How can I explain religion to my 6 year old?

Question

I was raised believing in God and I do with all my heart and soul. I could never get into religion for many reasons. First, men wrote the books, second, the hipocracies were too many, third, I just don't get inspired by it at all. But I developed my own beliefs about religion by researching and having an open mind. I wan't my son to have the same opportunity without me influencing him.

Please do not mistake God for religion. I know some of you will say Jesus is the one and only God. Please save yourself some time and don't bother.

I am talking about telling my child what religion is so he can keep an open mind. When he gets older and wants to learn more, I want him to have that openess still.

He asked me the other day what religion is and all I could say was, let me get back with you before I answer that because it is a very important question and I want to make sure I give you a good answer.

I appreciate your thoughts and opinions as long as they are open minded

Answer 1

Start by asking the child, what do YOU think? So you have an idea of where to start from. Here's how I explained it to my 6 year old...

Different religions are basically different ideas about god and how we relate to god. There are some people who believe there is one god, some people believe in many gods, some people believe there is no god, some people believe you can never know for sure.

Some people believe god is personally involved and watches each one of us, some believe god basically started the world and is not involved in it.

Some people believe we have a soul that goes to heaven or hell when we die, some people believe our soul may be reincarnated into another body, some people believe there is no soul and when you die you're just dead.

AFTER getting those concepts across, THEN you can explain what YOU believe, and let him know that he is free to learn as much as he wants to and make his own decision of what he believes. It's pretty heavy stuff for a 6 year old but IMO much better than indoctrinating them in one specific religion... it keeps them openminded and thinking about it on their own terms.

Answer 2

6-year-olds are surprisingly good at understanding things like this. Just say when a bunch of people have the same beliefs about God or Spirituality they get together and form what is called a religion.

You like researching different religions - why don't you include him in sometime, you just have to simplify some of the wording for him. You might also ask some of your friends that are religious to bring your son along sometime just so he can see what it's all about.

I understand you wanting him to be open to exploring more than one belief system, just don't let that desire scare you away from letting him explore any of them.

good luck.

Answer 3

I would say: Religion is a system of rules and beliefs that help us answer hard questions in life. If they as what questions, I would say: How we came to be here for example - do you every wonder that? Some people think that we just grew here like a tree. Some people think there is a powerful being who has put us all here for an important reason. Some people think that we are simply creatures of spirit that come here to learn stuff. That's the kind of thing religion talks about.

There are things that you can do to expose your child to various religions - like celebrate (or at least talk about) all the holidays. This earth has many very interesting and beautiful religions - it's fun to take a peek at what folks do. There are board books for very small kids about most holidays and the level of the story grows with your child.

I heard one woman on here said that she was taken to various places of worship as a child and she loved that. Of course you need a pretty diverse population for that - and most cultures welcome a child and parent trying to learn together.

I think the most important thing that you do to teach your child about religion is the example you set. Maybe you have no spiritual practice or maybe you do yoga with your child. Maybe you talk more about equinox than easter - you child will learn what you teach by example more than anything else.

I try to take my kids on guided meditations because I think that breathing, meditation and visualization are among the most important spiritual tools I have and I do yoga with them and I answer their questions from as many perspectives as I can.

Peace!

Answer 4

First thing you should know, it will be hard NOT to influence a 6 year old. Your encouragment of him to stay open minded will be a life-ling process. And at 6, he is not likley to truly grasp some of the concepts.

I have a 6 year old son. My ex husband has him on the weekends, he takes him to a Baptist Church. My son has been going since he was 4. I dont like some of what they teach him, but discovered a few days ago, even after all he has heard, he still thinks Jesus was just a story, not real. Its their age that makes it hard for them to understand what you may tell them.

So keep it simple. Some people belive in God, and religion has many diffrent ways for them to believe, and to do things like pray, and there are lots of diffrent kinds. If you feel like telling him what you believe thats a good way. If not, dont. But he may ask you. When my kids ask me why I dont believe what Daddy does, why I dont take then to church, I tell them everyone is diffrent, and Daddy isnt wrong, and Mommies not wrong, its just diffrent. Encourage him to stay open minded.

As a side note, you may want to ask him where he heard about religion, if you arent sure. Someone MAY be trying to influence him, so you may want to nip that in the bud.

