To be miffed at school for telling DS Jesus loves him

[wwdorado]

DS is 5 and started reception at an infant school that is not (officially??) affiliated with the church.
Obviously I understand that this is a Christian county and they do the Lord's Prayer/grace etc learn about religion (s) but since starting school he has started talking about Jesus and God. All the time. He says he loves god and Jesus and that Jesus loves him.
Someone must be telling him this?
Is this normal?
We are both just WTF - both of us not religious in the slightest.

Someone tell me it's just a phase?

[DioneTheDiabolist]

You know your DS better than any of us OP. Do you think he is now a Christian for life?

[catkind]

That's not right. I'd be inclined to
a) complain and seriously consider removing from religious observances as they are clearly more evangelical than I would be comfortable with
b) get him the Bible
c) get him a book about world religions to go with it, preferably one with a section about atheism/humanism too
d) talk a bit more about religion in your family. I found information really helped my children to form their own views. Particularly helping them to label things and ideas and stories with the name of the religion they belong to. So if DC came home saying Jesus loves them I'd say "Oh do you think? Well that's something Christians believe. Do you know any stories about Jesus?..." Because when schools get too evangelical Christian beliefs start to get mashed together with teaching of general fact. Helping them label it lets them know that this bit is Christianity, it's optional, that bit is geography, it's fact. School should be doing that too, but from what you say I suspect they aren't.

I'm fine with it if my kids were to start believing in a religion if they understand what they're taking on. I'm not okay with it being fed to them as self evident truth and not differentiated from a-is-for-apple and 1+1=2, that's lying to them. Kids trust and believe teachers.

[Yabbers]

It really bugs me that the Church of Scotland has unfettered aces in our schools here but any other organisation couldn’t go in and preach. They do it under the guise of “moral education” and pretend it is non religious which is clearly rubbish. They run a lunchtime club, handing out sweets and chocolate 🙄

In her first couple of years at school she talked a lot about God and Jesus, we just asked her what they were about. Now she just says “Mr C was in to tell us fairy stories today” We haven’t influenced her, just let her come to her own conclusions.

[elephantinstripeysocks]

i cant see the problem with this, sorry . Jesus or Allah can love me all they like - doesn't mean I believe in them. Maybe explain to your DC that some people believe in Jesus, you dont, but if they like to believe that Jesus loves everyone then great. If it makes him feel uncomfortable though then thats a different matter and he is then to ask them to stop.

[Craft1905]

@WH!SPERS I hope Santa gave him what he wanted. Because I’m sure Santa believes in freedom of religion and belief. And Even a five year old doesn’t HAVE to hold the same interests and beliefs as his parents.

I have a sneaky feeling that if a Christian had posted that their 5 year old was coming home from school saying "Allah loves him " and asking for a Koran for Xmas, your response might have been slightly different.

[cherry2727]

That's great to hear! Glad that he is exploring religion for himself

[elephantinstripeysocks]

@craft1905 5 year old was coming home from school saying "Allah loves him " and asking for a Koran for Xmas

i wish that's what they'd asked santa for. cheaper than a bloody xbox and a shitload of harry potter lego they havnt bothered touching

[Pissedoffdotcom]

I have no problem with kids learning about religion - as long as they don't just learn about Christianity. And it is done age appropriately.

[Nanna50]

This happened with my son, many years ago age 7 he started coming home from school saying Jesus loves me and all sorts of info about Heaven. Religion was on the curriculum, it was the teachers beliefs.

One day when talking about something that was bothering him, he said Jesus will solve my problem. I told him that when he asked Jesus and Jesus didn’t solve it come to me and I would

It was just a phase.

[Pommes]

Oh gosh. We've had this - with bells on. My DS was convinced that lost relatives would be resurrected if he prayed enough!

However yesterday we had a breakthrough;

DS: "Mummy, do you believe in God?"
Me: "No darling, as you know."
DS: "Me neither."
Me: "Oh really, what changed?"
DS: "I pray but he doesn't answer me..."

He then explained further;

"...like I just prayed there would be no pips in my orange but LOOK!" As he pointed in disgust at his pip-filled bowl.

