Generosity in children, as ƒ(religious training)

Post #406,082 by Ashton 11/6/15 11:33:41 PM Reply	Generosity in children, as ƒ(religious training) Here. Links to source abstract. ie that 'Golden Rule' stuff? ... Surprise! ... apparently not as advertised. God wants selfish little brats? Still??
Post #406,161 by static 11/9/15 3:49:06 AM Reply	It was a little bit simple. It seems to have actually looked at an upbringing based in organised religion (which is not quite what their title says) but the sample size was not large enough to break that apart properly. Interesting comments from some of my friends: https://www.facebook.com/wadebowmer/posts/10207059597501871 Wade. Just Add Story http://justaddstory.wordpress.com/
Post #406,178 by Ashton 11/9/15 5:29:55 PM Reply	Re: It was a little bit simple. Implicitly, I think; you can't extract some new/illuminating Principle via such a broad brush, right? Still, via your link: another one [MurrayCampbell .net] contains I affirm the idea that religion can make people meaner and more selfish. This idea is hardly new, Christians have understood this since its earliest days, and it conforms to what the Bible has been saying since it was first written, millennia ago. As Tim Keller put it in The Reason for God, “Those who believe they have pleased God by the quality of their devotion and moral goodness naturally feel that they and their group deserve deference and power over others. The God of Jesus and the prophets, however, saves completely by grace. He cannot be manipulated by religious and moral performance–he can only be reached through repentance, through the giving up of power. If we are saved by sheer grace we can only become grateful, willing servants of God and of everyone around us.” According to Roman ch.1 religion stems from suppressing what is true, and creating and then depending upon things that are not true for meaning and salvation. Subsequently, it is unsurprising to learn that religion is largely about self-justification; it is the human attempt to persuade God and others of one’s worthiness and goodness. Religion is about doing things and saying things in order to win God’s favour. Even acts of kindness can be a cover for gaining approval and for feeling better or happier about oneself. In other words, we shouldn’t be surprised to find that religion can make people, even children, mean. Sharp? ..or just Slick?? (the perennial-Question on this Scale) (Personally I think.. most-all of our filters are broken re [all of our collected Capital-R/Relgion vignettes] imputing general characteristics of their adherents.) I'll take Door #4 and go with simplistic: among the 'kinds' of people are the Me-Me-Me perpetually-focussed. There are also varying degrees of the empathic {via any other name} who acknowledge their own primal Ignorance of {say} Where Me-Me-xx ends // and everyone/thing Else resides. (As re Consciousness itSelf..) I find that if I eschew the former and try to hang with the latter 'types' ... there are more endorphins. Anyone got a better litmus test than that? (I thought not :-) Another simplistic-dismissal option: all the ISIS and related 'forces' are simply the ID {a quite human invented concept} running amok as in adolescence; their AK-47 antics have zilch to do with anything remotely philosophical. We must do what we must with any pack of rabid dogs (or other creatures you cannot approach closely enough ... to 'cure'.) Rest case.
Post #406,198 by mmoffitt 11/10/15 8:25:15 AM Reply	My oldest daughter learned the word "Myze" at day care. She was four. She meant, "Mine", of course. I'd intentionally never used that word around her (nor did my wife). Even when she fed the VCR a peanut butter sandwich because she thought it was hungry, I didn't say in All American vernacular, "Don't ever do that! That is Daddy's and you should not touch it!" Instead, I had her watch as I took the cover off, showed the components to her as I cleaned them and explained that no one in the family could enjoy the VCR if she did that again. For years I've had this argument with people. Anyone who has ever been around a one year old with a toy ball knows that humans are born with a compulsion to share. The baby holds the ball, hands it to you, you hand it back, and so on for literally hours. The pro-Capitalist almost always retorted, "Yes, they give you the ball, but then they want it back!" My standard reply was, "Yes, they want it back because they want you to demonstrate you understand the importance of sharing as well." But sharing is an anathema to a Capitalist society, so we very early on teach our children the words, "Mine", "Daddy's", "Mommy's", "Yours", etc. Ownership is everything to us and teaching them those words sows the first seeds of greed - upon which our entire culture is based.
Post #406,207 by a6l6e6x 11/10/15 9:44:22 AM Reply	Hey, not only is it mine, it's bigger! :) But, be serious. When it comes to the body, it's important for kids to know what is mine and shouldn't be shared. Especially with a priest. Alex "There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge." -- Isaac Asimov
Post #406,208 by mmoffitt 11/10/15 10:28:48 AM Reply	Yeah, yeah, I was talking about inanimate objects. ;0)
Post #406,209 by malraux 11/10/15 10:39:06 AM Reply	Depends on the kid to a large extent as well My eldest is a bit of a narcissist, my youngest will share everything unprompted at the jaded age of 12 (hey, do you want some of my candy/cookie/whatever). They were both raised the same. Regards, -scott Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson.

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