RCC kids visiting Lutheran church?

[vocatio]

Thanks everybody. I feel more certain that the right thing to do is not to let my children go to the Lutheran church. I explained some differences and tried to explain the Reformation. It is already confusing to them that their dad isn’t Catholic. He absolutely agreed that they would be raised Catholic. Perhaps when their in their teens and have had a good dose of church history and a bit of theology, etc. My husband wasn’t raised in any particular denomination. He was a military kid so he occassionally went to what he describes as “generic protestant” services. He believes the RCC fails in teaching kids their religion so they would benefit from getting some generic Christianity taught elsewhere. He does take great offense at pointing out some doctrinal failings of Protestant churches. I assume that is just the way it is when someone is questioning and transitioning. Sometimes I feel I have to take control such as mandating Sunday Mass attendance no matter what, whcih he doesn’t understand.

What most Protestants and Catholics fail to realize along with you husband is that it is the responsibility of the parents to teach their children. You must learn the faith so that you can teach it to your children. And why not teach your husband all that you learn if he’s really thinking about RCIA. He could learn the teachings correctly and decide for himself if he will become Catholic. But his good intensions will do wonders of harm to your children. I’d recommend to even Protestants to avoid allowing your children to attend other faith bible classes, even Catholic ones. Why, this will only confuse them and could possilbly cause them to fall away from God one day because of the confusion. This is partly why it is important for everyone to recognized that unity is not an options…it is required by God. And since the Catholic Church is not the ones that broke we do not have to undo anything. However, since we all fall short of the glory of God we must always repent from our wicked ways. Brutally determined to get our own way.

 

[Syele]

1. Regardless of you own mindset, secular humanism is not a religion.

To be fair, I did say it depends on how its defined. But you believe what you like about me.

1. Guess what? I’m a 62 yr-old Catholic social worker. Over the years, my job has been to shelter and raise hundreds of throw-away children, usually in Catholic institutions. Presumably, you are a grown woman? So guess what again. There is such a thing as age-appropriate activity. Sending your eight-yr-olds off to Vacation Bible school might seem acceptable to one who imagines that secular humanism is a religion (because YOU say it is so).

No, I said it depends on what definition of secular Humanism You choose to follow. Your age and occupation mean little to me. The very idea of referring to ANY child as a “throw-away child”! It the worst term I have ever heard. I also do not care if its a accepted term by social workers across the globe. It is disrespectful of all children. You are dealing with kids who have no firm grounding to begin with and very likely still wont after they leave your care. Maybe that is the reason you think an 8 year old is not capable of understanding that people believe different things and cannot be given a firm enough grounding in their faith at home to recognize the teachings that contradict outside of home. A Catholic institution is better than many situations those kids could be in, but it is certainly not equal to a loving home with PARENTS. And That fact, is why an 8-yo in your care is not able to have a similar grounding in faith as one at home with their Catholic Mother and Christian father.

I’m so very grateful that you were not responsible for making any religious-education decisions for any of the children under my care.

If allowing my child to be taught that God is real and denying her to be taught that self is the center of everything and God is fake makes me evil and mind warping of children, then I’m happy to be evil and mind warping.

(BTW, guess what again. The first time your child leaves your home and discovers that secular humanism is not a religion, you will lose your credibility - despite your “good” intentions.)

Guess what, I teach my child to think for herself and I’m sure by the time she is old enough to understand what secular Humanism IS, she will also know that no two humans agree on 100% of everything and that She doesn’t have to agree with me for me to have been a good mother. I don’t have to be perfect to be a credible mother and teacher. I do have to be honest, provide what is needed for her and be loving.

To the OP: If your children do not have a firm understanding of their own faith and you are not teaching them daily at home what is right and what is not, Then by all means, don’t allow them to go to VBS, or another church, and definitely not non-Catholic school! Only you and your husband can really know what YOUR children are capable of understanding. I am a firm believer in TEACHING your kids your religion yourself and at your church. IF you aren’t doing that, then my advice to allow them to visit with people of differing beliefs will be bad, Young kids can understand but can’t process it alone, they need tools and guidance to do it. Every post I made I talked about talking to your kids about all they see and hear. I never meant to advocate leaving them with Lutherans for the Lutherans to educate!

But seeing as I have been voted off the island for being a child abusing freak… You can all rest easy as I am unsubscribing from the thread, If someone else wants to talk to me about it, there is always PM.

 

[JonNC]

The insidious notion is the idea that children “try out” another faith. I can’t imagine many (if any) Protestant parents lining up their own little 8-yr-olds to try out visit(s) to the Catholic Church or to attend a Catholic summer program. Can you?

Hmm, my son, when he was young, went to a Catholic school for a while. Why? Because we thought he’d get a better education in a Christian environment.

Hmm, my daughter strongly considered a Catholic college, and we encouraged it. Why? Because we thought she’d get a great education there in a Christian environment.

Just a thought; perhaps if we all exposed our children to the Christian traditions of others (as opposed to “try it out”), maybe our kids will grow up with more positive views about each other than many of us do. Who knows, it might lead to greater unity.

Jon

 

[thirdn6]

PLEASE TRUST MY RESPONSE MORE THAN OTHERS!!!
Do NOT allow your children to go. Lutheran’s are not like fundamentalits like I was. But it would be confusing. Your husband just fails to get it. This is one way how cafateria Catholicism starts. We used to “plant seeds of truth” in visiting children tying to instill doubt in their present faith. I chaperoned youth at our former Protestant Church…Trust me, if you’re thinking of doing this…then you are no better than the anti-Catholics recruiting your kids with “FUN!” programs directed towards children. I hear that Lutheran’s are dong the same kinds of things mega non-denominationals are doing to attract younger families. That is what we focused on for 17 years. I can still here our elders/bishops quoting statistics on how churches survive in todays secular world. Catholics are considered secular as are Lutherans, Methodist, put name here and they are all taught to be heretics or apostate with full culpability in tact.
Never do this. Not even if your pastor says its okay.

This is certainly what I meant in my previous posts. Take heed.
Very well, vocatio…

 

[JonNC]

This may or may not apply to the thread (I think it does), but this is a quote from the document, “The Church as Koinonia of Salvation;its Structures and Ministries”, a recent joint statement of Lutheran/Catholic dialogues.

1. We recommend that our churches recognize the real but imperfect communion among our ministers and encourage appropriate forms of pastoral collaboration between our ministries. Specifically, we propose:

1. that the faithful, in light of their common baptism into the people of God, engage together in catechesis, evangelization, peace and justice ventures, social ministry, and attendance at each other’s diocesan and synodical activies; and
2. that social minitry organizations, educational institutions, chaplaincies, and other church agencies engage together in activities that further the gospel and common good.

The full document:
usccb.org/seia/koinonia.shtml

Jon

 

[vocatio]

This may or may not apply to the thread (I think it does), but this is a quote from the document, “The Church as Koinonia of Salvation;its Structures and Ministries”, a recent joint statement of Lutheran/Catholic dialogues.

The full document:
usccb.org/seia/koinonia.shtml

Jon

I appreciate that, but no orthodox priest would ever concede to allow children to participate like this in a Protestant Church. There are so many good reasons not to. This document assumes that those Catholics engaging in such activities would be doing so on a common ground to start. Second it would not apply to an inocent child who does not have the mental, emotional or spiritual development yet to even know or understand what they are sharing. So you would need to understand with whom the Church really means. Children would not fall under this category. Children are naive and lack the complexity of adults required for sifting through this type of thing.