She left a note for us to find where she really poured her heart out about her love for Jesus and us. She's 17, very sweet, and quite naive. I don't think a logical rundown of how we arrived at our beliefs and how hers are foolish is going to help her or us any. At the same time, given how the world is being put in terrible peril by religious fundamentalists of all kinds, I feel an obligation to show her there's more to believe than just what she's been told. And along with all of this, we don't want to lose our babysitter because we really like her.
This letter she wrote was 2 hand-written spiral notebook pages. So would you just politely say "No thanks" or give her more than that, and if so, what?
2006-07-01 07:03:05 · 11 answers · asked by Brainy Smurf 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Tell her that she's very sweet for offering, but that you have your own beliefs. You don't need to cut down hers or be mean about it, just make sure that she realizes you came to your own conclusions about religion/gods/etc on your own.
2006-07-01 07:11:16 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Well, Terrapinqueen said it better than I would have. Perhaps even with more patience. What ever happens, make sure she's not filling your children's minds with that rubbish. I can respect and appreciate christianity too. They just don't appreciate those who are agnostic or atheist. In fact, I think they might throw gasoline on me and light a match. Some christians scare me as much as the KKK. I would elaborate on that more, but that would take way too long and I'm not trying to give anyone nightmares. Plus, the KKK isn't worth two seconds of anyone's time.
The fact that she's a "sweet girl" scares me in terms of remedying the problem. I can almost see the family locking her out, hiding and keeping quiet. LOL. She sounds too innocent to question or open her mind at this point, so I'd just keep an eye on things at home. Make sure she isn't trying to teach your children the bible.
2006-07-01 17:46:35 · answer #2 · answered by dhalia_1977 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That is a very hard situation to be in. I am also an Atheist and have many religious friends, some of whom tried to offer salvation. I simply explained that not everyone is happy believing the same things. I respect your beliefs and hope they continue to make you happy but I do not share them. With a girl so young I don't think any more explanation would be a good idea. She may just become very confused.
Good Luck
2006-07-01 07:13:51 · answer #3 · answered by Lisa 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is a very broad question. Atheism literally means 'without god' and since most human acts of devastation have been in the name of one god or another, this would suggest that they are less harmful than people with a religion. If you think about it in a more abstract way, atheism promotes free thinking and the choice to believe what you want without the hindrance of someone telling you what is correct without any evidence. In this way, many religions actually promote ignorance over knowledge. (The reasoning behind this lays with early society humans trying to form a manageable society that functions well together. Religion is a very effective way to do this, hence why there are so many similarities between them). So depending on what you mean by harm, in early human society atheism could have been more detrimental to the progression of the human race but in recent times (the last 150 years or so) religion is losing its place in modern society.
2016-03-27 00:16:12 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would take the time to respond in letter form....
and simply tell her you respect her beliefs however you do have your own belief system.
By writing back it shows your respect for her and by simply stating the fact without getting into too much explanation it may
deter her from speaking more about it face to face.
after telling her you have your own beliefs, tell her how much you love having your children watched by her and how much you value her...as a sitter and a sweet young lady/friend.
just a few thoughts....
shes l7...sweet, and clearly very into her own religion.
Let someone else inform her of options and quite possibly hurt her feelings. If you feel more strongly about talking to her
with regards to your beliefs....like you said you could lose a sitter
and things could get out of hand.......as always with a religious discussion.
2006-07-01 07:15:29 · answer #5 · answered by abbie r 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That's a tough question. I get a lot of Christian people trying to 'save" me. If they are overbearing I try to reason first, or second, intimidate them. On the other hand some are sweet and sincere like you baby sitter. I would politely decline and let her see how you interact with others. Thus, showing her your a decent person and maybe she will be inquisitive. I wish I could give you a better answer.Good luck.
2006-07-01 07:12:43 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Wow thats alot! She really did pour her little heart out. I would sit her down and tell her....."look baby doll i appreciate so much that you care about my family and i that you want to share what great things you have experinced with your religion but we simply dont believe in what you believe in. Its ok to be different and have different opinions....if we were all the same the whole world would be such a boring place. I think its sweet but i just have different thoughts than you." I would keep it simple and sweet...because when you get complicated so do christians.
2006-07-01 07:12:16 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
She will probably not give up because thats her job as a christian to save as many people as possible. That's a tough one. I can see her point being a person who believes in God. But on the other hand I see your point also in that your probably don't want her teaching possibly your children something you don't believe in. This would infuriate me. Tell her politely no thanks. She does have good intentions. And good babysitters are hard to find. Good luck.
2006-07-01 07:14:12 · answer #8 · answered by wishorstish 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, being that she is a young girl, she could easily get hurt. And being that she is your babysitter, you don't want to piss her off. Maybe you should sit her down and tell her that you appreciate her wanting to "save you" and can understand that she cares, but religion is not something to be discussed in your house and you would appreciate it if she would just abide by those rules and do her part in "saving someone" by just being a babysitter and only a babysitter.
2006-07-01 07:13:32 · answer #9 · answered by terrapinqueen76 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you have a problem like that, maybe you should look into it, find out what is wrong with it, and tell her and us what you found.
2006-07-01 07:08:42 · answer #10 · answered by jessicake 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