Answer 5

At its most basic definition - religion is a set of beliefs about questions that we really don't have answers to.
There are 2 types of religion - organized and personal. Yours (and mine) is personal. I agree with you & feel how you do about it. I think organized religion often gets away from the "truth" and concerns itself too much with power & influence.
There are several different "organized" religions and infinite variation of personal ideas & faiths.
I would start by asking him "the questions" - if you think he's ready to think about it. Like, where did we come from, where did the earth come from, animals, flowers, the sun, things like that.
I would say to take what you believe is most important to you and start with that. LIke, for me - it is about the "golden rule" and love.

You say you believe in God - so talk about your beliefs - do you believe that God loves you, will lead you, etc? Then talk about that. Let him respond - maybe tape the conversation - you will get a kick out of it later... so will he. You will be amazed at what comes out of his mouth. Children are wise beyond their years and often more perceptive than we are.

There is a magic order to the universe & life that our little human minds can never understand. There is great beauty in that.
You are making a huge difference by taking a step back and thinking about it before spouting off. Kudos.

Good luck!

Answer 6

Train up a child in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and when they are old, they will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6

You are free to believe in any religion you may choose. That is your freewill which is given to you by God. But be very careful that you aren't playing Russian Roulette with the soul of your son. Waiting until he gets older so he can make his own choice may just be too late. What if after being raised without religious instruction, he desides it's something he doesn't want or need? Where does that put him in his realtionship to the God that you believe in with all of your heart and soul?

Answer 7

Teach your child the facts, with an unbiased tone of voice, and let him decide what he wants to believe. He may be too young to make up his mind and you shouldn't really do it for him. As long as he has a good grasp of morals independantly from religion you're doing a good job.

Good luck.

Answer 8

Start off by telling him there's no Santa Claus. It helps if you have already conditioned him to believe there is one, or at least signed some presents "from Santa" in the past. Explain to him that other parents all around the world tell their kids similar white lies, only their lies are about a man named Jesus.

Tell him that all religions have something of value to offer, but that in practice they mostly hinge on one big lie. If you have a sharp eye for the truth, you can pick it out from the lies and benefit from studying any religion.

A saying that might help: "A man who has read many books is wise. A man who has read one book is dangerous."

Answer 9

You don`t need to emphasize the word what RELIGION is and where to join.
The basic thing is ... why there is a religion.
Religion are just ways to know GOD.
What differs is religions world`s way in knowing God.
If you do your own soul searching, what have you learned?

My advice to you is introduce the TRUE GOD (i.e. if you really know the true God) to your son.
True God means...wishing and doing only LOVE, PEACE, JOY, HAPPINESS, UNDERSTANDING, TOLERANCE, HUMILITY, and guiding everyone to everlasting happiness with God Himself.

other than these purposes in life...you may be talking with other god...so, better put your child to any sunday school for the beterness of his future spirit.

Answer 10

whats up i individually do no longer think of the worldwide became into shaped some thousand years in the past, on the different hand I take 4.3 billion years with a grain of salt. no longer that some time past an atom became right into a blob of raisin crammed pudding and then slightly photograph voltaic equipment, we had 3 states of count number and no vessel might ever wreck the fee of sound! With entanglement and understanding changing the probability of quantum states, strings taking into attention distinctive dimensions previous our 3 and possible different worldwide traces, I do see blurring contained in the traces of branch between technological awareness and faith. in line with threat the way understanding has been stated contained in the previous w/o the language of modern-day technological awareness leaves room for thinking its validity, yet I examine very historic writings with reference to the 4 components of Earth, Air, fire and Water and a primordial 5th that seems plenty like the latest super chilly state we basically in the near previous have stumbled on, and the invisible aether is calling so plenty greater like darkish count number to me. do no longer throw out the potential for understanding for the reason that's couched in historic language or inhibited by dogma. The logician's stone is probably no longer a hodgepodge of alchemical rubbish, yet some hint of something lost or waiting to be stumbled on, as might desire to be the secrets and strategies hidden in lots of historic non secular texts. do we declare closed minds abound contained in the non secular community, as quickly as we are only as closed minded with our very own faith of spiritless technological awareness?