Strawberry

If I didn't let my (future) kids read it, it would look like I was hiding something. The last thing I want is for the Bible to, ironically, turn into the Forbidden Fruit.

Edited because "ironically" has 2 L's.

Never

I'd be tickled pink if my kids *wanted* to read anything. My kids are 10 and 12 and the younger one in particular hates to read and has a comprehension problem. But yeah, if they wanted to read the Bible, I'd dig one up. The 10 year old impressed me the one time I did bring up religion. At Christmas I asked them if they knew some of the reasons why people celebrated it. Cut to where we brought up the Jesus' birth reason and the 10 year old says this:
"If God was Jesus' father, he had to be a man. But one of my friends told me God created man. That isn't possible".
Yes! She thinks!

Bumble Bee Tuna

I can't imagine still censoring what my kid is reading at 15 years old! Who would vote no? Are you going to lock your kids in a closet? Sure, I might not want them to waste their time but I'm not going to prohibit it!

-B

NightWatchman

children cannot comprehend the nastiness and absurdities of the old testament, so i wouldnt let them read it, but the new testament would probably be ok.


nightwatchman

Tercel

Come on! -By the age of 12 your average child has probably seen numerous sex scenes or clear inuendos, dozens of gruesome deaths, evil plots etc in movies - and lacking that even if they've only seen the TV News or Newspaper once a week they'd still be pretty well informed. Reading about it in the Bible is child's play (excuse the pun) by comparison. The question is not who would let their child read the Bible, but rather: who would let their child near modern society?

beekay

I'm surprised no one here has given thought to children's bibles.

My wife is Baptist and I'm atheist and we have two kids ages 8 and 11.

The kids were given bibles geared towards their particular age groups by the church. There are all sorts of explanatory sections and pictures and such that are supposed to help the kids understand what they are reading.

So, taking into account these children bibles, would you want your kid reading the book?

It's interesting to note that despite there being an overabundance of bibles littering my home, my kids have shown no interest in them whatsoever. It's just something to lug to the church every week ...

wildernesse

My parents never told me what to read or what not to read. Occasionally, my grandmother would pick up whatever I was reading, and mention to my parents that every page had cursing on it. Then my parents would say something like, "You know, your brain is like a sponge. Don't let it suck up trash." And I would generally decide that Salinger (or whoever) wasn't really trash, and continue reading.

They figured I was a bright kid who could make up her mind based on the general rules they had grounded me in. I firmly believe that children shouldn't be coddled and shielded from information. That doesn't mean they need to be told everything explicitly--but it does mean that if they ask for something, then you should tell them. And if they have an interest in something, let them go for it--if you think it's wrong or harmful, tell them why you think that way.


--tibac

Ab_Normal

If my kiddo wants to read the Bible, she's welcome to it. However, all we have in the house are KJVs, which I don't think would hold a 9 year olds attention. (Heck, it doesn't hold my attention - I really need a NIV.)

Merle

Sure, my children can read the bible if they want, but I don't think they have that kind of attention span.

Back in my believing days, I read through the bible 6 times including every word of every geneology. Sometimes I wonder how I ever did that. Yeah, I knew it was boring, but that didn't stop me.

Recently I picked up the book of Ezekiel just to see if I could do it again. It was so boring, I never did complete it.

Merle

Infinity Lover

Children will make an apologetic out of any parent... and that's by no means only on religious issues. All the best with your little handfull, she sounds like such a bright kid.