Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 ··· 7 8 9 ··· 15 16

Original poster

To ask religious MIL to respect our views?

392 replies

Namedilema123 · 28/12/2018 16:14

PIL are Christians. DH is atheist. Im not atheist but not religious at all and find it all a bit culty.

MIL is always talking about Jesus and God to my 4yo and 2yo. She plays religious nursery rhymes when she looks after them. For Christmas has bought them a Childs First Bible and Child's First Prayer Book. How do i broach this subject? It makes me feel so uncomfortable. Its not so much the religion itself but more it being taught as blind fact, rather than just stories or that some people believe it, others don't. would be much happier if other religions were spoken about too. Or AIBU?

OP posts:

Bluelady · 30/12/2018 18:38

Yes. I agree.

MsChookandtheelvesofFahFah · 30/12/2018 18:54

If you live in the England Christianity affects us in ways that other religions don't. Because the Church of England is our state religion it seeps into our lives whether we want it to or not. Daily prayers in school, council meetings and the Houses of Parliament for starters. Bishops in the House of Lords, Archbishop of Canterbury ranking above the PM etc. Which is why athiests may appear to have more dislike of Christianity above others.

QwertyLou · 30/12/2018 18:56

@Badadadum @Florries I am horrified that you have been told something so cruel, so pointless and (according to my religion anyway) just bonkers and wrong.

My mom lost a baby to still birth (i.e. not baptised), we were so sad. She reassured us (as did various nuns and priests who visited to comfort mom and the family) that the baby was now in heaven, held and loved by Mary.

Baptism was no pre-requisite for heaven at all.. a couple of staunch atheists in our extended family are happily up there too now!

Badadadum · 30/12/2018 18:57

And state school are allowed to discriminate against on kids on religious grounds which I will never cease to be shocked by!

Bluelady · 30/12/2018 19:01

Can we have some evidence of that?

junebirthdaygirl · 30/12/2018 19:08

I would be interested to know if all the athiest parents will keep their mouth shut about atheism when their gks arrive. After all you wouldn't want to indoctrinate them.
I am a Christian, no particular denomination, and l would respect parents decision around their children. I do this with my gd.
But l wonder would an athiest would have the same respect if their dc married a Christian believer. Its difficult not to pass on your beliefs.

Badadadum · 30/12/2018 19:12

And not only that @QwertyLou we were threatened with press exposure by the hospital vicar if we refused to get a death certificate for ds's twin who had to be lasered off ds as it was killing him - ds's twin did not have a heart or a head, it was not a person - she tried to convince us that ds would resent us forever when he "felt" something was missing from his life - she tried to insist that we named it - newsflash - lots of twins die in the womb and not many people know about it...so she was spouting superstitious nonsense.
She used her religious position to bully us, the hospital had never encountered a situation like ours before and hadn't time to fight her but she made it very clear that the Daily Mail would get a lovely story about us if we didn't do what she said!
Fucking bitch rot in hell is my thoughts on her - what did she achieve a death certificate? All the upset she caused, she didn't give a shit!

MsChookandtheelvesofFahFah · 30/12/2018 19:12

We're athiests June, not some feral bunch of bandits screaming LIES, LIES when someone mentions God.

Badadadum · 30/12/2018 19:15

@junebirthdaygirl I don't share my atheist beliefs with my nieces and nephews until they are at least 16, I don't hide it my lack of church attendance and belief though - I don't expect my MIL to hide these things either .

PoutySprout · 30/12/2018 19:17

I would be interested to know if all the athiest parents will keep their mouth shut about atheism when their gks arrive. After all you wouldn't want to indoctrinate them.

Non-belief is the default. How can you indoctrinate kids into non-belief when they’re born with it?!

Subtlecheese · 30/12/2018 19:20

Don't let her look after your children if you don't like her entertaing them with her fairy stories

Badadadum · 30/12/2018 19:20

@ Bluelady Can we have some evidence of that? Which poster are referring to?

Purpleartichoke · 30/12/2018 19:20

Spend Xmas dinner listening to my family talk about getting sucked into the new mega church. Kept my mouth shut until DH and I were home and completely alone. If I can do that with adults, I fail to see why adults can’t keep their mouths shut with children.

BertrandRussell · 30/12/2018 19:29

A thing I don’t understand it why Christians don’t seem to be able to distinguish between learning about a particular faith and learning to practice a particular faith.

BertrandRussell · 30/12/2018 19:34

I don’t see why people have to keep their mouths shut around children. I explain my political beliefs in age appropriate ways, and my thoughts on many other things. Why should religion be any different?

flumpybear · 30/12/2018 19:35

I'd be telling her thanks but not wanted - then gift them to the charity shop

Bluelady · 30/12/2018 19:35

I was asking for evidence regarding discrimination on religious grounds by state schools - strangely the post directly above the question.

PoutySprout · 30/12/2018 19:36

Here in Wales the church spends a small fortune getting counter signatures to any petition which seeks to remove Christian worship from non-faith schools.

Meanwhile thousands are reliant on foodbanks and sleep rough. It’s the opposite of charity.

What’s the church so afraid of if it doesn’t maintain a grip on primary school children?

PoutySprout · 30/12/2018 19:37

I was asking for evidence regarding discrimination on religious grounds by state schools - strangely the post directly above the question.

Faith schools are funded by the state.

Bluelady · 30/12/2018 19:38

And? No silly face required.

junebirthdaygirl · 30/12/2018 19:38

Pouty if a parent is a believer they will just act with their children from an early age out of that position. If an athiests dc marries a christian who chats away about God and Jesus is that grandma going to say oh thats only a story or is she going to support the gcs parent?
Athiest are as much indoctrinating a child as they see a believer to be. There is no vaccum.

mumofblueeyes · 30/12/2018 19:39

It is all part of teaching your kids that different people have different views. Granny believes this, we believe that. Religion, Sexuality, Vegan or Non Vegan, Kids or no kids - the list goes on. Different people believe different things. At 2 and 4 hour kids are hardly likely to be reading the Bible word for word, so I would relax and use it is as an opportunity to raise the important topic of inclusion / acceptance.

PoutySprout · 30/12/2018 19:39

And they discriminate in accordance with fate.

Why evidence were you wanting?

Catholic schools - funded by the state - prefer catholic pupils.

And so on.

Badadadum · 30/12/2018 19:39

Faith schools are funded by the state I don't understand your question? Faith schools are funded by tax payers - is that what you are confused by - what do you want evidence on?

Bluelady · 30/12/2018 19:40

How do they discriminate?

Flip

1 2 ··· 7 8 9 ··· 15 16