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JanesOpinion - the eldest leans towards the views held by her father
While the youngest is definately a believer and still accompanies her mother to church. Internally, or within our immediate family, their has not been one second of religious conflict .....which is surprising to some.
posted by
gomedome
on December 3, 2005 at 8:37 PM
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Gome, out of curiosity, now that your kids are adults or nearing adulthood (I would assume), may I be so bold to ask if they've chosen a religion? Have they sided with dear old mum or dear old dad?
posted by
JanesOpinion
on December 3, 2005 at 8:15 PM
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Gome...
Ninja Nun School! LOL
posted by
RckyMtnActivist
on December 3, 2005 at 10:46 AM
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RckyMtnActivist -- that's one thing I can vouch for - nuns have no sense of
humour. It is trained out of them at Ninja Nun school. That's where they learn the art of weilding the disciplinary wooden ruler. You know the one, that would be the ruler that they beat impertinent children with for asking questions such as you asked.
posted by
gomedome
on December 3, 2005 at 10:30 AM
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Gubby - you inadvertantly depict the differences in generations and
educational settings. If I had of asked that question at the mission school, it would have meant a whap on the head with a wooden ruler by our nun teacher, Sister Neverhadaman.
posted by
gomedome
on December 3, 2005 at 10:25 AM
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jollyjeff - thanx -- but for me it was the only way
One cannot condemn the actions of past generations in passing their prejudices onto us and then turn around to do the same thing. I recognized that I carried an unhealthy disdain for organized Christian religions when my children were small, I feel fortunate that I also recognized it was entirely my problem and should not be passed along.
posted by
gomedome
on December 3, 2005 at 10:22 AM
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avant-garde - ultimately the proof is in how my children end up conducting
their lives. So far they are not the messed up individuals that some of my relatives children are. Even my totally biased perspective (because they are my children) can see that my kids are on the right track in life. I spared them the mind pollution of a redundant religion.
posted by
gomedome
on December 3, 2005 at 10:16 AM
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Your willingness to expose your kids
to other points of view is commendable.
posted by
jollyjeff
on December 3, 2005 at 10:11 AM
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brisbane_artist -- and your average rain coat is useless to stop it
Jesus juice comes in liquid and gaseous form...and can be released, sprayed or vented in any small enclosure. Preferably within earshot of those willing to spray some back but it does say right on the can it comes in, to make sure you use extra heavy doses within range of the non believer.
posted by
gomedome
on December 3, 2005 at 10:11 AM
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Talion -- your experience growing up is very unusual for those living in
North America. For anyone in our age group, born in the 1950's, it was routine to march them off to church while they were still whelping. It is not just a coincedence that you have such a balanced perspective on life today. You missed the mind polution that the rest of us suffered while growing up, I envy you for that.
posted by
gomedome
on December 3, 2005 at 10:07 AM
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Gome...
Good luck with the family! My family is all christian and I guess I am the black sheep. They suspected something was up when I was six years old and got thrown out of Catholic Sunday school. Why? Because I asked the nun, "Why do I have to say confession to a priest in order to receive communion?, when my friend who is Lutheran can confess her sins to God and not a priest? Why can't we eliminate the middle man?" They have no sense of humor those nuns! Great Post!!!
posted by
RckyMtnActivist
on December 3, 2005 at 5:14 AM
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In britain, they have a policy of religious neutrality in most schools and it's only politically correct to assume that your chosen faith is not the one and only. When I was a tiny kid, I think we were doing the story of noah's ark or something so that we could all play with cut-out animals, and I asked the teacher whether it was a true story: she said it might be. Then I asked her if there was any proof, and she said there wasn't any. But how could it be true then? She was kinda embarrassed and evaded the question.
So, in conclusion with this new concept, I spent all that day imagining possible histories of the world in the idea that it might be possible to come up with something real by throwing darts blindfolded, so to speak. Unlike most religious people, however, after a day it started to strike me as kinda stupid.
posted by
Gubby
on December 3, 2005 at 4:32 AM
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gomedome
I've had the same experiences. We attended a local church, so that the kids could attend a Sunday school. Wrong idea. I felt as if I were in shark infested waters.
Your kids must go to church. What about thier souls? I'm tired of this and I want my kids to believe in a God who does not need anything, but to allow them to experiene and discover without being browbeaten.
posted by
avant-garde
on December 3, 2005 at 3:04 AM
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Jesus Juice
Sraying with Jesus Juice sounds like fun?
posted by
brisbane_artist
on December 3, 2005 at 1:29 AM
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Jesus Juice
S
posted by
brisbane_artist
on December 3, 2005 at 1:29 AM
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gomedome
My parents didn't force religion on me. Outside of weddings and funerals, I've only been to two religious services in my life. The first time was in the sixth grade. It was something of a "field trip." My teacher wanted to show off a group of her best students. It was a pentacostal church, with people jumping and shouting and falling on the floor. I saw such things on TV, but didn't think people really did it. The second time, I was a freshman in college. I went to a Catholic university in New Orleans and as part of the freshman's introduction to campus life razzmatazz, they made all of us attend mass. I was bored out of my skull and would've fallen asleep had the priest not repeatedly asked everyone to stand up and sit down. My lack of experience with any church harbored no contempt for religion, but it developed no undying love for it either. It allowed me to have a take it or leave it approach. I chose the latter.
posted by
Talion
on December 2, 2005 at 11:24 PM
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