Will different religions confuse a child?

Question

My husband would like us to expose our son to different relgions. I am protestant while my husband is catholique, but he doesn't think we should stop there. My husband thinks our son should choose his own following, but we would need to expose him to different beliefs which may be contrasting. Will this totally confuse him, or will it make him more open-minded? And how do we explain why I attend one church and daddy attends another?

Catholique is exactly what I meant, but it is the same as Catholic but written in French.

Answer 1

How old is your son? Explain to him in ways he will understand.
For instance say suppose daddys church is the church of spiderman, and mine is superman. Now their both superheroes that rescue people and keep them from harms way but I like superman better so I go to my church and daddy goes to his. Now it wouldnt be fair if I told daddy he has to go to my superman church would it? So we compromise because we love each other enough to accept the other's believes.
If you set the example he will get the message that all beliefs no matter how contrasting they can be should be respected. As far as him being confused. I dont think in this situation with parents who are mutually respectful with one another and are an example of that will you have to worry about his confusion. And it sounds to me even if he did become confused with the exposure of more than one religion it would not be for long by watching the prime examples of his parents. I mean isnt this where we learn our comparisons of life but through our parents, and apply them to our own. Offering him the free will to choose is only going to enhance his own creative thinking, and season his mind with possibilities. Possibilites that unfortunately as children who are told to do as I say and not what I do lack ever knowing.
Contiue with what your doing it is a beautiful thing, and all people should be as open minded and filled with love as it is obvious that you are.

Answer 2

We are doing the same thing with our children. My oldest is 17 and is still exploring religion, she attended a Baptist church for 2 years and several others while growing up. She is very open minded about religion and accepting of others beliefs.
My two youngest are 4 and 6, they haven't had a lot of exposure to religion yet, but we are taking it slow with them. They will eventually know the basis of most major religions also and have the knowledge to make their own beliefs.
I think it is a great thing. It shouldn't confuse him, just be honest if he asks questions. I have found that most kids just accept things the way they are, if he grows up and you and your husband are always attending different churches, he probably won't even ask until he is a bit older. My daughter has never been any more confused about religion then any of her friends and she has enjoyed attending services at different churches throughout the years.
I am an atheist and my husband is a Catholic.

Answer 3

Do you mean 'catholic'?
Unless there's some religion called 'catholique' that I don't know about.
Anyway, how old is he? I never was really interested in having any belief until this year. I'm catholic. But, that's how I was baptised, so no matter what I choose, that's really what I'll always be. I pretty much have my own belief. There are some things I agree and believe in, and others I don't. It's just how I am, how I've always been.
Although, I think it's great that your husband wants to expose him to different things and let him choose on his own instead of strictly being told to believe what he's told.


Edit:
Oh, okay, sorry, I've never seen it spelled that way. xD

Answer 4

You could simply not consciously and purposely expose him to any particular religion but instead tell him that there are many different systems of belief and that each person should choose their own. When he's old enough, you can incentive him to make his own research on several religions so that he may find the one he identifies the most with if there is one, and let him make his own conclusions and adhere to teh faith he's most comfortable with. I think that would be simpler, but if you really want to expose him to most religions while he's growing up, it can be a good idea as long as you put enough effort into it and teach him tolerance and respect for all, which means that you'll have to be as unbiased and imparcial as possible. A very good tool for you to use would be the following site:

http://www.religioustolerance.org/

Good luck with everything. May your son live a happy life and congratulations for your own open-mindedness.

Answer 5

I think this is a very difficult subject. However, if the parents are not fighting over which religion is better and both are willing to expose the child to different religions then it is going to be a great experience. This will make him more open minded. This will also illustrate to you and your husband that basically all religions have the same base values (I did not say beliefs--I said values.).

This will be a great experience for all of you!

Answer 6

I commend your husband for taking this stand. Religion is a sacred, personal thing. It should never be decided for someone. The fact that you and your husband are different religions, shows the child already that there are many possiblities out there. My mom was Catholic and my Dad was Atheist. Neither one of them told me what was and what wasn't. They told me what THEY believe, and that I would need to figure it out myself. My dad was a little more invovled than my mother was. Part of that is because my mother never questioned what she was told as a child, but my father (obviously) had searched for his own answers. Becuase of that, he knew a lot about different religions and beliefs.

I belief that my parents doing that for me taught me that just because people belief different things from each other, or even me, that they're still people. I have an interest now for what people believe and why. I have an open mind, and don't insult those who are different from me. . . I take it as a chance to learn something.

Good luck! :)

Answer 7

I think your husbands idea isn't that bad I guess but be care full your child is not getting confused.
In the start for sure, when it is small teach it only one way of praying and slowly you can explain him that there are many people all over the world who think different, look different and believe different but all in God and that all this different people give this God another name.
In basic religion serves the same purpose and your child can understand that.
My parents never forced me in to something and gave me enough space to explore what I wanted and gave me explanation about all beliefs.
They are still no church goers but I really believe in God.

Answer 8

Nah, I think it's a great idea. Things like religion and politics have a big impact on people. It all depends on what kind of person your kid will be and you won't figure that out for a while. Life, shapes people. Be good to your kid, let him choose his own political and religious path or he will rebel. When it comes to staying in school though, and all that other stuff that a good human needs to live a good life, make sure you keep him on the right track. teach him right from wrong and don't let him be pressured into taking the wrong path you know? Good question.

Answer 9

Children are more resilient than what we give them credit for. I would point out to the child that you're both Christians and let him know how uniform your beliefs are (I mean, just the basic of Jesus dying for our sins, etc.). He'll soon detect differences as he attends your church and then those of your husband. I say it will enrich his life... and he'll know you're both true Christians because you love each other even though you have different beliefs.

Answer 10

Different people need different things. I think it's great to teach a child about God in any form, and you don't teach him that these beliefs are good and these beliefs are bad. If everybody loves God, it doesn't matter if we do it in different ways. That's what I've taught my kids and it seems to be working pretty well.