Talking to Kids about World Religions

On New Year’s Day, two big stories made the news, one domestic and another abroad. The media quickly tossed around the words “terrorist attack” and then later, the Department of Homeland Security followed. It was my teen who asked how a terrorist is defined, which led to a conversation about religious extremists. Which naturally leads to a conversation about religions, their devotees, and impacts. 

Over the past thirteen years of parenting, I have spent a lot of time teaching my children stories from the Bible, but not just the Bible. I don’t read Buddhist texts or translations from the Quran; no, we read stories about people who live in different parts of the world and have different cultures from ours. When my oldest children were quite little, they watched their favorite movies over and over again. On these repeat viewings, I would tell them to watch them in a different language, typically the French or Spanish included on the DVDs and Blu-Ray discs. This exposure to other languages is an easy way to broaden the minds of young children. 

In first grade at their public school, my children were introduced to a variety of Creation stories, including those of local indigenous tribes and the Bible. Rather than panicking that my children would be taught something “wrong,” this became an opportunity to talk about the differences between our family and our neighbors. 

These things are the groundwork that I have been laying from their youngest ages, exposing my children to other cultures, languages, and stories. Now, with their growing awareness of the news, that exposure includes learning more about terrorists. 

As a parent, one of my values is talking about the hard stuff. Given my personal passions for both history and religion, I can bring a considerable amount of context to what it means to be a religious extremist. I tell my kids that such people understand the rules of their religion in literal and divisive ways. This kind of thinking happens in many Christian denominations as well as religions around the world. Learning to look beyond the loud, the crazy, and the fanatical, to the faithful, compassionate, and just, takes a skill that is not often taught and takes time to understand.

As I explained the definition of terrorism to my son, we also talked about the faithful. The faithful Muslims who always pray facing the direction of Mecca, the Jews who continue to observe laws from Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy, the fact that Hindus wear white to funerals and red to weddings. Religion and culture are often two strands of a rope that makes people who they are. We may disagree with the stance of other religions (Lord knows we have spilled blood for centuries over these matters), but we still believe that humans are made by God. We should not treat people differently based on whether or not their beliefs align with our own.

One of the other points in our conversation is the fact that we do not share the same beliefs as all other Christians. Even within our extended family, we encounter differences of opinion about our faith. Some family members are passive-aggressive, and others are more direct in their disagreement, even with their own children. I think cultivating curiosity in children starts with parents who are curious rather than judgemental. While many may seek to use differences as a source of division, we can look to our commonalities as a source of unity. Differences are part of the goodness of God’s creation, and when we learn about those differences we no longer see threats where there are none and instead see friends.

All that said, there are those who are extreme in their devotion. There are those who will see us as a threat and uninterested in reciprocating our curiosity. We cannot force others to change their minds and we may need to set boundaries around our interactions. We can seek peace as much as it depends on us (Hebrews 12:14).

My life has been lived under the long shadow of 9/11, a terrorist attack that shifted society in drastic ways. The undercurrent of terrorism is starting to be felt by my offspring. That is why I am attempting to train my children not to live in the way of fear but in the way of justice and mercy. 

Train children in the right way,
and when old, they will not stray.
—Proverbs 22:6, NRSVUE