lots of open minded parents and kids here, to bad more people are not like us.

This is a sticky question. What some regard as a great religion their children need to know could also be recognized as mental abuse. Hoping that we all have good, sound judgment here, as long as it is a moral religion that respects others- you probably can't go wrong. If you're sacrificing lives and being sexual, it's not for kids. You have to know that some religion's practices have ZERO place in children's lives.

Religion teaching should be age appropriate.

you can teach things to your child about your beliefs without actually saying this is Satanism or Paganism or Christianity, when they become 12 is when I belief they have the common sense available to make a clear decision

i started doing rituals with my son the first night hes was home

as it stands now yes he dose rituals with me but hes only 4 so we'er teaching him about any thing he want to know about any religon but even though we are not forceing it upon him he still considers himself a witch

I wonder if we aren't all missing the mark. Why ask about children?

Can you actually expect an atheist parent to give their child the same kind of exposure to Christianity that a Christian parent would?

Can you expect a Christian parent to give their child the same exposure to atheism they would get from an atheistic parent?

I think the obvious answer in both cases is, "Of course not". And this applies to Muslim parents, pagan parents, Faithist parents and all the rest.

So what's the answer?

I think it's simple. Focus on adults -- those members of society who are old enough and who have hopefully developed rational thought to the point that they can begin to accept it when their beliefs are demonstrated to be devoid of reason. Children will usually believe just about anything their parents tell them.

If adults can finally come to a reasonable conclusion, they will automatically pass the ability to utilize reason on to their children.

Many people here are claiming to offer their children exposure to many religions and to each of you, I offer my admiration. But I have to doubt that any parent holding a strict religious belief is even capable of providing their child with an objective view of other beliefs, or for that matter, an objective view of the belief they hold themselves.

We, as adults, need to try to get ourselves squared away. Once we do that, the rest simply falls into place.

The problem, of course, is that people tend to shun things which demonstrate their particular beliefs to be false. And the more conclusive the information, the more they'll wish to isolate themselves from that information. Want an example? Take a look at some of the threads where people have offered rational, natural explanations for events that others wish to proclaim as being paranormal in nature. Give enough rational, demonstrable, natural evidence, and you can expect to get shut down.

Those who appeal to ideas of the supernatural and paranormal have never quite embraced the value of evidence, reason and logic. And yet, in every other aspect of their lives, they utilize those things just as does everyone else. It's only when they can't justify irrational beliefs that they willfully turn their backs on logic, reason and the importance of objective evidence.

Fix that and you'll never have to worry about the children, their age, or what they're taught.

That's some groovy insight there, Beastt- and true! Children usually believe whatever their parents tell them anyway. They are totally influenced by their parents religion and will be that because that's all they know.

Although, it has not stopped me from taking my son to church :P He's still allowed to not go, and believe his own thing if he wants. I tell my child what I believe, but I do encourage him to seek his own truth. The only thing I plaster in his head is respect for mankind, good morals, charity when you can, the golden rule, and all those basics that can be found in most any positive religion.

Clandestine,

I'm completely with you on almost everything you said. The one stumbling block (in my opinion), is your use of the term "positive religion". This is another dangerous compliance of society to accept things as other than they are -- the use of the terms "positive" and "negative". These terms reflect a perspective, not an absolute.

Consider the compassionate German in the 1930s & 1940s who believed the Jews were being unjustly persecuted. In Nazi vernacular, they would be harboring "negative" ideas. Those who promoted Hitler's ideas would be said to hold "positive" aspirations. All those words tell us about is the popularity. In a culture which believed that tossing children into volcanoes was the only way to avoid being bombarded by flaming rocks, it would have been a "negative" suggestion to stop shoving their children into magma-filled craters. Today I think most of us would call that a "positive" idea.

Where I work I've been labeled as having a "negative" attitude because I reject the practices of police officers which violate the Constitution. Nevermind that fact that in order to be an officer, one has to swear an oath to protect and defend the Constitution. I'm a part of the minority opinion when I note that confiscation of property is a violation of the Fifth Amendment; therefore, I'm painted as "negative".

Most people don't seem to think beyond what they see others doing. They seem to limit their thought processes to; "if the majority are doing it, then it must be okay".

