first of all if you don't believe in God, problem's yours, i don't want see you trying to convince me He doesn't exist.

second, i follow my own religion. i pray to God (i feel well speaking with Him) but i don't go to church at sundays, no (i would rather give money to a charity institution). and there's many things in the books that i don't agree with.
not everyone agrees
i hear people commenting about terrible things that priests did, hiding in their saint clothes, drives me mad :
[url=http://wwwDOTdailymailDOTcoDOTuk/news/article-2322497/Former-Archbishop-denies-cover-paedophile-priest-escaped-prosec ution-child-abuse-claimsDOThtml]http://wwwDOTdailymailDOTcoDOTuk/news/article-2322497/Former-Archbishop-denies-cover-paedophile-priest-escaped-prosec ution-child-abuse-claimsDOThtml[/url]
[url=http://wwwDOTguardianDOTcoDOTuk/world/2013/apr/07/catholic-priests-unmasked-god-boys]http://wwwDOTguardianDOTcoDOTuk/world/2013/apr/07/catholic-priests-unmasked-god-boys[/url]
my kids haven't decided which religion to follow. i surely don't want them to be catholic. but i really don't know what to do? should i force them to be like me? should i say them to stay away from religion (they don't need it to survive, after all)? WHAT?

sorry bad english.

What is the meaning of this?

Make sure they get a good, rational education and learn to think for themselves. From that point on, they can decide what to believe. Try not to force them, please :-)

Short: Let them follow their own hearts.

Longer: Speak of your own experiences and beliefs if you wish, but have them understand that there is not "one true path" and make sure to stay open-minded and respect their own choices (including if their choice is that they don't see a need to speak of it at all).

Good advice -- quite agree!

For my own part, I'm not sure that asking on a gaming* forum is the best course of action, but I hope you get an answer that satisfies you.

EDIT: Maybe I should have said "primarily concerned with gaming" since this is the general section!

What on earth made you think that a video game site where you barely even post was the appropriate place to seek guidance for a major decision like this?

Anyway, trying to force them to have the same religious views as you do is probably a horrible idea. Just let them make their own decision. Yes, in a predominately Catholic environment like Columbia, that might well mean that they drift into Roman Catholicism, but they're not going to start raping children the moment they're baptized, if that's what's worrying you.

I was raised Catholic, and it did absolutely nothing for me. I was "forced" into it (ie, given no choice), but as soon as I could get away from it I did.

For years I considered myself agnostic at best.

Now that I've had the chance to come to it on my own terms, I can say I do have a level of spirituality, but I'm not interested in organized religion.

Personally I think it's best if people make up their own minds. We ask an awful lot of our children to accept things that as "adults" we're not even sure we have figured out half the time.

Speaking as an atheist I've seen bad, good, generosity on all sides, so forth.

Let me tell you something. And this goes to everyone here who's ever lived, and should be a lesson everyone should take to heart: It doesn't matter the religion, so long as you treat all other people on this earth with respect regardless of who they are or what they dead. You don't have to like them, you don't have to be friends with them, but you should grant them the ability to be offered the same rights and abilities as yourself. What does this have to do with religion? Nothing really. I will say religion encourages certain viewpoints on people, but the hatred, the bigotry, the inequality shown, the wrong doings, to act that way is in full fault of the person.

If you want your children to grow up right, give them the choice to do what they wish, but encourage them to show respect to people, roll with the good and bad and take life in stride. Show them kindness out of earnest instead of out of obligation, or generosity is simply seen as a resentful act. And if they want to be catholic, give them that choice too, because an entire group should not be defined by the idiots that are most prominently known.

thanks man.

One of my favourite descriptions of sharing one's religion is that it is like "a beggar telling another beggar where he found bread". If you've found something meaningful that brings value to your life, that's great, and it's a kindness to share that with others and tell them what you've found and what it's done for you.

But if the other beggar says "Thanks, but I'm not hungry", you wouldn't grab him by the shirt and start shoving bread in his mouth. That's not kind, it's not holy, and it's not going to convince him to like bread.

(In case you think it's relevant, I'm not religious myself.)

i don't want your useless posts here. get out!

He has the same right to express himself as you do.

he has the right to offend me? since when? why are you defending him, by the way?