Parents/others: Any good books for young kids about religions/beliefs?

[LaraMN]

My eight year old is starting to spout random religious information that he's picked up from other kids. I'm Agnostic and my husband, though he considers himself a Christian, doesn't attend church and isn't real proficient at explaining things religious to children, and I want to give my son a good, very basic overview, not only of Christianty, but other major belief systems. I'm wondering if anyone has found any good resources for educating kids in a factual, objective manner, on the subject?

[datasuspect]

1. mixed

the child is 8 years old. on the one hand i think "let the kid be a kid and don't fill their head with so much toxicity (i think organized religion is toxic).

on the other hand, and i draw from my experience growing up in catholic school, giving the child some information so that they don't live in fear of hell might be a good idea too.

is it possible to introduce a child to comparative religion in such a way that they don't get confused?

the way i'd frame it (and i think a kid would get it) is to tell them that there is god in everything while taking them into the woods and exposing them to nature, thereby creating the spark within their inner piece of nature so that eventually the earth will always resonate with them.

it's a hard call to make.

but when i was 8 years old, i think i wanted to just play.

incorporating a nature walk into a discussion of spirituality without getting into details of doctrine might be helpful.

[Bucky]

2. From the authors of "Why Mommy is a Democrat"

"Why Mommy Runs Around Naked in the Woods With Her Friends on the Winter Solstice When All Your Friends from School are Getting Christmas Presents"

Highly recommended.

[Bucky]

3. but seriously... and at risk of plugging my own church

My daughter, who was raised for 7 years by a strict Catholic mother, also went with me to a Unitarian church until she was 14. At our nondoctrinal church, she got exposed to ideas about faith and religious beliefs from all over the world, along with a vigorous dose of rationality from both her mother and me, and was able to sort things out herself.

Today she goes by herself to a Presbyterian but insists she's also an atheist--or as she says it, a "Gaytheist"--what ever that means!

I'm not saying "Go to MY church". I'm saying that an exposure to a lot of different ideas of what's important and profound and transcendent in the world will help your child navigate with personal integrity that difficult question in a world full of sometimes doctrinaire and unyielding ideas. The answer to confusion is invariably a broad, liberal education.

Maybe books about Greek & Egyptian gods (lots of those) alongside Christian & Jewish children's books. Also, Maria Shriver (I think) wrote a book about death for kids. No need to wait until you lose someone before you let your kid know about the life cycle and how it triggers feelings among you humans.

[Tyler Durden]

4. "The Satanic Bible" by Anton LaVey...JOKING!

I haven't a clue. I DO know that YOUNG, IMPRESSIONABLE CHILDREN are badly damaged by propaganda presented as eternal truth.

Be careful.

[datasuspect]

5. damn, i was gonna say that

or the templum ordo malus biblicum, a translation of ancient babylonian demon worshipping chronicles.

[Tyler Durden]

7. My kids all turned out Non-Militant Atheists.

I figured expose them to church (I'm an Atheist Leaning Agnostic, m'self), but the oldest once said, "This is no better than worshipping Zeus." The next oldest said, "Not only does this not make any sense, but the anti-gay stuff is really hard to take. Can I stop now?" He's REALLY liberal. The youngest (my daughter) said, "You have GOT to be kidding me; Right? Right?"

[deutsey]

8. How 'bout the Church of the Subgenius?

http://www.subgenius.com/ :evilgrin:

[deutsey]

6. These three may be of interest

But perhaps a little too young? :shrug:

http://www.uua.org/bookstore/product_info.php?cPath=10&products_id=308

Hide-and-Seek With God
Second Edition
Mary Ann Moore
$12.00
8105

29 enchanting tales present God in a variety of multicultural, non-sexist ways - as a transcendent mystery, a spiritual force, peace and silence, the mother and father of life, light and darkness and more. (Skinner House) 2003. 104 pp. ISBN 1-55896-277-8.


http://www.uua.org/bookstore/product_info.php?cPath=10&products_id=1527

How Does God Listen?
Kay Lindahl
$8.99
8106

Captures the experiences common to children of all faiths and backgrounds as they engage their senses to learn that God is in the wind, waves, clouds, hot chocolate, perfume, and in our tears and laughter. Photographs by Cynthia Maloney. Ages 3-6. (Skylight Paths) 2005. 32 pp. ISBN:1594730849


http://www.uua.org/bookstore/product_info.php?cPath=10&products_id=1597

Humanism, What's That?
A Book for Curious Kids
Helen Bennett
$12.00
8164


Mrs. Green is teaching her daily science class one day when suddenly she receives terrible news: A popular student named Amanda has been struck by a car on her way to class and is now hospitalized with serious injuries. "Let’s all pray for Amanda", says one earnest classmate. "Surely God will make her well if He hears our prayers."


