Rhea

On another board, a question came up - how to explain to a (atheist) toddler what a baptism is. A II lurker thought y'all would get a kick out of my response. Of course, most of you will recognize the source of some of it's elements...

Well, I probably won't say "God Doesn't Exist", but I will probably say, "some people believe that a being called a god created everything in the world and then didn't like what he'd made so he punished some of them for a while because they weren't what he expected and then he drowned almost all of them, then he trifurcated so that he could sire himself and then sacrifice himself to himself in order to appease himself for the imperfections in his creation. Other people believe almost exactly the same thing, except they call their second self 'Krishna' instead of Jesus. Other people believe that Space aliens brought life to this planet and have been studying us ever since. That last one is the one with the most evidence as far as I can tell. But for all intents and purposes the universe seems to behave exactly as we would expect it to if it were driven by blind, pitiless indifference so there doesn't seem to be much point in observing religions or expecting anything from the supernatural. Which is just as well, since that leaves you in charge of everything that happens to you. But that's just my observation, you may observe something different. Just be careful to base your decisions on observation. Not authority, hearsay or credulity."

Ab_Normal

I was very happy that the question didn't come up until my daughter was seven, so we could discuss it on a little higher level than you'd have to use with a toddler. While I tend to be a cranky atheist, when I talk with the kiddo I try to be non-judgemental about other people's religious choices. It's a stretch sometimes.

edited to add: for instance, during these discussions I use the phrase "some folks believe" a lot, while resisting the temptation to add, "and we call them ignoramuses". 'Cause they all aren't, really.

Vienna

It really makes you wonder what the world would be like, if children were taught about all the major religions. I can't imagine there would be clusters of religious people in the same area. It's really not surprising that most people end up with the religion of their parents.

I grew up in a Jewish family (although we weren't ever intensely religious). My parents sent me to Sunday School, I had a Bar Mitzvah, but thankfully, they taught me to think for myself. And as much as they'd rather I marry a nice Jewish girl and raise my kids with Judaism, they respect my decision to live my life my way.

I don't have kids myself, but I can certainly see how difficult this issue could be.

Ab_Normal

It gets even more fun if you marry into a religious family... I get irritated and I have one of the more reasonable religious mother-in-laws.