Religion and your Kids

My one son is very sweet and loves all things religious, like crosses, pictures or statutes of angels, Jesus, nativity scenes, etc. He goes to a church preschool but they only do religious activities for 1 hour/week, the rest is nonsecular. We go to church 2-3 times a month, and it is not a really overt thing in our daily lives. But he has really taken to it and seems to be drawn to all things Christian.

I suppose I should be very happy with all this. But somehow I guess I wonder, as it seems he is almost one step ahead of us in his pull towards these things. We are very hands off and don't push at all.

So I guess what I'm worried about is somehow when he enters the time of reason, in schooling, where spirituality is dismissed as fantasy, that I worry he will somehow feel misguided by us, if he hasn't had a spiritual experience which confirms his faith to himself. Does any of this make sense?

Do you introduce your religion to your kids? How do they respond to your religious activities?

I grew up in a religious home but as maturity set in and I searched more for the truth. I realized it was not by going to church and religious activities that really mattered but your relationship with God. To tell you the truth, the Church does not recognize some certain truths about God and this has made me an occasional Church goer and a more spiritual person by spending more time with God.

You @BarbieDoll should focus on your son's spirituality at home and help him develop a relationship with God personally. This way, whatever school he goes in future will have no effect whatsoever on him, knowing what and whom he believes in.

I read 'My Book of Bible Stories' to my two year old son and he has become familiar with the Bible characters. I also read his Children's Bible to him constantly and we sing hymns and pray before going to bed. I want to develop this habit in him to help him grow spiritually as I leave him into the hands of God for a fruitful future.

I am in a jam when it comes to this. My hubby is catholic and my family is Christian. My family has a bigger role in introducing them to GOD. Seeing as they raised alot of kids and they all came out good people who are GOD fearing I let them. But my children have the choice in what they believe in or what they decide to do with their lives when they grow older. I wont push my beliefs or wants on them if they do not want it for themselves. I can only hope for the best.

Do you introduce your religion to your kids?

We do go to church during Sundays with our son. Although sometimes, we tend to miss half the mass just because he's very active and won't stay put in church. But we try to guide him properly regarding our religion. He knows who Papa Jesus and Papa God are and calls them Papa as well. He knows that he has to respect the religious statues we have at home as well.

How do they respond to your religious activities?

It's definitely a positive response we're getting from him. Although he can't stay put in church, he does respect God and Jesus and even Mama Mary. I think that in time, he would learn how to stay put in church and listen to the homily as well.

I did not grow up in a religious family and I personally am not very religious. I do not believe one or the otgher and respect those that choose to be religious. I send my children to a Catholic school since the public schools in my area are not very good. I figured if paying for school they would receive a great education. My son, who just turned 9, took very well to learning about God and everything about religion. He is very curious about everything and this just fascinated him. As he got older, he sort of calmed down about it but he still is active during the school mass and is often chosen to be one of the readers during mass when his grade is leading the mass. I give both of them the choice to believe or not believe and do not try to force anything upon them. I want them to learn everything they can and want to. I support their choice if they choose to attend church and will take them on special occasions. Both chose to be baptized and I am fine with that. I think if you continue to cultivate his interest in religion then it will not be affected by him going to school. I do not think that he will blame you for misguiding him. When the situation arises, then talk with him and explain your reasoning behind going to church.

I did not grow up in a religious family, and I am not a very religious person as well. Both my husband an I are Buddhist, we chose to be just in these recent years.

I don't limit my children in any religions, I told him stories and teachings about Buddha, and also told him stories and teachings about Jesus. I have not introduce other religions to him, as I don't know the others much as well.

We do not really do much religious activities, except for going to the Buddhist temples sometimes and meditate, and these are not really religion related, and the children just follow and enjoy doing with us as well.

We take our daughter to synagogue. And it is our lifestyle so we can't not introduce her to it. She's surrounded by books on the Torah and Judaism. We eat kosher. Her father and I have conversations constantly about what we are learning. And we are beginning to speak Hebrew. We plan and hope to convert and she will be a part of that as well. While she grows up it will surround her. My hope is that she falls in love with it as much as we have, that it naturally becomes the way she chooses to live her life as well.