laura@utcsstat.UUCP (06/16/83)
clearly, you either believe in some religion or you do not. If you believe in a religion I would hope that it is because you believe it to be the truth. (as opposed to helping your career prospects, in contrast) Then you must try to teach your children as much about this religion as you can and as they can understand since it is the true model from which they should base their decisions. (apologies to any religions which dont provide this role. I dont know of any but they may exist.) Of course, your children will make mistakes in this as in anything else, and you will have to try to correct them. If you do not, then you must make your decision based on another model, and I am (perhaps erroneously) assuming that skepticism and a periodic re-evaluation of one's beliefs combined with the ability and desire to see out new information will be the model. This is what you should be teaching your children, and the evaluation of religion XXX should be an excellent way to discuss why people make certain types of logic errors. Please do not teach them prejudice along the way, make them compassionate for those who do not see things as clearly as they. In either case, you will be trying to teach your children what you think is right, which is all you can do. If by chance your religious beliefs/unbeliefs change while your children are growing up then they will get an excellent lesson on how daddy (like other people and themselves some day) can be wrong (or at least think that they have been wrong) and what people have to do in the course of adjusting their lives and attitudes to new beliefs (unbeliefs). Laura Creighton utzoo!utcsstat!laura