My son is a Christian. How can I help him change.?

Question

Based on this question,

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AnJOS5NnU7wd37Xt_Bve2YHsy6IX?qid=20061008172304AAUT2uj

the standard seems to be that I should force my believes on my child.

my son is 3 by the way and whatever he wants to become ill support him, i just find the attitude "sick" in that question

Answer 1

Forced religion will be lost with maturity. Unfortunately some don't grow up and others are too lazy and insecure to find something for themselves an just follow.

Answer 2

While I agree with you regarding the attitude in the other question, it does help to give your child some sort of guidance as far as beliefs go so that they will understand the world better. I grew up with a girl whose parents didn't want to force any religion on her. She grew up in a household that was free not only of religion but of discussion about religion. When she was a teenager she got recruited into some Pentecostal cult group. She was easy pickings for them because she had no experience with religious dogma and had never been exposed to any of the ideas they were espousing. Fortunately she grew out of it and wasn't permanently damaged by the experience (her family is Jewish, just non-practicing). When she had kids she made sure they were exposed to all the major religions so that they'd understand the religious issues in the world. Her daughter has stuck with Judaism, while her son is a Buddhist, although he did had a bar mitzvah and attends temple occasionally :-)

Answer 3

It's impossible to force a belief on anyone. A good parent instructs their children on what will be good for them physically and spiritually. Then when the child becomes an adult, if they become an atheist like you then the parent won't get the blame from God if the parent did their best to lead their children to God.

But if you lead your children away from God, then you will be held responsible by God on your judgment day if they end up in Hell because of you. The bible says that it would be better for someone to have a millstone hung around their neck and be thrown to the bottom of the sea than to lead a child into sin.

If you want to be an atheist, don't drag your kids into it because you would be robbing them of an oportunity to know how to live in loving communion with God for an eternity, and you would be setting them up for the possibility of being lost to the devil for eternity. Whether you choose to heed my advice or not, in the end, you can't say that no one ever told you.

To theladylooking, great miracle story. My daughter was born a preemie and was also saved by the Lord through prayer. Prayer also brought me home to my pregnant wife and baby daughter instead of having to go to war for a year and possibly not coming back alive.

Answer 4

My granddaughter was born with a large hole in her heart, she was 2 weeks old, and at her first Drs visit, they sent her right then to a heart Dr, who said it was a bad hole, and my son made an appointment to take her to a better more experianced Dr, for another opinion, well that Dr, put her on water pills, to keep water from getting around her heart, he said also that the hole was bad, so my son took her to Church, and took her up to be prayed for, they didn`t know what was wrong with her, or what they were praying for, only that she needed prayer, one of the men that was praying for her, said God has given her a new heart, and that she was healed, when they took her back to the heart Dr, she was 3 monthes old, the Dr couldn`t find the hole, he even had the nurse chek out the test, and see if he had missed something, he couldn`t believe it. Thats just ONE of the things God has done in my families life.

Answer 5

I understand your feelings. But you have to understand that to a Christian, the feeling of having your child not be a Christian is devastating. It's sad, but it is based on what Christians believe about non-Christians. If you truly truly felt that your son would go to hell for choosing a particular religion, or no religion, you would also want to help him change. You would probably do everything humanly possible to spare him from eternal torture.

I have had to come to a certain acceptance that this is where Christians are coming from, because my family is Christian, while I have chosen not to be. It makes for a potentially very difficult relationship, and I have had to try to have a tolerance for their beliefs, even though their belief is essentially that I'm going to hell unless I change. It's not their fault really that they believe this. They were taught this, and the people who taught them were taught this, and so on. They honestly don't know any better.

Try to understand, that as annoying as it can be, their sentiment comes out of love.

Answer 6

The funniest part is that people who haven't been in a church in years will recoil when you tell them you don't believe in God. I get this a lot, from people who have no professed faith and extremely low moral standards. It comes off as, "No, I'm not perfect, and I don't do anything right, but at least I believe in God. You're totally going to hell."

This is why I generally just nod my head and just say nothing whenever my family gets to talking about faith. If they knew what I really believed, I would have people at my house sermonizing all the time, and I'd end up hurting someone.

I personally like the idea that my daughter will grow up and have her own beliefs, and be her own person. I look forward to watching what she chooses to be. What fun could it be to attempt to put one's own imprint on one's children?

Answer 7

I think u should not force anything on a child. U should be a example and guide your child in the things that are right and wrong. I like the part where u said u will support the child--that is what a parent should be. Whatever it is--activities or spirituality to lifestyle--be supportive.

Answer 8

Here's the answer I gave to that question that you've got linked above.

Tell her that her head goes through the big hole in the top of the shirt and her arms go through the little holes. Then instruct her that each leg should be put into the pant legs one at a time. I am assuming she knows how to undress first.

Answer 9

Hey Jim

If you want the little fella to be a man; move to Scotland! He'll get drunk by the time he starts first grade and by the fifth grade he will have his very own skirt - thats tolerance for you!


(sorry jimmy had a wee sip of the nectur of the gods tonight)

Answer 10

If he's only 3 years old I don't know if he would even understand what Christianity is. Maybe it's his mother that is raising him as a Christian. If that is the case, all you can do is teach him to be open-minded and tolerant of all beliefs. Let him decide his own beliefs, but don't try to change him.