Start the indocrtination while they're young

[BigJim]

My 3 month old daughter received her first bible from her thoughtful great-aunt/uncle recently. It was a belated XMas present, and I can't express in words how grateful I am to the relatives for pushing their particular religion on my baby girl.

[JohNeo]

My 3 month old daughter received her first bible from her thoughtful great-aunt/uncle recently. It was a belated XMas present, and I can't express in words how grateful I am to the relatives for pushing their particular religion on my baby girl.

I'm sure it's nothing unusual...I'm sure I will have to deal with this as well when I have my own kids, as their aunt is pretty religious and will undoubtedly be concerned that my babies might be cast into hell if something should happen :rolleyes: . I would do my best to just not take it personally, if I were in your shoes.

I dearly love my sister and would not send the gift back if she were to do this. I would probably keep it out of respect, but I will be the filter and make sure that they don't take the Bible seriously. I'll just smile and say "thank you," or at least I hope I'll be able to keep my composure to do it.

Take it from someone who is freshly in the atheist camp: the religious just don't understand that what they're doing is driving the wedge. I will do my utmost to not let it come between the human relationship between my sister and me.

Good luck,

JohNeo

[BigJim]

Actually, I look forward to discussing the bible/religion/xianity/etc. with my child (much more so than discussing the birds and the bees).

This is a kid's picture bible. It tells the basic stories without having to slog through the King-James text, and asks questions, like "Why did God save Noah?" "What happened to all the other people?" "Where did Seth, Cain and Able find their wives?"

Oh wait, it doesn't ask that last one...

[Stout Drinker]

My 3 month old daughter received her first bible from her thoughtful great-aunt/uncle recently. It was a belated XMas present, and I can't express in words how grateful I am to the relatives for pushing their particular religion on my baby girl.

Do the people who sent your daughter the bible know that you are an atheist and have no intention of raising your child a christian? If so you would do well to tell them not to send her that kind of stuff. Thank them for having an interest in your daughter but let them know that you don't wish for her to have religious stuff.

If they don't know I would let it pass.

[BigJim]

No. They have no clue. These are relatives from the deep bible-belt in the U.S., (Mississippi), and probably just assume that I'm one of them.

I only see them every few (several???) years, and religion doesn't come up as a topic of discussion... more as a topic of presumption (if that makes any sense). I'm not the confrontational type in real life, so I haven't gone out of my way to let them know my disbelief.

I actually plan on educating my daughter on many religions, and my lack of belief in any of them and letting her make her own decision. I believe that is the most honest approach.

[openeyes]

You can use it as a source of mythological tales, and then shake your head with her when you relay that for some strange reason, many people think the stories are true! Knowing the stories will add to her cultural literacy, just like knowing something about Greek and Roman myths, and so forth.

We have a couple bibles floating around. They are useful to investigate for oneself to see if some quotes are really as bad as some say (usually are!). I wish that one of the didn't say "The HOLY Bible". Says who?

[Alter]

It's incumbent on US to start indoctrinating when they're young. Being a minority makes it much harder.

[Sorien]

I have been thinking about this alot lately. I am an atheist but I believe in free thought and personal choice much, much more deeply. How do I properly "expose" my kids to religion so they can make thier own decisions?

[Face]

I have been thinking about this alot lately. I am an atheist but I believe in free thought and personal choice much, much more deeply. How do I properly "expose" my kids to religion so they can make thier own decisions?
I would presume, the same way you expose them to Dr. Seuss or greek myths or Saturday morning cartoons.

If you teach a child from as early as possible how to distinguish fact from fantasy, they will largely be able to come to the right conclusion on their own.

[DMB]

I suggest that you start by telling them stories that no sane adults believe to be true, such as traditional fairy stories and stuff about Santa Claus and the tooth fairy. Children don't perceive the world in the same way as adults and they imagine all sorts of things, including imaginary friends. They enjoy imaginary stories and make-believe and I don't think they do any harm.

As they get a bit older and ready for a more critical view of the world, you can lead them towards an understanding of the nature of these stories. They can also enjoy stories about gods that are not believed in by those around them, and you can explain how, for example, people used to believe that earthquakes happened because the god Poseidon was shaking the earth in anger, so they would pray and sacrifice to Poseidon to avoid earthquakes, even though it didn't work. When they are exposed to the dominant local religion, they will already be partly innoculated against it and ought to be able to see the parallels with the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy, to say nothing of Zeus, Poseidon, Thor or Odin.

[BadBadBad]

How do I properly "expose" my kids to religion so they can make thier own decisions?

To properly expose the children means you'll have to brainwash them from the very beginning. The point is to make sure they're only free to make one decision.

[Atheos]

Everyone will have a different opinion as to whether or not to expose a kid to religion and give them an opportunity to make their own choice. But consider that there are just so many different religions out there to choose from that attempting to give a kid an opportunity to choose between all of them would be too much to ask for in an entire lifetime.

I can't help thinking that the best thing any of us can do is to make sure that our children have the opportunity to learn from a wide variety of sources and encourage them to persue things that are of particular interest to the child. It's okay to share your opinions about things with your child. It's okay to offer suggestions of things that you happen to be interested in. It's easy to cross the line from nurturing to controlling and dominating though.

-Atheos

[Queen of Swords]

My 3 month old daughter received her first bible...

Man, that's awfully young to be getting religious material. I was imagining a chewable bible with some scratch and sniff pages, sort of a Pat the Body thing.

[BigJim]

Man, that's awfully young to be getting religious material. I was imagining a chewable bible with some scratch and sniff pages, sort of a Pat the Body thing.

Well, it is a picture bible. No Scratch & Sniff though.

Somehow I missed the pile of dead bodies after the flood, and I haven't yet gotten to Abraham sacrificing his son, or Job so, I'm still hoping for something good.

[dcm]

BigJim, can I comment here? I've already gotten in trouble saying something on another thread (I'm new here) and I don't want to cause trouble. Let me try because this is interesting to me:

Teaching your child about sex is more important than the bible. Maybe I misunderstood you though.

Personally, I think it's inappropriate for relatives to push faith like that on your children. Simplest thing to do is just put the bible on the shelf and forget about it.

The way I introduced atheism to my kids was through indifference: didn't press it upon them but didn't support religion much either. I say let them choose. Their grown and both religious now and that's their business.

[Ckwop]

My 3 month old daughter received her first bible from her thoughtful great-aunt/uncle recently. It was a belated XMas present, and I can't express in words how grateful I am to the relatives for pushing their particular religion on my baby girl.

By saying nothing you give credence to their gift. The comes a time when one must draw a line in the sand. Together, we can work to disable the tenticles of religion and it starts with sending this propaganda directly to the trash.

Send their child your favourite atheist publication and see how they react. I bet it wont be half as measured as your reaction.

Simon.