Discussing Religion with Kids

[Stoned Rose]

Take him to The Etihad.

That’s the only church any man will ever need.

 

[ZenHalfTimeCrock]

85% of the world identifies as religious.

Learning about the 5 pillars of Islam, The 5 Ks of Sikhism, the story behind Buddha and the path of enlightenment, Purusartha and reincarnation in Hinduism as well as the differences between Judaism and Christianity made me a more open minded, tolerant and well rounded person.

It's no use saying "some people have other beliefs" if you don't learn what those beliefs are and why they're important to your fellow man.

The world would be a more tolerant place if we taught kids a bit more about the people they share the world with instead of regurgitating a few choice bits of ancient history in every key stage level.

This is the line that the philosopher Martha Nussbaum takes in her book Not For Profit: Why Religion Needs The Humanities.

A precis on the back of the paperback edition succinctly summarises her argument:

‘We increasingly treat education as though its primary goal were to teach students to be economically productive rather than to think critically and become knowledgeable and empathetic citizens. This shortsighted focus on profitable skills has eroded our ability to criticize authority, reduced our sympathy with the marginalized and different, and damaged our competence to deal with complex global problems.’

And here is Nussbaum herself on this selfsame point:

‘In the absence of a good grounding for international cooperation in the schools and universities of the world…our human interactions are likely to be mediated by the thin norms of market exchange in which human lives are seen primarily as instruments for gain. The world’s schools, colleges, and universities therefore have an urgent and important task: to cultivate in students the ability to see themselves as members of a heterogenous [i.e. diverse] nation (for all modern nations are heterogenous), and a still more heterogenous world, and to understand something of the history and character of the diverse groups that inhabit it.’

‘Equally crucial to the success of democracies in our world is the understanding of the world’s many religious traditions. There is no area (except, perhaps, sexuality) where people are more likely to form demeaning stereotypes of the other that impede mutual respect and productive discussion.‘ (pg.83)

‘Simple cultural and religious stereotypes abound in our world: for example, the facile equation of Islam with terrorism. The way to begin combating these
is to make sure that from a very early age students learn a different relation to the world, mediated by correct facts and respectful curiosity.’ (pg.81)

‘An adequate education for living in a pluralistic democracy must be multicultural, by which I mean one that acquaints students with some fundamentals about the histories and cultures of the many different groups with whom they share laws and institutions.’ (pg.91)

 

[inchy14]

So my 5 year old at school is starting to be taught religion and specifically Christianity. So with this it obviously raises questions for me - an atheist - the sort of response I should provide. He is asking to pray before bed and wants to visit church etc, which obviously I can't object to but equally am fairly uncomfortable with.

An emphasis on critical thinking though is also important. If you raise your children to be skeptical as a general rule, it shouldn't be necessary to go out of your way to have them treat religious claims skeptically. They should end up doing that on their own anyway. Skepticism and critical thinking are attitudes which should be cultivated across a broad range of topics, but again age comes in to this.

So, for parents who are not religious how do you broach the subject? Do you say you don't believe or just go along with it until your child comes to a certain age where he can more form his own opinions?

My 7 year old stepson whom I’ve lived with for almost 4 years is at a catholic school and has been obviously taught all about god etc however even though I don’t believe in god I’ve not said anything about it to him, just let him figure it all out himself, he’s started with the if god made everything then who made god questions and I just say great question mate, you’d best ask your teacher. No point pushing my viewpoint on him as the school will do the opposite and I do T want to confuse him.

He like everyone else will realise it’s all bollocks at some point.


Oh and I’ve told him KDB is god.

 

[tony coleman]

If you tell all the kids in the world that there was no such thing as religion. Then in years to come the the world would be a better place.

 

[domalino]

If you tell all the kids in the world that there was no such thing as religion. Then in years to come the the world would be a better place.

You’d just have a bunch of new religions invented by people looking for answers to the same questions about life and the universe that prompted relgions to sprout up in every civilisation in history.

 

[LWashington]

When I saw the thread title I thought, is this a low-budget sequel to The Men Who Stare at Goats.

 

[117 M34]

If it's a faith school, they will obviously push the religion of choice.
If the teacher is religious they are more likely to teach it as fact.

My most used phrase when I used to teach RE was "some people believe..."

You are able to remove your kids from RE lessons if you wish.

 

[JASR]

You can save yourselves a lot of time and effort by just telling them it's bollocks.

Yes. But that’s not what a 5 year old needs to hear. They need to develop their critical thinking. You supply the ‘what ifs’, the ‘but how is that practical’ examples and they can join the dots themselves. Dismissing it outright (albeit correctly) is the equivalent of the 5 year old sticking their fingers in their ears. Get them critical thinking early and they won’t be a sheep in the worst years of teenager life

 

[JASR]

Be hard push that considering the magnitude of church funded or part funded schools.

A formal complaint? I assume you have little idea of the deliverance of a curriculum that is decided and written in its content by the government’s DoE. Where did he say they were pushing one faith? Next half-term, they’ll probably be made aware of Islam, Hinduism or Judaism.

FWIW, I’m a teacher in a primary CoE school. I have, at no point in my life, believed in any higher power, God or religion and to be honest, majority of the families and parents of the school don’t care for it either. At no point, does anyone push faith views onto a child as it’s not allowed, and we always end with the quip “it’s your life to choose your beliefs in whatever you wish”.

Your last sentence is why the Uk (currently) is one of the better places to live.

 

[inchy14]

You’d just have a bunch of new religions invented by people looking for answers to the same questions about life and the universe that prompted relgions to sprout up in every civilisation in history.

Oh Christ, like Scientology…. Now if you thought Christianity was bad…