Do you think this is a disrespectful thing to do?

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My daughter (who is 16 months old) has that exact nativity set. She especially likes to carry around baby Jesus, Mary, and occasionally St. Joseph. They get chewed on, but she certainly loves them!

Edit to add: the camel occasionally ends up where the angel belongs on the roof, which makes a silly sight.
 
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I didn’t say to be overbearing about religion. Simply teach them the importance of the Nativity is all… Taking a lukewarm approach to religion with your kids leads to them falling out of the faith just as easily as children of overbearing parents.
 
I agree. I’m actually surprised, on a Catholic forum, people finding it OK.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
The “insights” I get from these types of threads often make me realize all over again why I don’t hang around with a lot of Catholics.
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There are Catholics . . . and then there are CAF Catholics. We’re speshul. :crazy_face: 😉

On a more serious note, never pre-judge Catholics in your community based on what you read here.
 
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Tis_Bearself said:
Most of the people I met who found religion abhorrent as adults were raised in a strict, no-fun, super “reverent”, lecture-y environment, rather than a loving one where the parents weren’t afraid to play along with a little fun about Jesus, Mary, Joseph and religion once in a while.
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I would agree too. The reason why many of my peers find it funny to degrade Jesus etc is because they would have gotten a good old whooping at home when they were children. There’s something about the whole ‘let’s never have fun’ attitude about their parents that makes it attractive to be a prick about the faith later on, i think. Maybe it has an effect on how the kids see God. Someone that’s quick to scold (and hence, 'deserves to be criticised and disbelieved) or someone with a sense of humour and love. Again, this is regarding things done out of innocent playfulness, not spite.
 
Lea101 said:
The reason why many of my peers find it funny to degrade Jesus etc is because they would have gotten a good old whooping at home when they were children
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I think that works both ways. There could be those who were raised in families where Jesus and faith is taken so lightly and made to be “fun” and kids grow up continuing that attitude, that they never take it seriously. I also know of kids who were raised in families where the faith was taken very seriously and not joked about and raised good solid Catholics.

With social media today it is very popular for teens to make crazy meme’s and jokes about Christianity, such as the one above, that IMO if they aren’t taught when they are young to have respect for Christ, it will be difficult to discern what is funny and what isn’t when they get older.

Also, I don’t think the person who made the comment about teaching respect had giving anyone a “whooping” in mind but instead using it as a teaching moment to show how a nativity scene is different than a toy.
 
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edward_george1 said:
And “Xmas” is a shortening based on the Greek spelling of “Christ,” and such shortenings are extremely common in Christian art and writing for centuries. Look at every Byzantine icon, and you’ll see “Iç Xç” written over the head of Jesus. It’s a shortening for “Jesus Christ.”
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Thank you Father for this explanation - I can still remember the shock on Mother Superiors face in early middle school regarding writing Xmas on our cards. “It is Christmas, children” - Mother felt society was removing Christ from our lives. And I can remember also being instructed by this same nun not to write on the card ‘have a merry Christmas’, because merry meant getting drunk, and we didn’t counsel others to grave sin.
 
Cruciferi said:
Personally, my children will enjoy the Fisher-Price Little People Nativity.
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I didn’t know one existed! Must check that out for my grandson, with Christmas fast approaching.
MagdalenaRita said:
IMHO if it is in a Church it is definitely disrespectful.

If it was done at home this would be a perfect opportunity for a teaching moment in the faith. If it was an older child playing a joke, why not remind them of the respect we owe to Christ and His upcoming sacrifice. Also, a good time to point out the difference between what is real and what isn’t. Star Wars vs the Gospel message.

If it is a younger child, and I can understand little ones sticking things in nativity scenes out of curiosity or wanting to play with the images, but what a perfect time to teach them about the birth of Christ, why the nativity set is even there and again what is true and what isn’t.
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^^Brilliant.
CathoRick said:
Simply teach them the importance of the Nativity is all… Taking a lukewarm approach to religion with your kids leads to them falling out of the faith just as easily as children of overbearing parents.
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So true. Know families in both scenarios (fervent practicing Catholic and one family who’d fit in the box of an average practicing family) whose children ended up not practicing the Faith.
 
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Welshrabbit said:
See what you did there, I did…
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Funnily enough, give Yoda a Welsh accent and the way he talks wouldn’t sound odd to a Welshman (I was born and raised in Swansea - Old South Wales as opposed to New South Wales where I now live).

We often tack the verb on to the end of the sentence. ‘Is Freddy in?’ ‘No. Down to the pub he’s gone’.
 
But it is widely accepted in European Catholicism, which is far and away a larger community than CAF. Even if there are only about two or three dozen Catholics left in Europe.
 
MagdalenaRita said:
Also, I don’t think the person who made the comment about teaching respect had giving anyone a “whooping” in mind but instead using it as a teaching moment to show how a nativity scene is different than a toy.
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I know, but they would have been offended by it. I.e. Not see the humour behind it. That’s their right though.

I think you can do the latter, and still find it funny tbh. It’s ultimately one’s personality regarding stuff like this.

There’s a middle ground imo. My parents would’ve laughed or crack jokes (like Mary throwing the first stone, or Jesus being sentenced to life imprisonment today), yet would’ve told us off if we see talk about God in a disrespectful manner.
 
Lea101 said:
I know, but they would have been offended by it. I.e. Not see the humour behind it.
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A sense of humor is a very good thing to have, though it is also important to know when to draw the line.
Lea101 said:
My parents would’ve laughed or crack jokes (like Mary throwing the first stone, or Jesus being sentenced to life imprisonment today),
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Never heard such things before.
 
Thank you for this, it does make sense to me too that intention matters.

I wonder if there are cultural differences here? Having my roots in Asia, I can’t imagine any elder of any faith tradition there tolerating their faith tradition’s version of the Yoda thing.

Heck, I could even easily see an interfaith group of elders going collectively slightly medieval (so to speak) on a kid who dared to do something like that.(kid= teenager or older, younger kids typically get a pass)
 
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I don’t think it’s disrespectful. It’s meant as a joke, and it doesn’t say anything negative or slanderous about God or Christianity. God has a sense of humor, so I think He can take a joke without getting offended.

Do you want your children to have a personal relationship with God, or do you want them to see Him as a distant authority figure? You can’t have both.
 
BornInMarch said:
Do you want your children to have a personal relationship with God, or do you want them to see Him as a distant authority figure? You can’t have both.
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Not a distant authority figure but, yes, an authority figure, in which one has a personal relationship.
 
BornInMarch said:
I don’t think it’s disrespectful. It’s meant as a joke, and it doesn’t say anything negative or slanderous about God or Christianity. God has a sense of humor, so I think He can take a joke without getting offended.
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I think it’s fine as a way to teach that Jesus came for all, but not as a joke.
 
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