Dealing With Changing Beliefs And Your Kids Retraining

[SusieQ]

This has probably been brought up before but I just answered this in my testimony post and wanted to put it out there for more parents to answer. What do you all think?

 

here's the post from the other room with my answer:

 

Hi, SusieQ. It's nice to read your posts and your husband's. I saw your family picture posted the other day (except for two of the kids and a cat), and it's kind of nice to put faces to the names. It's strange to think that you and many others once believed the way I did and have changed so much for the better. I suppose I thought that people just stick with it to the grave as a rule. It gives me hope that I will continue on this journey, too. By the way, I'm eager to hear something about how you handle talking to your children about the Bible and church since I have two youngsters myself.

 

Sparkyone

 

Hey Sparky,

 

it's still an on going process of changing the way we answer the kids questions and praying differently at the table. I still believe in a God/Creator but I want my kids to know there are many opinions out there and they are not wrong simply because they aren't ours. The UU church I think will help us teach them about all the different religions. I tell them the Bible is like stories that teach us good manners/behavior--like being kind to people who are hurt even if they aren't from our church, etc. Also we have let them watch VeggieTales almost their whole lives and I like how they talk about God and put the Bible into stories but don't talk about salvation or jesus--kind of christian-jewish mix. They are like the fairy tales we teach the kids that have the moral of the story.

 

I hope that helps some ) It's a lot of deciding what you want your kids to know and how you want them to know what you think. And sometimes, especially with our older ones--it's easier to just be frank and tell them about our change in beliefs directly!!!

 

We've been deciding this over the past three years so it's been a lot to think about with how to go about it.

[weary traveler]

that sounds like a good idea, letting your kids in on what you believe about God, even if it doesn't fit into what others believe around you. I really think children respect honesty that you reflect now (especially when they are older and can understand more). There's nothing worse than saying you believe something and then not living it, like so many fundamentalists unfortunately. We show others what we really believe by how we live our lives. If our lives match what we say, others should respect our integrity, even if they differ in beliefs and opinion.

 

 

http://www.myspace.com/jedi_stardancer

[ShackledNoMore]

Hi SusieQ,

 

When I was a kid, there was a change of belief in my family in the reverse direction from a liberal to moderate Catholic setting to a full tilt, all out extreme fundamentalist conversion. I unfortunately got swept along in that tide.

 

I don't know how old your kids are, but but they're probably still pretty flexible. Foster critical thinking skills and will use their minds rather than being subject to brainwashing and programming. I think that by all means, sharing your viewpoint on this things, including why your beliefs are what they are and why they changed will be a good thing and foster their critical thinking skills.