My step daughters mother is wiccan, and evertime i try to pray with the child she screams and cries!?

Question

i dont know much about wiccans and i would like to think that they wouldnt make them fear God and christianity. the mother is not a part of our lives anymore so we are raising her as a christian. but everytime we try to pray with her she screams and cries.. she is 5 years old and ive never met a 5 year old that got so upset when someone prayed with them. she even freaked out when we said grace for thanksgiving dinner! HELP!!!!

Answer 1

I think it is a little strange to suggest that a five year old should exercise her personal preference around religion. She is too young to make any major choices in her life. If you want her to learn a religion you will have to raise her to have faith. I myself struggle with faith but we are raising our children in a church. They can be exposed and then choose for themselves whether or not to believe when they are old enough to make that choice.

I would be concerned about what she was exposed to that made her so scared. If it was not something that you did to or around her then I would be very concerned about what her mother exposed her to. Any religious ritual can be scary if you are not used to it. Why not join a church and expose your daughter to religious activities geared directly towards children? My three year old sings and does art projects about Jesus. She is really excited to be an angel in the Christmas pageant. Does she really get it? No. But she has fun at church and if someday she is able to find faith...good for her.

Good luck.

Answer 2

You are right in your thinking.... Wiccans do not put fear of God or Christianity into children. (ok well the sane ones don't but there are weirdo's in every religion)

You will know your step daughter best but maybe the step is to sit down and talk with her. I know it isn't always easy talking to a 5 year old but it is amazing what she can tell you. Try not to get to stressed out and don't push because it sounds like she might have been through a really rough time.

Maybe you can do something together that she likes and bring it up in a casual conversation. I know my 5 year old loves to color and draw... That would be a good time to bring it up and ask her how she feels about God. Be prepared though and don't get offended if she says something you don't want to hear. Let her know why you pray and what God means to you personally. Don't let the conversation be negative though. Keep it all positive and talk about the good, unless she is talking about what she thinks and feels because if she feels negative towards it you can at least get a better understanding of what and why so you can address her issues with prayer being said.

Many blessings to you and your family....

Answer 3

For many people, religion is not important. So they may have a hard time understanding that your religion or faith is important to you, and may not be able to give an answer that justly takes into consideration your desire for religious expression in your life. For me, a practicing Catholic, I do not and would not hide expressions of my faith, as long as they were not offensive or overbearing. I certainly would not feel like I couldn't say a prayer over dinner for fear of offending a child! :-0

If you are consistently kind, fair, and good to her, then she will have no reason to fear you or your prayers. She will come to see Christians as loving people worthy of respect. By all means try to figure out if she has some deep-rooted fear of God or prayer. If so, get her counseling for it, preferably from a Christian pastor, priest or therapist who will be sensitive to her fears and not exacerbate the problem.

If she is just being contrary, ignore her objections as much as possible, tell her she is expected to sit quietly and respectfully while the prayer is being said--the same as I would expect my Christian children to do in the home of someone of Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, or any other faith.

I'm not sure what you mean by praying "with" her. Are you expecting her to be an active participant or laying hands on her or some sort? Save that for later. God hears our silent prayers as well as those spoken out loud, so make the verbal ones simple and non-specific towards her, and fervently pray for her in the silence of your heart as often and as long as you want. And I'll pray for her too. :-)

Answer 4

Prehaps you should do some research into Wicca.

Most are not so called "devil worshipers" in spite common beliefs.

Of course there are rogue groups in any religion.

The research should help you understand the background this child came from.

I'm sure she is just having trouble adjusting to a new home, rules, life style etc.

Do the research, there are tons of it on the internet, and at least try to understand how the child has been raised so far. Maybe you can be a little more understanding of her abrupt switch in life style. She is just a child.

I am not wiccan, but have studied the subject and quite frankly, it's not what most people believe it is.

As for fearing God and Christians, just take a look at our history. I don't fear God, but Christians can sure put the fear in me.

How many Wicca covens do you hear about fighting wars in the name of God? How many "so called" Christian or other religious countries do you see fighting wars in the name of God?

You do the math.

Answer 5

my stepmom was the same way with me only im wiccan and my mom isnt. I felt very forced into things i never believed in and I became so depressed. She treated me very horribly during that time. The way her mother taught her is the way she feels most comfortable with. Don't force anything on her. Since she's so young, just introduce it to her slowly if you feel the need to do it that bad but don't EVER force her to believe in something otherwise. It causes a lot of problems on her later on in life. I went thru the same thing only a little older. Just try to understand her ways. Kids her age do not like change.

Answer 6

Maybe its the way you are doing it. Do you make a big deal of it? Are you (no offense) Holy Roller types? It may be that its simply not a part of life she is used to and it sounds like her life hasn't been easy lately so she freaks. If you were suddenly thrown in with a Wiccan group and had no idea of what they were doing how would you feel? Allow her to opt out of prayer until she feels she can handle it. People don't go straight to Purgatory for not praying.

Answer 7

As a believer in the left hand path, I'm not going to bash anyone's religion. However in my personal opinion I feel that it is wrong to force religion on children or other people. I feel that you should just not push the issue and let them be. When they become young adults, or mature adults they will be able to make their own decisions regarding this. Children do not understand the concept of religion. I know I didn't when I was a child. I was actually scared of it. Thank you.

Answer 8

you do not know what her mother did with her. There may be some problems here. Try talking to her and ask why it upsets her. Don't push it on her by praying with her but don't stop your normal prayers such as saying grace. You don't need to change your spiritual beleifs for her but do not force them on her when it upsets her so much. Let her come to God in her own time

Answer 9

Try not to force your beliefs on a 5 year old. Tell her that you say grace at dinner, but that she does not have to participate, and say your own prayers WITHOUT her. She obviously wants nothing to do with it, why do you continue to make her cry and scream over something like this? Show her religious tolerance, and see if she comes around, forcing her is just making her hate it even more.

Answer 10

I homeschool my boys. That being part of the reason. to no longer shield them from different religions, yet to guard them from bigots, young ones may well be merciless. i did no longer consistently shield them. yet seems my young ones have been getting bullied via associates? this may well be a small Christian city, yet luckily I particularly have been waiting to entice some pagans. My oldest needs Paganism as his faith. My 10yo. isn't particular, yet embraces gaining understanding of roughly all religions, and engaging in our rituals. The others are too youthful to care. I prepare them approximately Paganism. i'm no longer biased and could prepare approximately different religions while asked. I took religions training for this particular objective. Christianity is everywhere, so no problem approximately the place they are going to learn that. to no longer point out i exchange into raised Christian. so they are able to bypass although they please as long as they are no longer close minded. it particularly is my requirement.