Yeah, the nosey little sprog, how dare she engage me in conversation.
Though nice to see my first guess was correct. (sort of) It did lead on to an interesting conversation on why things get called by particular names, particularly the “Gherkin” and “The Shard”. And eventually I set them the task of, whenever they saw the Gherkin or the Shard to say “A gherkin, yum! yum!” or “ouch, my finger” respectively.
Bus passengers must have hated us by the end of today.
Have you thought about making things easier by putting your kids up for adoption. Think about. I mean, if this is the best you can do, seems like it would be a win-win.
Actually, if you can’t do that, you’re really not very good at the mothering thing. You should be able to explain to your children something as popular as religion or Christianity in a way that fills in the blanks. That’s what they’re asking you to do. You don’t have to endorse it. Just explain it. As someone already pointed out, this is not some profound burden that no mother has ever had to deal with. Sheeze.
Aren’t you a ray of sunshine?
And how would you have explained the concepts of monks to a five year old?
Meh, I’m 32 and like painting eggs and hiding them for my little girl.
Holidays can just be about what you like in them.
I think this is where you are having a problem.
For those of us who are not religious, there is no way of “filling in the blanks” satisfactorily. None of it* actually makes any sense* and we are uncomfortable with twisting words to make it seem as though it does.
Children who are allowed to question will continue to ask why? when the answer fails to satisfy. With religion that satisfaction is a long time coming because logic and reason will never come to your rescue. You end up with the ultimate appeal to authority or resorting to a variety of “some people believe strange things and I don’t know why”
Those who are religious are often unable to see their delusions for what they are and are unlikely to struggle to the same extent.
Now you want ME to do your parenting? No. I think you need to think about this long and hard. Seriously, you really should go to a parenting class or read some books about it. Or how about this: go talk to a priest or rabbi or imam if they have any ideas. Or just talk to some other parents who don’t share your fear/hate of religion. There are ways to explain these things to a young child without endorsing religion, or even theism. The same way, as someone pointed out, that a vegetarian parent might have to explain that some people eat meat. Or a conservative parent might have to explain gay relationships. Or a religious parent might have to explain Atheism to a kid who hears the word or comes into contact with a hateful adherent to that philosophy, like the OP, you, and a few others in this thread.
Explaining does not equal endorsing. And my own personal bias is that we should just provide the information and try as hard as we can to not indoctrinate kids into our way of thinking. Give them the information they seek (which often can be very simple answers) and allow them to form their own belief system (including being Atheists) when they’er old enough to actually process the concepts.
It seems like you might not have the tools to give your child the information she seeks. You are to committed to your own belief system and believe anything else is stupid. Good for you. You have the world and life all figured out. But here’s something you might introduce to your child: the concepts of faith vs reason. I’m a strong theist, but have no problem explaining atheism. And doing so in a non-biased way. It’s very easy to couch things as, “Lots of people believe lots of different things…” And then explain what they believe in a way that doesn’t show your hate for them. Unless, like a lot of religious evangelists, you see a fresh innocent mind as an easy one to indoctrinate. Which, based on your posts here, is my guess.
But by all means, don’t let children suffer the delusions of Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy. Anything but THAT! Oh, and some people believe that a person existed that was the son of God and thus believing, strive to be giving, kind, and forgiving. Yeah, more horrors, I know.
Oh, come on. I’m not religious, but it still makes sense to me why a crucifix is a Christian symbol.
Yes. Happy Easter indeed. FEEL THE LOVE! 
I think you have me mixed up with a different poster.
Ok, well, monks still make sense to me too.
I’m curious how you would explain a crucifix to a child that had no previous exposure to religion.
So what is wrong with this? You’re their parent, not some omniscient GOD who has all the answers. “I don’t know” is the very beginning of Wisdom. Teach your kid that you don’t know everything, that it is perfectly ok NOT to know everything, and they don’t have to make up a lie everytime they don’t know something or that there is something wrong with them if they don’t know something.
One of the fun things about being a parent to small children is figuring out how to answer questions fairly, honestly and appropriately.
My kids know that Easter is an old celebration of the earth’s awakening in the spring, the return of fertility and life, now locally symbolized by eggs and fecund rabbits. I can’t recall being called to explain the particular doctrine that Christians have laid atop this, though I’ll take it head on when it comes up. Separate discussions have certainly covered other elements of the story of Jesus.
Someone has watched The Matrix waaaaaaay too many times.
You might be right, but I’m going to suspend judgment pending further research and reflection.
Your thinly veiled insults are noted, you’ve managed to read into my posts words that were never there. Good for you. Indeed you are a fine example of what religion can do for the world.
You are fairly poor at reading comprehension though. You will recall reading my exchange with my daughter, you will also recall my problem
“All the while her little face was crinkled in confusion and I couldn’t think of a suitable analogy that didn’t cast religious people as completely hatstand.”
I was striving to cast religious people in a non-judgemental way. I want her to make up her own mind. It isn’t for me to tell her what to think but to help her how to think, to question, to probe, to seek.
But as a religious adherent, what you must grasp is that your worldview makes no objective sense to those of us who are not adherents. As a man of science I cannot reconcile miracles with the physical world as I know it. I can’t give equal credence to what is known and what is believed.
And though it may pain you and offend you to hear it. Actually I ascribe exactly the same level probability to the easter bunny and the judeo-christian god. That is not a position I take to insult anyone but it is a logical conclusion from the evidence available for both.
Perhaps you imagine I sit on my daughter’s bed every night reading from Christopher Hitchens? telling her to watch out for the strange folk who worship an invisible dead magical jew?
No, if I have a creed at all it is tolerance and love. live and let live, do as I would be done by. None of that comes from religion nor depends on the supernatural. I would no sooner denigrate a religion or its adherents in front of my daughter than I would spit in her face.
I will teach her to treat others well regardless of race, colour, creed, gender or sexuality. Something sadly lacking in the majority of the world’s religions.
However, were she to ask me outright what I believe and why I believe it I would certainly tell her the truth.
Well, first you expose them to religion? You explain that some people believe in a God or gods, and talk about that and so on.
Easter: a celebration of the impending zombie apocalypse where the only way to keep up with the necessary reload speed for survival is a massive chocolate sugar-rush?
Hey, I’d play that on STEAM. I’d pitch it as Omega Man meets Gordon Freeman.
Trailer character reads “…And his Kingdom shall have no end…” looks up “We’re gonna need more shells…”
“Remember: hands & feet just slow them down. Go center mass or between the eyes.”