When people forget that words like "good", "evil", "positive" and "negative" are just ratings of perspective, the use of those words can become very dangerous within a non-thinking society. We're taught compliance, not critical thought. Apply a bit of critical thought and you'll not only be labeled as "negative", you'll start to see just how mislead and warped many parts of society can be.

well it all depends on life you lead and the frinds you keep

my sons grand mother is a catholic his godfathers a zen buddiest and has written most of the books used in todays acupcture school his "uncal" is a samouen

i have friends in the Jewish comunity

so if all im saying is if you keep yourself sheltered due to your belives then you do the same to your child

I've always given my children their freedom when it comes to spirituality. My oldest boy is Christian and is even a youth minister at his high school. My daughter isn't sure what to believe in just yet (she's 13). My youngest son is the devil re-incarnate hahaha =P I am a witch. These differing beliefs don't seem to cause problems in our household since we're all willing to respect each other.

Dabbler you bring up a very good point with what you are saying. For myself personally I let my boys look at all of the religions. I don't have one and I feel that it is their choice not mine as to the road that they take.
While I can agree with you Beastt it is ultimately the childs decision where to lead their life. We as parents can only help them along the way.

I think that as parents who hold to a belief it would be difficult or at least walking a very fine line not to start teaching your children your beliefs from the time they are born. If it's a person's belief vs a past time then they live their life by their belief and police their own actions accordingly. There fore they raise their children according to their ethics and the way they distinguish right and wrong, how they interact with the rest of society and in private. As for structured teaching of the history of the belief... We inadvertantly teach them that as well from the time they begin asking that age old question "Why?"(which never seems to get old for them!)and just from them watching our own actions, rituals, and practices be they Wiccan, Christian, Buddist, or Athiest.

Everytime this thread comes up again, I think about the "PK" constant. Pastors Kids, and the tendency for them to rebel in dramatic fashion.

I absolutely agree that it should be the choice of the child. But I don't think you can simply discount the effect the parent's choices have on the children. Children tend to mimic their parents. If the parents force certain concepts down their throat, they can expect the children to rebel. Most parents are a bit more moderate in introducing their children to their non-secular beliefs but they are, none-the-less, prone to making the introduction. And given that the parent has made a choice, there is little doubt that the parent's introduction will contain a biased slant toward their own choice. Children are not slow to pick up on such a slant as is apparent simply by looking at the demographics of religion. People (in general), don't choose a religion based on logical assessment. The vast majority simply choose the belief system most popular in their area of the world.

It would be very difficult to suggest that if children were left only to their own choices it would result in such complete segregation of beliefs by region. Children are most likely to adopt the beliefs of their parents and peers. People tend not to want to choose things which will not bring them the favor of their peers and family members. So while it's quite admirable to attempt to allow the child to choose for themselves, such an arrangement is all but impossible.

So the task falls to the adult populations and until the adults come to a conclusion that makes sense and isn't reliant upon demographic variables, the children are going to be just as diverse and reasonable (or unreasonable), illogical (or logical), as are the adults in their areas of the world.

Cheetahcry,

Re: "While I can agree with you Beastt it is ultimately the childs decision where to lead their life."

I think that's wonderful. Not just that you can agree with me but also that you can disagree. I have no problem with people disagreeing with me. That's how we learn. No one can ever learn anything by gathering together to have a giant agreement-fest. All I ask is that people support the reasons for their disagreement and allow everyone else the same latitude. (That's not directed at you specifically; just a general comment.)

And in saying that, I'm not actually disagreeing with you from a hypothetical stand-point. Were it possible for people to raise their children in a religious void, I think the outcome would be quite favorable. But this isn't possible and parents will always see their own beliefs as being superior to beliefs they've not adopted for themselves. So the children will never receive a completely neutral introduction to religion and/or other non-secular beliefs. And every parent is going to have beliefs and practices connected to those beliefs that the child will witness and apply to their own assessment. How many people don't make references to religious entities at least half a dozen times each day? It's embedded in our language as figures of speech and assertions which link back to particular religious doctrines, often with an acceptance of one over other religious doctrines.

That all has to be factored in when one suggests that the children be allowed to make their own choices, independent of the parent's choices. It simply doesn't work. Imagine the caring, loving Christian parent who honestly and fully believes that their child's eternity depends upon the beliefs they hold in the next 80 to 90 years. How unbiased, impartial and neutral is that parent really going to be?