Mrs. Green is confronted with the dilemma that every public school teacher must be ready to deal with. While the church-state separation laws won’t allow school prayer, Mrs. Green wants to do something to help her students cope with a life-threatening situation that has raised deep questions.


Thus begins a conversation between teacher and students that forms the basis of this thoughtful work. Starting with the historic concept of separation of church and state, the curious youngsters’ insistent questions lead to a consideration of philosophic issues: Why shouldn’t they pray for Amanda in class? Why do some people believe in God while others don’t? Is there life after death? What gives life meaning?


In the course of what becomes a parent-approved after-school discussion, Mrs. Green presents a humanistic point of view, making the following points. Humanists look at life as a natural process, so they don’t believe in the supernatural. They rely on science to explain the meaning of life, not on religion, though they support each person’s freedom to choose to believe or not to believe. Rather than speculating about what comes after death, humanists prefer to focus on life on earth. Humanists generally espouse the values of universal education, freedom of thought and free expression, open-minded pursuit of the truth, tolerance of others’ differences, mutual respect, and preservation of the environment.


Complete with discussion questions, suggestions for activities, and a bibliography, this innovative approach to presenting humanism to young adults will be welcome by parents and teachers looking to expose their children or students to a secular philosophic perspective.

[tigereye]

11. nice choices

I've been in the same boat with my kid - we don't attend a church. I've explained most of the major religions to him - he attends a school where Christian and Jewish holidays are respected - and we talk a lot about Joseph Campbell, but a nice explanation of the "need for God and the spiritual" would be good.


I had to step in with more explanations, simple Bible, etc. when he assumed there were still Greek gods.... ;)

[dpbrown]

9. Kids like structure

I think it's interesting that many people who espouse a free-form approach were themselves exposed to organized religion, and turned out alright.

Joseph Campbell did a huge amount of work understanding myth, culminating in his Power of Myth work.

Power of Myth DVD
Poer of Myth Book

He's dead now, but his foundation continues his work:
Joseph Campbell Foundation

These sources may be too in-depth for your 8-year-old, but could help you develop the facility to teach him with some structure about what's what in the world of mythology.

Good luck, I'll be there in a few years.

[Evoman]

10. What my dad did with us was

completely ignore our "spiritual" side.

(just so you know, my dad is an atheist,and my mom was very lightly catholidc)

Nobody talked to us about god or the church. My mom took us to get baptised when we were really young, and thats about it. When I asked my dad a couple of times about religoius issues, he explained that he wasn't religious and didn't believe in god, but if I wanted to find out about religion, I was free to do so. My mom and dad were quite emphatic that I should learn about current events and that I should work hard in school, but didn't make an effort to teach me about religion apart from talking about it in a News context. The only thing my dad didn't want was for neighbors or anybody to take us to their church regularly...if we wanted to go we had to 1)wait till 16 when our critical thinking had developed somewhat or 2)pick a church and go by ourselves (lol..which we were to lazy to do).

So thats it. No discussions about all the religions in the world, no talks on deism, no try to balance all the religions out. No encouragment or discouragment from attending church. The only time I went to church was to go to my friends youth group (and I never went to the sermon). In the end, I really think it was beneficial: sure there might be some peer pressure when your a really young kid, but as I grew up I didn't WANT to go to church. Why spend time at a boring sermon when you could sleep in the morning, and then play outside?

Just in case you wondered how we turned out (2 sibling and I): No drug abuse, no alchohol abuse, all left-wingers, all somewhat successful (I'm a scientist, my bros a goverment aide to the minister, and my sister is an Accounting Manager for a large accounting firm).

[Mojambo]

12. That's almost exactly what my parents did with me and my brother

It seemed to work out pretty well.

I ended up a very vigorous atheist and could be described (quite fairly) as anti-faith. It's interesting that my brother came to have more of a relationship with Christianity.

So the approach has produced two very different people with regard to religion