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That's nice, but different from my experience. I was terrified of God, because God knew what you were thinking and when you thought or did bad things, and he could kill you whenever he felt like it.
My parents had us pray, too, especially for sick people in our lives, and I prayed every night for God to make my cousin better, and she died instead. I knew immediately it was my fault, because sometimes when I said my prayers I was thinking about something else, and God killed her because I prayed wrong and God knew it and might now want to kill me, too. I prayed all the time for God to please not kill me while I slept.
I guess, yeah, God answered that prayer, because I am still here sixty years later, but what if I hadn't prayed for God to please not kill me? I might not have ever reached adulthood!
Sweet post, I can sure relate to that fear, and the guilt.
I believe that children should be exposed to religion. Later they can take it or leave it. Of my 4 grown children, 2 have joined the Catholic Church, because of their spouses, one is a devout Presbyterian, and one is an atheist. Go figure.
I was taken to Sunday School as a child. I can’t say I got much out of it, but my grandmother and mother used to have us say our prayers before we went to sleep, and this is what has stuck with me….the feeling of being protected, feeling like I can “let go, and let God”, and the hope that there is a heaven where I’ll see those who have passed on before me.
I haven’t been to church for years, but I still consider myself a religious person.
I would suggest something slightly different. Take them to different churches and religions.
That's nice, but different from my experience. I was terrified of God, because God knew what you were thinking and when you thought or did bad things, and he could kill you whenever he felt like it.
My parents had us pray, too, especially for sick people in our lives, and I prayed every night for God to make my cousin better, and she died instead. I knew immediately it was my fault, because sometimes when I said my prayers I was thinking about something else, and God killed her because I prayed wrong and God knew it and might now want to kill me, too. I prayed all the time for God to please not kill me while I slept.
I guess, yeah, God answered that prayer, because I am still here sixty years later, but what if I hadn't prayed for God to please not kill me? I might not have ever reached adulthood!
Unfortunately, I think as much harm has been done in the name of religion, as good. It’s a shame.
Both of my children never found the evangelicalism I was still involved with when they were children, to be appealing. When I finally left the faith when they were teens, their basic reaction was, "finally!".
My wife was raised essentially Unitarian, and only marginally that. She never "got" what religion was all about, but wasn't biased one way or the other. Her son seemed to be an atheist from the cradle and soundly rejected anything having to do with religion, despite his father being Presbyterian and a regular attender. Her daughter on the other hand was very drawn to her father's church and wanted a book of children's Bible stories which my wife read to her at bedtime, etc. The daughter went on to take catechism her senior year in high school but from the church's point of view it was a bad idea because forcing a systematic review of the (lack of) evidence led her to decide very matter of factly that god doesn't exist. She has never shown the slightest inclination toward religion in the ensuing 12 years or so.
As far as whether there was any sort of transcendent or spiritual-like aspect of having children, it would have to be that the primal, intense love I felt for my firstborn (and of course the 2nd, although it wasn't a new thing by then) took me completely by surprise. The parental bond seems generally stronger for mothers, but it's hardly non-existent for fathers as well. But of course ... this only needs genetics and hormones to explain it.
My wife and I both agree that while we love our children without measure and can't imagine life without them (or at least without the three that are still alive), the task of parenting has been thankless enough (and not always within our power to do all for them that we could wish) that if we had it to do over again, we would not have bothered.
Thank you for sharing, cb. On this one point, I think it’s natural for all people to explore issues that implicate religious and spiritual matters. Where they ultimately land is probably broad and varying combinations of nature-versus-nurture, like many human traits and tendencies.
I think about what you are saying and i disagree. It is not merely nature vs nurture.
It seems to me we all have certain proclivities that come naturally towards certain disciplines. Poetry is such, not only to write but to understand it in a way some cannot. Everyone can be taught to understand poetry, but the very need to be taught shows it is not a natural instinct. Mathematics, same thing. Can be taught but genius is something else. Spiritual seeking is similar. Religion can lead you to spirituality, teach you, but what you get from it is not always the same.
I say this because of what I observe. What i think is the message of Advaita Vedanta, philosophy of Non-dualism, i am discovering, quite mind blowingly, is a theme in all major religions. Be it Shankara, Jesus who came before him, Rumi, Buddha although he did not teach, Kant, Spinoza. It is a message that runs through all of them and several more, religious teachers and philosophers alike arrive at the same truth: God is within you.
As you say it may by natural for all to explore issues of religion and spirituality, but resonating with the same message seems to require something else.
I think about what you are saying and i disagree. It is not merely nature vs nurture.
It seems to me we all have certain proclivities that come naturally towards certain disciplines. Poetry is such, not only to write but to understand it in a way some cannot. Everyone can be taught to understand poetry, but the very need to be taught shows it is not a natural instinct. Mathematics, same thing. Can be taught but genius is something else. Spiritual seeking is similar. Religion can lead you to spirituality, teach you, but what you get from it is not always the same.
I say this because of what I observe. What i think is the message of Advaita Vedanta, philosophy of Non-dualism, i am discovering, quite mind blowingly, is a theme in all major religions. Be it Shankara, Jesus who came before him, Rumi, Buddha although he did not teach, Kant, Spinoza. It is a message that runs through all of them and several more, religious teachers and philosophers alike arrive at the same truth: God is within you.
As you say it may by natural for all to explore issues of religion and spirituality, but resonating with the same message seems to require something else.
To be clear, I was suggesting that religious and spiritual tendencies are a combination of innate traits (nature) and environmental factors (nurture). Are you saying you think it’s all nature and zero nurture?
To be clear, I was suggesting that religious and spiritual tendencies are a combination of innate traits (nature) and environmental factors (nurture). Are you saying you think it’s all nature and zero nurture?
Yes, i think that is right regarding tendencies. Can tendencies by nurtured? Any two children nurtured in the same environment can remain indifferent, spiritual, or atheist. Similarly one can turn out generous and empathetic, and the other selfish and cold. What is the difference? It is the self that guides one one way and may not resonate in the other.
Teaching is part of nurturing. Not all are endowed with ability to teach, or teach in a way that causes clear understanding. What impels one to seek to understand, to find the resources, find the teacher, and the other to have zero interest in that direction.
There is no judgement here, to be clear. One can be content and a good person either way. Same way one can be perfectly content and a good person without understanding or even a liking for poetry.
Anti religious sentiment is caused by a person not acknowledging their own internal struggles. It indicates a spiritual void in their soul. Raising a child in religion can always help in this regard, but it is a personal thing for each individual.
Anti religious sentiment is caused by a person not acknowledging their own internal struggles. It indicates a spiritual void in their soul.
Because it is the fault of the person, and not the evil done in the name of religion?
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