Great idea but in the real work, s'not happ'nen. :)

Then there is the couple that take there kid to astronomy symposiums, yet the child grows to be more interested in biochemistry.. what a shock to the astronomical parents.

i think your beliefs should be taught to your children all through their lives but at moderate levels. Only show things that child should know at their age and that would have to be decided on the persons morals and standards i think.

I think at a age that your child shows an interest in your belief. Can ask q's and doing it by stages that the child can handle. But I also believe that you should be showing other beliefs as well not just one so the child can start making up there own mind of what they want.

If it was my child, I would wait till they were able to formulate their own opinions about what they want to believe. I would not force any of my beleifs on to them, I would explain to them my beleifs and if they want to pursue it further then I would go from there. As to what age that would be, it would depend on their cognitive maturity level.

well i'm 17 thinking of kids in the fucher 2-4 years from now well i never gowing to let them fell they cant tell me any thing about them like the religin they wont and if ther a vampier to cool but if not thats cool to but i wont to be ther like my mom isent for me besac i'm scard to tell her i 'm a vampier and explan exry thing to her becas shell think i need help i know this is off subjest but can you guys help me pleas tell me hat you think mite help me

Well, we are trying to raise the kids to find their own beliefs, but we give them the options to explore different ones.

My son is 12 and is into Christianity, my 8 yo daughter is into Wicca, and I have a 5 yo who could care less, but likes all of the "cool stuff" ... I figure in a couple years she will figure it out for herself.

Beastt, I can not argue with the points that you have listed. Like I said before its just my way of teaching my sons.

Actually I have a daughter, and right now she's to young to even understand any of it. So it's really something I've been debating on for a while now.
I was raised in a family in Catholic's, but they never forced religion on me, and let me explore different areas. I never devoted myself to one, and therefore I don't know how to go about the subject with her. So reading all of every one's views actually helped me some.
I think that I'm going to let her go about her way, and whatever she chooses will be her own decision.

I dont have any kids but i was raised to believe that God was the higher power and that was all there was besides the devil and that was what u were suppose to believe. That all other beliefs were wrong. i still don't know what to believe but i go to church and all i don't believe i am a religious but i am Spiritual. I believe in the supernatural. When i have kids i will not make them choose so young and i will not force my beliefs on them. they will choose for themselves.

I have three children and I have raised my children to have an open mind and to find out for themselves what it is that they want to believe in.

I have not deterred them in any way in how they feel about something and we have open discussions about those topics so they feel comfortable with discussing them without fear or ridicule.

I don't believe there is a right or wrong way in raising your children based on the beliefs that you have..that is each person's choice in child rearing and there are no laws stating that you cannot do so. It is a constittutional right to have freedom of religion no matter what it may be.

Greetings-

It appears this topic has been talked to death, so I hesitate to drop another opinion in an already full bucket, but here I go anyway:

Teaching your child from day one about spirituality gives them a moral compass so when they begin their own walk into faith, they are prepared for the journey. HOWEVER, as a pagan I feel there are some rituals that carry such difficult and complex overtones that children have no part in them.

Samhain, for instance, since the veil thins and we pay homage to our ancestors in hopes they will teach us what we need for the coming year, this rite is intended for and performed by adults. The energies and beings manifesting on such a night can easily overwhelm and frighten an adult, to say nothing of what it might do to a child. There is a time and a purpose to everything, to everything a season. Sometimes those situations call for prudence in sheltering children from such occasons.

Just my 2 cents.

Lady Neferai

And yet those who see no evidence of anything spiritual (it's usually just a word people use to describe intense emotional states), offer evidence that morality is in no way reliant upon a sense of spirituality. While the percentage of theists imprisoned for failure to comply with enforced standards of morality are roughly equal to the percentage of free theists; atheists who hold no spiritual assertions or beliefs account for a tiny fraction of the imprisoned atheist population, well below the free atheist population.

Just another angle from which to view the assertions; a bit of food for thought. Perhaps providing with a child a sense of spirituality (or at least a belief regarding one), is far less of an attribute than many would assert it to be.

my Dad and great grandmother told me about the relake rezervation in mn when i turned 5 yrs old

My children have been exposed to as many religions as I have been able to find places for them to experience them at. They have always been included since the day they where born. I believe that there is no age limit for children to start learning, as they truely start learning from the moment they are born.

The key, I believe, is respect. Teaching them to respect other peoples choices and hopefully other people will respect them for their choices.

What they ultimatly decide will be up to them and fully supported.

Silverbow you have a good point here and one that I can agree with and respect.

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