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Originally Posted By ecdc >>That Jesus, so into idolatry.<< Given that your source material was written decades after Jesus died, there's no way to know that he actually said that. In fact, he almost certainly did not say it.
Originally Posted By utahjosh <Given that your source material was written decades after Jesus died, there's no way to know that he actually said that. In fact, he almost certainly did not say it.> Sure I can. By the Spirit.
Originally Posted By CuriousConstance ecdc, off topic a bit, but I was curious, how do you handle the whole God/Atheist topic with your kids? Do you encourage them to not believe or do you remain impartial? I'm dealing with lots of questions from my daughter, who is 9 1/2, and stuggling a bit with which route to take.
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder The Devil was spotted not too long ago: <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.hollyscoop.com/sites/hollyscoop.com/files/p17bdu4vhm13k917frtsh3ek8pa4.jpg">http://www.hollyscoop.com/site...8pa4.jpg</a>
Originally Posted By ecdc >>how do you handle the whole God/Atheist topic with your kids?<< I've just told them what I believe and then explain what other people believe. I do try hard to be respectful, especially since their grandparents and so many of their friends are believers (and I don't mean a little bit, either!) I don't want them to be antagonistic toward religion, but at this point, they certainly don't claim any belief themselves. Perhaps someday that will change and I'm fine with that. All I can hope for is that they'll respect everyone.
Originally Posted By CuriousConstance I don't know how anyone that believes in a literal devil can sleep at night.
Originally Posted By ecdc >>Sure I can. By the Spirit.<< I hope it's not the same spirit that told Joseph Smith how to translate the Bible. That spirit didn't know anything about the history of the book and seemed to think the King James version was a good one. And let's definitely hope it's not the same spirit that conjured Bible tales from ancient Egyptian funerary texts that had nothing to do with...well...anything Biblical.
Originally Posted By CuriousConstance "I've just told them what I believe and then explain what other people believe. I do try hard to be respectful, especially since their grandparents and so many of their friends are believers (and I don't mean a little bit, either!) I don't want them to be antagonistic toward religion, but at this point, they certainly don't claim any belief themselves. Perhaps someday that will change and I'm fine with that. All I can hope for is that they'll respect everyone." Sounds exactly like my situation. My parents are religious, and I don't want my daughter saying anything that would offend them or anyone else she meets who is religious. She's a smart kid and notices hypocrisy in religous viewpoints, so I've haven't been holding back my feelings towards religion, but I've been making sure that she understands it's important that she is sensitive to others. Thanks for the info!
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder The She Devil: <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.urantiansojourn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/BonerMakeUp.jpg">http://www.urantiansojourn.com...keUp.jpg</a>
Originally Posted By ecdc >>but I've been making sure that she understands it's important that she is sensitive to others. Thanks for the info!<< You bet. At the risk of taking this one post too far (I tend to do that sometimes) I think this little side discussion between Josh and me is a perfect example. I try and teach my kids to be respectful of belief that involves value statements - I believe in God, I think God loves me, etc. But I also teach them to try and recognize statements that are factually inaccurate. It's one thing to say, "I believe in God and I believe Jesus is my savior," it's quite another to say, "Oh, and by the way, I believe the earth is 6,000 years old and the New Testament is a totally accurate depiction of events that happened around 33 C.E." Science, whether historical or physical, has shown us those statements are incorrect, and retreating into a "I had a special feeling that told me I'm right" doesn't absolve one's assertion from criticism, even though they think it probably should. I try and explain too that my children should be prepared to have their assertions challenged, and that things that might seem really obvious to them might even be challenged and they can't take it for granted that something's obvious (witness, for example, Republicans who insist Joseph McCarthy was an outstanding, heroic American). You have to be familiar with the issues in order to make a rational point.
Originally Posted By mawnck >>Sure I can. By the Spirit.<< It's a hearing-voices-in-my-head thing. You wouldn't understand.
Originally Posted By mawnck JOSH? <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://gawker.com/watch-a-congressman-ask-an-irs-official-about-consortin-1443019897">http://gawker.com/watch-a-cong...43019897</a>
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan You know, the more I hear from Scalia, I too start to think the devil is a real person.
Originally Posted By EighthDwarf "You have to be familiar with the issues in order to make a rational point." But, ecdc, how do you make a rational point to someone who thinks "the wisdom of the wise is foolishness"? I've come to a conclusion, which I've said before on these boards. Faith is nothing more than believing in something you want to be true. Mormons WANT to believe they have a monopoly on some peculiar truth and rituals, therefore, they believe it blindly. You can't refute it with facts because, quite simply, they WANT it to be true, and that's enough to make facts and truth irrelevant to them. But the same goes for all faiths in my opinion, at least to some degree.
Originally Posted By ecdc >>But, ecdc, how do you make a rational point to someone who thinks "the wisdom of the wise is foolishness"?<< Oh, sure. I'm 100% with ya. I could point out, for example, to Josh that throughout its 180+ years, Mormonism has had countless people who claimed they were following "the spirit" that ended badly for them, either in conflict with church authorities, their family, etc. Josh would simply pass that off as not really the spirit. The spirit is only whatever conforms to Josh's preconceived beliefs and expectations. And that's fine. But I still think it's a point worth making. There's other people reading and listening, and who knows, it might, at the ver least, make people a bit more cautious in their own thinking before they make unsupportable statements.
Originally Posted By CuriousConstance My 9 year old daughter is really struggling with the fact that her class has a boy who is a Jehovah's Witness. She really is upset that he can't participate in any of the class celebrations for holidays or birthdays. He also can't sing when the class is singing things in music like the National Anthem. Anyone know what the reasoning behind not singing the National Anthem, by the way? I understand holidays and birthday, etc, but can't think of why the anthem would be forbidden. She feels so bad for him having to always leave the room, she just wants him to be able to have a cupcake with the rest of the class! And she can't bare the thought of him getting nothing for Christmas.
