lol, a godless child is a child in danger. oh no!

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Or fall for nothing (including religion).

She'll face those things regardless.

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I think you are missing my point, which is fine.

As I say..."an onslaught of negativity"

That is quite possible. But keep in mind not everyone sails the sea of dispair. Hence, no beacon of light is needed to find the way.

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Oh, c'mon. I'll agree that if you don't have some sort of moral compass, it's easy to be led astray. But nonbelievers aren't immoral, gullible fools. One's moral compass doesn't have to be rooted in religion.

At age 8, my daughter already displays better morals and judgement than many adults. Precisely, I believe, because from the beginning we never painted the world as simple black and white.

A foundation of morals helps, but it doesn't have to be religious. We teach our kids that good people are honest, helpful, kind, etc. We explain that good deeds tend to bring good things back on to the giver. We point out that the mean, selfish, lying kids have no friends or supporters. We set the example by always being truthful with them. There's not a single reference to religion.

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Ahhh, a good Buddhist background will never lead one astray!

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No, it's relevant.

Psychologically, there are two things at play:

1. Kids at some point -- usually between four and six, I think -- develop enough mentally to grasp the idea that the world may one day not include them. For most, this is a shock.

2. Balancing that is the fact that most kids have no real fear of mortality. 80 years seems like forever when you're five.

With our kids, the "what happens when you die?" question came up separately from religion. We said "Nobody knows. Some people believe there is some sort of afterlife -- that you have a spirit or soul that lives on after your body wears out. Others believe that when you die, you die. There's no proof one way or the other, so you should think about it and believe whatever makes sense to you.

The important thing to remember is that you have a very long life ahead of you before you have to worry about that."

They accepted that without getting upset. Lots of follow-on questions showed up in the next couple of weeks, indicating that they were thinking about it. But the questions were thoughtful, not upset or scared.

My oldest came to the conclusion that when you die, you're probably just dead. She also concluded that she didn't believe in God because there was no evidence for it. But she's the one who has now read her kids Bible cover-to-cover twice. So I can hardly wait for her to announce her latest thoughts on the subject.

We're pretty sure our youngest -- the strong-headed one -- has not yet really considered the idea that there can possibly be a universe without her in it. After all, *she* is the *center* of the universe.

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Scarred survivor of the April 2008 Mod War.

I must be a natural!

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Scarred survivor of the April 2008 Mod War.

For me you seem to be good parents, your child is lucky!

yeah, i remember when i first thought about my mortality, i couldnt picture it. still cant, really.

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Remedial English - Rule #2:

Always check your answers against Google search results.