Non-religious parent whose kid wants to go to church
Non-religious parents want to support their child's autonomy and decision-making while feeling uncomfortable with organized religion. The main difficulty is finding a safe environment where a child can learn about beliefs without being exposed to hate speech.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Allowing the child to attend church with a grandparent to see if they lose interest
- 2Explaining different religions and the concept of God in a matter-of-fact way
- 3Supplementing church visits with education about other belief systems and world religions
- 4Finding alternative inclusive and progressive spaces like a Unitarian Universalist church
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I guess I’m wondering what advice you’d offer, especially if you’re agnostic. I want her to learn about all religions and beliefs eventually I just don’t want her to attend a place that spews hate using the bible.. and that can be kind of hard in these area”source ↗
“We're not religious but if my kid wanted to go to church I'd let her because I want her to know that I support her being able to make her own decisions and I love her no matter what.”source ↗