Saturday, August 2, 2008
Children
When an atheist and a Christian find themselves married with young children, surely the question comes up regarding what to teach the children. And surely some will be of the opinion that there is no need to fuss about religious issues with the children at a young age, you just wait until their older and explain the differing viewpoints and allow them to choose, right? Well...what if it's not that easy? What if the Christian wife is homeschooling the children and desires to use Christian based curriculum? I am a recent deconvert from Christianity, so a relatively short time ago, I obviously raised no objections to this notion of schooling which heavily involves Christian tenets. Now, I'm in a pickle. According to the curriculum publisher, "Little Saints" includes the Word of God in every lesson.
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5 comments:
I would recommend doing your own research to find a curriculum that would be an acceptable compromise. Very sticky situation.
This is one aspect of the bigger "stickyness" regarding how to effectively communicate the extent of my lack of Christianity, while seeking generally to limit the harm done in the relationship. It is shamefully complicated.
Good luck with that one. I can't even imagine that predicament though I would suspect that the relationship would be more important than the pettiness that could ensue over the issue (pettiness is a bad word, but I am sure you get the point). I would think that if your wife wanted to instill some Christian views in your child it couldn't hurt incredibly bad, just depends how far she would take it. Liberal Christian teachings are far less harmful to children than fundamental ones. Though I would still try and emphasize the importance of a secular schooling, which would be little easier to argue for if your wife attends church with the kid. Just a thought without any experience behind it!
Thanks DB. If time allows, I'd like to write a bit more on the matter, touching on a couple of the thoughts you mention.
I look forward to them. I find this a very interesting topic as I am really concerned with the welfare of my [potential] children in terms of education and religious influences. While my wife and I share the same skepticism, we are very concerned about the influences of Christian extremism in society and how to shield our kids from it the best we can without harming their open minds. Hopefully your situation is far from extreme and more manageable!
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