To think buying a Bible is not the same as forcing religion on a child?

[Popcornn]

For context: I am not religious, however I have always been of the mindset that religion is a personal thing and that it should be up to an individual to decide what they believe.

DD recently started going to a CofE school. She has been learning about Jesus and the Nativity and has always been a very curious child. She has lots of questions Christianity that I didn't feel qualified to answer because I didn't learn these things due to a very anti-religious family. So when I saw a children's Bible in a bookshop the other day I decided to buy it. My intention being to read through it alone first and then if questions came up again we could look at it together and discuss it. My DP didn't like this because although he agrees that it should be DDs choice, he feels like it's forcing it on her and that these questions could've easily been answered at school.

I want DD to continue to be curious and to feel comfortable asking these questions at home. I'll always do what I can to help her learn about the things that she's interested in, even if it's not necessarily what I believe. But DP thinks I've crossed a line. AIBU?

Although my family were all atheists I went to a Church of England school many years ago.

As well as religious knowledge lessons a few times a week, we had a religious assembly every day and went to church every Thursday morning.

I received a prayer book and Bible from the school, which I was required to use and be familiar with.

I suppose you could say I had religion forced on me at school.

Despite all this I am, and always have been, an atheist.

I consider what I learned about the Bible at school to be a part of my general knowledge and it does, as pps have said, come in handy when understanding a lot of literature and the culture of Britain.

Buying her a Bible so she can understand what they're teaching at school isn't forcing anything on her. If your DP doesn't want her to have a Church of England influence in her life he shouldn't have agreed to her going to a C of E school.

Most intelligent, curious people want to learn about the world around them. Just because she learns about something doesn't mean she's going to adopt the same mindset.

You don't need to read the bible to be able to explain the basics of Christianity.

I don't personally feel giving her the bible is the best way to educate her. She's very young and won't be able to apply context or critical thinking.

I think rather than expecting her to educate herself, you should educate yourself to enable discussion. That's the healthiest way to experience religion.

It's a book apparently written from real writings of long ago people that other people have chosen to believe is true. That same book has myriad versions of christianity based on it and I think bits of the torah and possibly quran also. Absolutely nothing wrong with giving it to her and continuing to tell her that she can make up her own mind despite the school she's in literally taking it as gospel Bits of it are interesting and the begats incredibly boring unless you're really, really into genealogy lol

Can I just say to all those saying if your DP has a problem with this then he shouldn’t have picked a CofE that in some parts of the country that’s all there is. I know the town I live in only has CofE or Catholic primary schools.

If you bought her a book of maths questions so she could practice her maths at home, would that be 'forcing maths on her'?
If she was asking a lot of questions about Jane Austen and you bought her a book to answer those questions, would that be 'forcing Jane Austen on her'?

She's curious, which is a trait to be encouraged. Why is she in a church school if DP doesn't want her to learn about Christianity and the bible?

I would go with an all round introduction to several religions first. Since she's at a c of e school she'll already be attending within some sort of Christian context.

So I think it would be more helpful to broaden her knowledge of religions in general first. A good grounding in world religions will provide her with an excellent framework with which to approach specific religions in the future.

So do the Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist and children of other religions go to these schools and opt out of the Christian education?

And before anyone jumps in I do know that all schools in England, no matter how secular they claim to be, are bound by law to teach some sort of worship (I can't recall the exact term). But schools which are actually labelled C of E or Catholic are much more honest about how Christianity is at the centre of school life.

I think it's fine to buy a bible to look at with her. It doesn't mean you are forcing religion on her, it's just learning about the world and what people believe.

Just treat it like any other topic a child asks about. Explore it together and find answers to any questions she has.

I would also expand and look at other religious texts/ stories like the Quran, Gita etc so she has some balance. Maybe even look at a book like this ("All Kinds of Beliefs"):

buuks.co.uk/shop/all-kinds-of-319858p.html?gmsp=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAv9ucBhBXEiwA6N8nYFSUVRaIQ4UiT7DbSmq9NUyjhjdLDBsXDcLWgOxRjfpTsvghfCTMvhoCh8EQAvD_BwE

I’m an atheist, as are my parents. I went to a C of E school as it was the only school for 10 miles. I have a good knowledge of the bible and I feel that knowing the stories is necessary to understanding so much art and literature.

Your DP is sending his child to a church school - he can hardly complain about " crossing the line".

This with bells on it.

I read a children's bible as a smaller child, than an adult bible around 10/11. (Fuck it was boring.)

I made it clear around 9 I wasn't going to Church.

One of my friends' read the bible as a teen so he could have theology arguments with Jehovah's Witnesses.

Depends whether they are orthodox or not. Most people have a 'religion' in name only in much the same way as people used to just plump for 'CofE' when asked their religion even if they were not actually religious.

I know when my DC were there a lot of the children with other religions didn't go in assemblies or if they did they left when it was time for the collective worship. They also didn't take part in church services or school concerts that took place at the local church.

I credit having a children's illustrated Bible alongside lots of other books of myths from various cultures with giving me a good nudge along the road to atheism. I could see it was a book of stories, just like those other books of stories. The different stories were clearly mutually exclusive meaning that they couldn't all be true - I came to the very reasonable conclusion that none of them were true. Some of the stories in my children's illustrated Bible were more entertaining than others, but there are some good ones in there. I did not like many of the characters and it was not my favourite mythology, but it is very helpful to be familiar with it as it gives you a real advantage in understanding so much other literature.

You need to know the Bible stories and what people thought they meant in order to fully understand many works of literature, art and music produced before 1900 (and in many cases after), and also to understand many historical events and philosophies. When I studied English literature at university we were all told we needed to own a copy of the St James Bible and be familiar with it.

I suppose you could say I had religion forced on me at school.
Despite all this I am, and always have been, an atheist.

Exactly. I went to a Catholic primary school where religion was very much part of the daily life of the school. I had decided by the time I was eight what I thought about it all. Parents should give their children more credit.

(And then there are the parents who are heartbroken when their eight year old works out that Santa isn't real. The insistence on perpetuating the Santa story is foisting a belief on children if anything is.)

Given that she is already at a COE school though, it is really just piling on. It will require careful context from you that these are the mythologies of just one of many religions.

CofE schools cover other religions. The one round the corner from me is my polling station, and when I've been to vote they've had work about Eid and a visit to a Gurdwara on display in the hall.

King James! If only there was an edit tool...

I think everyone should read the bible at some point. As others have said it's part of our cultural heritage.

Often the only schools in catchment are CofE. My child attended such a school even though we are not religious but it was the only school that they could get into, at the time.

So no, probably no cognitive dissonance there.

The "St James Bible"- I'm guessing you didn't follow the instructions then...

The Bible has great stories. Get her an adult version. In a couple of years she'll love reading the Song of Songs and about 'the young men from the East, handsome as young gods every one of them.' I had many bibles - I taught Religious Education - and loved them all. It's a storybook or textbook if you aren't reading it with faith, and even more if you are.

Lot's daughters. Onan. How often should a rabbi have sex with his wife? And a camel-driver?

Apologies, cross post!

Unless you are shackling her to the desk and making her recite the bible every evening before bed, then no you aren't being unreasonable. She can CHOOSE not to read it if she doesn't want to. Its not like you are forcing her to do something she doesn't want to.

That said, education is king in my mind. Nobody can ever be over-educated and if she takes something from it then great. Just lets hope it isn't morals.

You don't want a children's Bible-you want a book of Bible stories. Very different things.