Reply #37: Yeah but it's also about understanding cultural references [View All]

[Ravenseye]

My daughter and son on the way will both be raised as agnostics, as I was, but I'm not going to hide them from things like this. By the time I was 6 I was very familiar with all sorts of bible stories. I was also familiar with Aesops fables and norse mythology etc. I had all the books together. I think you can learn from some of the stories good lessons, and others are just stories, but totally shielding I think could be dangerous. People will make refernce to things and I want my kids to understand the stories.

As the previous poster mentioned, to them they'll just be stories, and not facts. I had all these stories, and I think the fact that I was exposed to not just them, but ALL sorts of mythological stories, and knew they were mythological stories, I lumped them together and it made me a STRONGER agnostic. Now my brain views stories about noah's ark in the same light as Hercules cleaning out the stables. I don't believe either of them are true, but it's helpfull to be familiar with them and have them treated as what they are...stories.

Thats my opinion. Of course the cardinal rule of parenting is that they're your kids, you're responsible for their upbringing, do what you want with them, not what others want...Just think about it though.

As far as talking about 'god' or 'faith' yeah that's a later conversation, but getting those stories in there as just cultural reference could help him in the future by knowing what page everyone else is on.