to Non christians only: I want to tell my niece that christianity is a lie, is there any good way to tell her?

Question

shes at the age where she thinks she knows everything, she stopped listening to me, and everytime i approach her about religion she runs off as if i said soemthing she didnt want to hear.

Answer 1

If she's at the age where she thinks she knows everything, she certainly isn't going to listen to you about Christianity.

Does she live with you, or with her parents? If she lives with you, it's sadly not your place to tell her anything. If I were you, I'd focus on finding some way to tell her she's a little brat who does NOT know everything and is going to get a rude awakening when she has to deal with the real world outside of mom & dad's house.

)O(

Answer 2

Well at the end of the day it is her decision as to what she belives in and her running away is probably because she doesn't want you to force her into changing her mind

I mean you obviously aren't a christian but how would you feel i you had someone trying to tell you that you had to belive you would feel as if someone was taking away your right to an opinion and telling you something false you probably try and avoid the conversation well the same applys to your niece

It is up to her what she belives you can give advice or your opinion and the information and facts so that she can make a well informed decision on what her beliefs are going to be

And in my opinion Christianity isn't a bad thing for your niece to belive in it does teach good morals and values which will benefit her in life so you should talk to her and find out what she belives and instead of trying to change her mind maybe you will learn something and most importantly you may learn alot more about your niece so respect your nieces beliefs and that is part of who see is and nobody likes to be told that what they belive in is wrong

Answer 3

Look, I'm all for making sure your child has no illusions, but I'm also of the belief that a child should have the ability and the right to make their own decisions about religion. I am not religious. I think agnostic is about the closest descriptor I can find to my opinion on the whole thing. But just because I think that way, I'm not going to force that on my daughter. In fact, when she gets a little older and more able to understand, I'm going to sit down and discuss the idea of religion with her, and see if she'd like to go to a church or a temple or whatever to see what it's all about so she can make an informed decision. Your daughter is not a xerox of you. You should be supportive of her and let her make her own way through life, while guiding her away from the bad decisions. If religion inspires a caring and generous nature in her, rather than condescention and spite, let her have at it. Come on, man. Chill.

Answer 4

Unless you are her guardian I don't think it's your role to do that unless she approaches you about it. If/when she does it's best to stick to the facts (some people believe this and some people believe that and here's what I believe and why). It's also good to mention that values and morals and having a personal philosopy does not depend on having a religion. It's also good to emphasize that before accepting any message through any medium on any subject it is good to (A) consider the source (B) consider the motivation of the sender (C) weigh that message against what is already known about the subject involved.

And a sprig of humility on top wouldn't hurt.

Rational thought is harder than it seems. We evolved to react emotionally to the world around us. And we tend to think rationally only when life gives us no other choice. Just as we can get angry at someone or at a situation without having thought through why, we can also feel good about something without having thought it through.

Answer 5

Far be it from me to butt in, but what religion was she raised? What religion is her parents? And if she runs away from you each time you try to talk to her, why bother? Also, what do her parents think of you telling her Christianity is a lie? That should be for her parents to decide, not you. By going against thier wishes, no matter how old the girl is, you're ruining your relationship with your family.

Answer 6

I don't know if you are an atheist or not, but what you are proposing is EXACTLY what people complain about christians doing - pushing their views and beliefs on others.

Which is exactly what you are proposing - you are going to tell someone that they are wrong in their beliefs. What kind of hypocritical numbskull are you?

When an atheist feels he or she is BETTER than religious people because they KNOW what the truth is - then he or she is falling into the same trap that he or she is accusing the religious folks of being.

Don't say anything to her. Let her believe how she wants to because that is right for HER.

FP

Answer 7

And it's your business, why? The faith that people put in something, whether it's a child and her Santa Claus, an investor in Wall Street, or your niece and religion, is personal and fills a void in their life and gives them a hope for a new and hopefully better way. It isn't up to you to tear down her beliefs. It's up to you to be her friend and a positive role model.

Answer 8

Poor thing. She sounds headstrong. I don't think you're going to tell her anything she doesn't wan to hear no matter how you try. Best thing to do, if she's being some kind of behavioral problem, is to talk to her mother, or if you have custody somehow get her to counseling. Otherwise (about religion) the gal's gonna have to figure out things on her own or not. Sorry I'm not much help, but kids and this day and age? Whew.

_()_

Answer 9

Easy solution: don't talk about religion.

Teach her how to think, how to find facts and to draw rational conclusions, something that is anathema to all religious dogma.

Make her curious about how things work: prisms and light, baking and chemistry, music and pitch (sound waves). And by simple puzzle magazines: a book of Sodoku puzzles will teach her more about how the universe works than any book of fairy tales.

You have to lead your niece to logic before you can make her think.


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Answer 10

Well, are you her gardian? I mean it sounds like this is really something that is up to her parents to talk to her about, not you. If she is at the age where she will understand things, maybe she has understood that she wants to follow christianity...and if she has it's really not your place to but in either way. When it comes to something as personal as religion, it's natural for people to want to express their views especially to the ones that they love, but you need to respect her thoughts and feelings and not push yourself and your beliefs either way.