[DioneTheDiabolist]

Has anyone been playing Whitney Houston songs at him?

[Maelstrop]

Hang on, the OP has sent her DC to a non-religious school and he's coming home banging on about Jesus loves him?! I'd be RAGING! Honestly, OP, complain big time. OP has made a choice to leave religion out of her DC's education yet he's being force fed this stuff? Bonkers.

[tor8181]

you can send in a letter saying your atheists and any religion is not to be taught to you child my sisters best friend did this sept just gone

the only problem is the child(hes 5)has to be removed from events if religion is mentioned

he wasnt in school a week and he was coming home saying god is going to punish them by sending them to th devil to be burnt for their non believing and for not worshiping him weekly,now at 5 he was a young 5 and there was no way he would know these words unless they have been told to him,after her asking around a few other kids were coming out with it too,some were only just 4 so it was obviuos they wasnt making it up,they all went in and asked was it being taught in reception, the teacher was confused as the kids were saying it was coming from miss hope, theres was no miss hope in the class and religion wasnt really mentioned,they left it and the kids were still coming out with religious stuff so they went to the head this time and after questioning the kids 1 by one it turned out the 20 y old ta who was taking the kids for a hour of Forrest school was using this opportunity to fill their head with religious stuff via a puppet called miss hope

parents went nuts and police was called in and everything

[glamorousgrandmother]

It could be another child. I have experienced this as a teacher - a child telling another child whose dad had terminal cancer that Jesus would make him better. My DGS had a school friend try and persuade him to go to their evangelical church.

[Blackboot]

I'm not looking forward to this with DD. DH is very anti-religion. Should be fun.

[DioneTheDiabolist]

What did the police do tor8181?

[RussellSprout]

Reminds me of a birthday card I once saw that said 'Jesus loves you ' on the cover and inside it said 'everyone else just thinks you're a wanker!'

[elephantinstripeysocks]

a child telling another child whose dad had terminal cancer that Jesus would make him better.

that is heartbreaking for both children.

[Thisisit777]

Try not to be.

[tor8181]

DioneTheDiabolist

took her away and they heard nothing since

we were all talking about it for ages thinking what crime did she commit as the kids wasn't physically hurt and what can they do her for

[wwdorado]

🤔 hmm thanks for all your replies - think it's actually quite common then... I think we definitely need to facilitate some discussion with him about religion(s).

And he did get his children's bible for Christmas. I will also look at getting a suitable book for another religions as well. Kiddy Koran perhaps (his grandparents are Muslim)

[DoneLikeAKipper]

I think that the Christian values are a great thing to teach children just in terms of the way they should be acting.

I think it’s very sad that children (or anyone) needs a horrible old book to be taught how to ‘act’. Especially considering the apparent consequences if you chose not to follow ‘Christian values’. People generally know the difference between ‘right and wrong’, if religion ceased to be tomorrow, our values or sense of morality wouldn’t change. We’d just stop pretending it came from a higher power.

I’d be furious if anyone in an education setting pushed a religious agenda on my child. When will we move forward into the century we apparently live in, and separate church and schools?

[BartonHollow]

This makes me think of a couple I knew in my twenties and have maintained an awareness of due to curiosity value.

They were both religious when I knew them but to a fairly normal level

Combined they became freakishly religious extreme - I'd specify what I meant by that but it would identify them to anyone who knows them

Part of me has half expected them to feature in a MN thread one day

It's the exact sort of thing one of their DC would say to a friend and I'm in no doubt they are encouraged to evangelise in school.
That could be what this is.

I'm not surprised you're annoyed OP but if you treat it with as little drama and no big deal as possible it'll pass

[BarbarianMum]

People generally know the difference between right and wrong

Which planet are you from? Clearly not the Earth where we could feed everyone but nah, cant be bothered. Where violence and abuse of those smaller and weaker than you is commonplace, as is theft and deception and where wars are constant. Where we fuck up the seas for the convenience of wrapping everything in plastic and the climate cause we want more stuff than we can ever use NOW

[Echobelly]

I think it's just a phase when kids get all into the idea of God/Jesus. My kids are at a Jewish school and my son's come home saying that he wants to be Christian after they've learned about it at school!