Watching how my kid absorbs religion as opposed to absorbing any other stories
Posted: Mon Feb 03, 2020 1:36 pm
Ever since I took the deep dive into Mormon history I've been very anxious about how our kid will be exposed to religion, and my deep dive was catalyzed by thinking of his future... and him telling me "I can't wait to go to the temple when I'm older" along with "You know who can share the Book of Mormon? I can!"
Anyway... since that time two years ago DW has stopped teaching him Book of Mormon stuff because my only request was that if she taught him Mormonism that I could teach him critical thinking about it... not that I would say "that's wrong and here's why" but to give him a perspective on what I took from the lessons and what made sense.
She did not want to do that so we agreed to do Bible stories instead because we both find value in them, but I have been amazed at how my kid takes in Bible stories as opposed to anything else.
Whenever I tell my kid a story that seems off, he will almost immediately ask "Did that really happen," because he is pretty good at picking up on things that don't make sense. I'm not saying he's a genius, but when I say something that is either impossible (supernatural) or just doesn't add up beause it seems too good to be true, he will *always* ask that.
But when DW teaches him Bible stories, he never does. Now I don't know if he buys it or not (I'm afraid to ask because I don't want to get in the middle of that), but he will ask questions about the story and never once has he asked if it actually happened.
It's just such a weird thing that I know is a human thing, but I can't quite wrap my head around how a 7 year old kid just shuts down any questions when they are told it's a God inspired miracle.
This week she spent a few nights going through Moses from birth to the exodus... and parting of the sea, etc. It's a story that is just so silly when I hear her tell it to him, but he never once had a question about it outside of just saying "Why did they kill the kids" or something like that.
Anyway this is nothing new to any of you, I'm sure, but it's just so surreal... I've tried to teach him critical thinking anywhere I can to help get him ready for this, but it is quite amazing how powerful just saying it's from God can do to a story - as impossible or silly as it might seem otherwise.
Anyway... since that time two years ago DW has stopped teaching him Book of Mormon stuff because my only request was that if she taught him Mormonism that I could teach him critical thinking about it... not that I would say "that's wrong and here's why" but to give him a perspective on what I took from the lessons and what made sense.
She did not want to do that so we agreed to do Bible stories instead because we both find value in them, but I have been amazed at how my kid takes in Bible stories as opposed to anything else.
Whenever I tell my kid a story that seems off, he will almost immediately ask "Did that really happen," because he is pretty good at picking up on things that don't make sense. I'm not saying he's a genius, but when I say something that is either impossible (supernatural) or just doesn't add up beause it seems too good to be true, he will *always* ask that.
But when DW teaches him Bible stories, he never does. Now I don't know if he buys it or not (I'm afraid to ask because I don't want to get in the middle of that), but he will ask questions about the story and never once has he asked if it actually happened.
It's just such a weird thing that I know is a human thing, but I can't quite wrap my head around how a 7 year old kid just shuts down any questions when they are told it's a God inspired miracle.
This week she spent a few nights going through Moses from birth to the exodus... and parting of the sea, etc. It's a story that is just so silly when I hear her tell it to him, but he never once had a question about it outside of just saying "Why did they kill the kids" or something like that.
Anyway this is nothing new to any of you, I'm sure, but it's just so surreal... I've tried to teach him critical thinking anywhere I can to help get him ready for this, but it is quite amazing how powerful just saying it's from God can do to a story - as impossible or silly as it might seem otherwise.