Questions for Cousins

This past weekend was packed with things to do! Time spent with family always proves to be interesting :smile:...especially with my in-laws.

We had some big windstorms this winter and in one of the storms, a tree was blown over in my in-law's backyard. So, we had told them we would help them cut it up and clean the backyard this weekend. Friday night, my kids went to stay the night. I was a little hesitant because of issues we've had in the past, but they have not been as pushy with their religion lately, so I thought it would be OK.

Well, it turned out that they had some Easter eggs they were going to fill for their church. My kids really wanted to help them and my fil thought it was a great opportunity to tell my kids the Easter story. I had told my kids in the past that Christian's believe that Jesus died and came back to life so they knew the basic story.

When they came home, my son told me that grandpa was telling him weird Jesus stories. So we sat down and talked about it and I asked both of my kids if they had any questions about the story. They wanted to know why god would kill his son...that doesn't sound nice. They thought it sounded strange that Jesus was supposed to come back to life because that just isn't real. Basically, they just weren't convinced.

Later that day, we were all working in their backyard and my daughter got hit in the eye with a branch. So, I ended up spending the rest of my day in the hospital ER and then cuddling with her at home. (She's fine by the way...she scratched her cornea and we have to give her antibiotic eyedrops every 3 hours, but she's not in pain anymore.) We spent Sunday jumping between birthday parties and then finished the evening at my in-laws again. So, I didn't really get a chance to talk to my son about his Saturday until this evening.

At dinner tonight, he told me that he talked to his cousins about god. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall!! I guess they told him that he shouldn't listen to us because if he doesn't believe in god, "god will burn him in a bonfire". Of course, this was scary to my son. I asked him how that made him feel and if that sounded like a nice god to believe in.
"No, that is not nice, I think it sounds really mean."

Then he told me that he asked them if they believe in Zeus, Hercules, and Buddha.

"Mom, they don't even know who those gods are! They think there is only one god...the Jesus god! Why don't their mommy and daddy tell them about the other gods too?"

Good question. I explained to him that that is why I teach him about all of the gods because when I was little I was told there was only one god too. I had to learn about all the other gods on my own when I got older.

Finally, he told me he asked them why they believe in god.

"They had no good reason. They just said they didn't know."

I'm so proud of my little skeptic :smile: It's interesting because I think they really believe they are doing good by preaching to him behind our backs. But, he can see right through their stories on his own. Luckily, he still tells us everything...hopefully it will stay that way for awhile!

I'm curious if my bil and sil have heard about the conversation that occurred. My only worry is that they will not allow their kids to play with my son anymore...he LOVES his cousins so much. That would be the most hurtful thing they could do. If they haven't already heard, they may soon because this evening my son told my mil that his cousins have no good reason to believe in god. She was more than a little shocked when he blurted this out. We'll see what happens..

Cross posted at my myspace