Letting children decide for themselves.....

[Misty]

....about matters of faith.

My husband and I had grown out of the 'born again' dogma of our childhood by the time the children came along. We didn't attend church, but decided that our children should decide for themselves if they wished to go to church and Sunday School, which they all did. Our eldest daughter is now an Anglican Priest (not a fundie though, thank goodness!) Faith is completely a matter of personal opinion unlike other areas of our lives, so it is wrong to force a child to accept a faith, or lack of it. Both my husband and myself wish our parents had been that liberal instead of forcing their beliefs on us.

Do you insist your children follow your lead in matters of faith?

[Benoni]

I may not have kids if Jesus comes back before I can.

That is unlikely. But if you have the self-control not to commit sexual immorality, you could always take the route of Paul and be celibate your whole life anyways.

Where does it say Paul was celibate?

[Misty]

I may not have kids if Jesus comes back before I can.

That is unlikely. But if you have the self-control not to commit sexual immorality, you could always take the route of Paul and be celibate your whole life anyways.

Where does it say Paul was celibate?

I reckon Paul was gay but in denial about his sexuality!

[Benoni]

I may not have kids if Jesus comes back before I can.

That is unlikely. But if you have the self-control not to commit sexual immorality, you could always take the route of Paul and be celibate your whole life anyways.

Where does it say Paul was celibate?

I reckon Paul was gay but in denial about his sexuality!

Point being why does sexuality need to brought into to this?

[oldkjv]

I may not have kids if Jesus comes back before I can.

Its not of topic . the question was letting children decide for there own. And I was simply answering why I may not have kids.

[oldkjv]

Look im a kid and no one is changing my mind about church.

You think im naive then when is the last time you have seen someone raise the dead in the name of Jesus!!

Well I have twice and both times it was my dad!

How do you know they were dead? Are you a doctor?

The life line machine was flat meaning no brain activity. Once the brain activity is gone it can never be restored.

[oldkjv]

Jos 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

[Misty]

I may not have kids if Jesus comes back before I can.

That is unlikely. But if you have the self-control not to commit sexual immorality, you could always take the route of Paul and be celibate your whole life anyways.

Where does it say Paul was celibate?

I reckon Paul was gay but in denial about his sexuality!

Point being why does sexuality need to brought into to this?

Paul made some nasty comments about gays!

[Misty]

Jos 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

I hope when you get a bit older and more mature youmight think differently. I am old enough to be your Granny, but thought I knew it all at your age, with maturity I now blush at some of my utterances I made when I was as young as you.

[ChaosBorders]

I may not have kids if Jesus comes back before I can.

That is unlikely. But if you have the self-control not to commit sexual immorality, you could always take the route of Paul and be celibate your whole life anyways.

Where does it say Paul was celibate?

1st Corinthians Chapter 7.

[BwhoUR]

....about matters of faith.

My husband and I had grown out of the 'born again' dogma of our childhood by the time the children came along. We didn't attend church, but decided that our children should decide for themselves if they wished to go to church and Sunday School, which they all did. Our eldest daughter is now an Anglican Priest (not a fundie though, thank goodness!) Faith is completely a matter of personal opinion unlike other areas of our lives, so it is wrong to force a child to accept a faith, or lack of it. Both my husband and myself wish our parents had been that liberal instead of forcing their beliefs on us.

Do you insist your children follow your lead in matters of faith?

Hard question. My husband and I are Atheist but have very religious relatives (my in-laws: pentacostal). I don't want my daughter (she's 8) to be religious, but draw the line at "making" her do anything. The subject of religion came up when she was in 1st grade by a vocal friend of hers. I had no choice but to tackle it before I wanted to. I tried to explain that her friend meant well and thought he was trying to help her, and that he was repeating what his parents taught him. When asked if I believed it too, I said no. I have told her again and again that she will have to decide for herself and have bought books on different religions, but at this age, though, I am sure she is more interested in pleasing me than in really thinking about the issue.

Confession time: I have a lot of trouble when it comes to Santa and the tooth fairy and the Easter Bunny. We grew up JW's so we didn't have christmas or birthdays and I always resented that. My husband and I don't want to kill the "fun" of Christmas, which has practically nothing to do with religion anymore IMO, but also don't know what will happen when she figures it out, do we admit we lied? It's harmless fun, isn't it? By 8 has she already figured it out but is not saying so?

To try to balance it out, I've told her I don't believe in the EB, because I always hide the eggs myself and I don't know about the TF, since I've never seen her, as for Santa, we both say we think he's real. (To further complicate matters, my husband believes in Aliens and I say I don't really know and my sister believes in ghosts, we do not.) Unless you have kids, I don't know if you can understand the difficulty with these topics. Hopefully, I can hear from others who have gone through it to ease my mind a little.