Lying to kids about heaven.. why insult their intelligence? ?

[danot]

There was lots of death in my life as a child. I had a huge family and the elders were dying all the time.

 

I think I was pretty familiar with death from a very early age, and I think I'm a lot more balanced than others, who obsess over death and worry about it constantly.

 

I paid my first respects to a dead great grandmother when I was six and it really puts death into perspective. In a good way.

 

Earlier is better. But what you tell them - that's the interesting part.

 

Maybe telling them they've gone to "another place" (where there's no more pain and suffering) is the best policy. Then children can discover the details when they get older.

 

It's a tricky one, all right... Ultimately, it depends on the child.

 

My bold

 

I personally believe that some parents reluctance/inability to deal with the finality of death causes them to instinctively blurt out this twoddle to their children. Iv'e spoken to people and asked, do you believe in god?.... without hesitation they'll say, oh yes, I believe in god. When asked why they believe, it's always.... I dunno, I just do. I'm not saying they're wrong for believing that, I just think it's a little pointless.

[Karis]

Actually, everything I have said is about possibility - not fact.

 

And you're majorly generalising. We could change quite a bit in the next few hundred thousand years...

 

Evolution is a complicated beastie and saying we're the "greatest" again could be entirely false.

[Karis]

My bold

 

I personally believe that some parents reluctance/inability to deal with the finality of death causes them to instinctively blurt out this twoddle to their children. Iv'e spoken to people and asked, do you believe in god?.... without hesitation they'll say, oh yes, I believe in god. When asked why they believe, it's always.... I dunno, I just do. I'm not saying they're wrong for believing that, I just think it's a little pointless.

 

I don't really understand your point here, but are you saying you think ALL children of 6 could be told about death and that they would ALL react exactly the same way?

 

I think not!

 

Much care and consideration needs to be taken when informing your children of issues like these, and what's good for one child isn't necessarily good for another.

[[Matt]]

And if they need to deal with a death of a close relative before they can fully understand what's going on? They need to be told something.

I find the best way to describe death to a child is to use a simplified form of this quote often attributed to Mark Twain.

 

I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it

 

I simply ask them if they can remember what it was like before they were born and go on to explain that someone has died has returned to that state of non existence using simple terms.

[danot]

Read the post, I said Human life, of which there is no possibility anywhere else.

You are unique, like it or not.

Whatever you do in your life, you are responsible for, no one else.

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by human. What I mean is, should there be an advanced life-form that has evolved(yes I said evolved) over many thousands of years from the form that "we" know as being human, would they still be human?. Furthermore, I take full responsibility for all my actions, as do my children.

[danot]

What has made you decide on your opinion?

Surely it is by calm thinking analysis of what you see around you.

Don't be told what to think, for along that road is disaster.

This I completely agree with. I believe in what I can see, touch , taste , smell, hear..... nothing else influences me.. how about you?

[danot]

I don't really understand your point here, but are you saying you think ALL children of 6 could be told about death and that they would ALL react exactly the same way?

 

I think not!

 

Much care and consideration needs to be taken when informing your children of issues like these, and what's good for one child isn't necessarily good for another.

No, I didn't actually say that did I?. I suggest you read the post again.

[artisan]

This I completely agree with. I believe in what I can see, touch , taste , smell, hear..... nothing else influences me.. how about you?

 

That is how I come to all my conclusions.

But as Isaac Newton said, to see them, I stand on the Shoulders of Giants.

[artisan]

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by human. What I mean is, should there be an advanced life-form that has evolved(yes I said evolved) over many thousands of years from the form that "we" know as being human, would they still be human?. Furthermore, I take full responsibility for all my actions, as do my children.

 

By human, I mean you and I, and the other 8 billion of us.

We are the result of 5 billion years of evolution.

Nothing can compare to us.

[danot]

That is how I come to all my conclusions.

But as Isaac Newton said, to see them, I stand on the Shoulders of Giants.

 

My bold

 

So you came to your conclusions about the almighty and the eternal after life having seen it?