crisi said:
My problem is actually that this is a BIG issue for us - because we aren't Christian. So my kids come home all the time with "Jesus is real" And I get calls from parents who want my kids to put a cork in it over the fact that we don't believe in Jesus as God. (Real, possibly, God, no.) I'm supposed to protect other people's kids from our families religious beliefs, but my kids come how all the time with theirs and they don't see anything wrong with that. Its particularly bad over Christmas. And its particularly bad this year, because this is the year of "the Santa discovery."
You may think characters at Disney has nothing to do with this - but there we will have to disagree. We do try and teach our kids respect for the beliefs of others - that is a basic tenet of our faith - but I will NOT discipline my kids in an effort to protect your children from the beliefs of others - because that is another tenet of our faith. Whether that is Jesus or Mickey Mouse.
Well, for what it's worth, we aren't Christians either. We don't believe in Jesus or God or go to church, and our son knows that. We've told him that we think it's a story, a nice story, but a story, and that, when he's older, he can figure out what he thinks for himself.
He also knows, and has been told MANY times, that other people do believe in Jesus, and out of respect for them, we don't go around telling everyone we meet that Jesus is a made up story. I can't control what other people say to him about religion, but I can try to control how he responds to it.
He also knows the correct names for all his body parts and functions - and he knows that they aren't things we yell out loud in a restaurant. We don't let our son drink soda, but we also wouldn't let him run around a restaurant telling all the people drinking Coke that it was bad for them. And, we're working this year on making sure that he smiles and says thank you even for presents he doesn't particularly care for at all. (One aunt gives really odd stuff.) To me, it's all the same thing. Sometimes you have to think of others.
I wouldn't take my son to church and allow him to run around telling all the kids in his Sunday school class that Jesus is a phony. I wouldn't take him to Disney and allow him to yell out to other little children that Mickey Mouse is just a college kid in a costume. It's all about respect for others. You geuinely seem to understand that - but you don't seem willing to give the same respect you're asking for.
He won't believe in the magic forever, or even for very long. It's a such a special thing. He still talks every day with stars in his eyes about how he met "the real June" (from the Little Einsteins) and how she LIKED him and made him breakfast (Hollywood and Vine). His belief is 100% at this point - and that's fun and amazing and it doesn't last long. I honestly don't think it's asking too much that he not have his 3 year old heart broken by the people standing in line behind us at the Happiest Place on Earth.
Someday I'm sure someone will try to push their religious views off on him, and I hope he will respond with a smile and by saying, "Well, different people believe different things," and not, "Jesus is a stupid lie."
I agree with Gem's posts 
