(no subject)

[lisamoe]

So Dingo has met this little boy who is pretty much his best friend. They met at a homeschool group. They get on the phone and talk while they play Wizard 101 and they call each other to chat and sometimes go do things together. The mom seems really nice but I don't know her well. So today she called and asked if Davey could go swimming with them later today and by the way could he go to church with them beforehand. I was kind of at a loss. She seems super nice and I don't *think* she was trying to lure Davey into her church so much as make it easier for them to get to the pool together, but I still turned her down with a kind of lame excuse and told her Dingo could meet the kid at the pool. I don't know what kind of church it is to begin with and I just don't really want him to go. The majority of churches around here stand for a lot of social and political stuff I don't stand for, aside from the actual theology. I still felt bad though, and don't want to hamper Dingo's friendship with this boy. Hopefully she'll realize that my stammering excuse was a clue that I just don't want him to go and won't ask again. She doesn't seem like a pushy person and still seemed happy to have him go swimming...

Comments

[huggle-bunni.livejournal.com]

I am so not looking forward to those conversations... if she asks again, can you just tell her that you have a different view point and ask her to respect it? Most people accept that these days, unless they're fundamentalist of some form or another. I don't even want Gabe to take Vinny to church. I told him when I was still preggo that I didn't want Vinny in churches until he was old enough to form his own informed opinions. I don't want him shoved into a mold this young. Not looking forward to that conversation either. Hopefully she'll relax and not get all wierd about it. *hugs* hope you're having a good night!

[lisamoe.livejournal.com]

My late MIL used to ask to take the boys to church, and I went and took them with her a couple of times for Christmas services, but I wasn't completely comfortable with her church and I finally had to just say no. Fortunately the boys didn't like going, so it didn't feel like I was depriving them of anything.

[msbyn.livejournal.com]

Sometimes "church people" (I don't know how to phrase that:) are all about converting, but often times, they just are looking for convenience. Heck, in this case, she may be clueless as to the fact that you might not want your kid at church. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

The majority of Christians that I know (and that's saying a lot) seem to be mostly concerned with making sure they are getting 'their part' right. Which I ALSO don't know how to say right. I'll just say after several times of getting VERY involved in churches, rarely did anyone ever seem to notice when we left.

[lisamoe.livejournal.com]

Around here everyone just assumes you go to church, so I suspect it was no big deal to her, it would just get everyone to the pool at the same time and the boys could hang out longer.

Fortunately, the pool went well in any case and she didn't say anything else about it. :-)

[lisamoe.livejournal.com]

They go to Lifechurch apparently, but she hasn't asked to take him again. I thought Lifechurch was like church you could watch on TV but I guess they have services you can go to also. She did take him to that big day that Lifechurch rented Big Splash, but I don't think he got in on the baptisms in the wave pool, lol.

[msbyn.livejournal.com]

we went to lifechurch for a while... its where Sprite still goes. I think that's where she got baptized, actually:)

[jorjedatoy.livejournal.com]

I don't know how well new friends take a hint. Have you discussed it with Dingo? Do you trust him to be objective (or ignore completely) the stuff he hears in a church? Maybe he is interested in going or maybe he will just flat out say he isn't interested. And then you could even just say that he doesn't want to go to church, but would love to do _____.

Tyler has had many sleepovers where the family did church the next morning. In some instances, I arranged to fetch her early so she didn't go, but that is a pain. And in other instances, the host was my sister. Honestly, Tyler LIKES going to church. Ugh. Maybe I should have stuck to my guns on this one.

[lisamoe.livejournal.com]

I don't think one day of church is going to turn Dingo into a raving fundie, but it's also a sticking point for me, because he is a kid who takes what authority figures tell him pretty seriously. If I knew it were a more liberal church I'd probably have said ok, but I don't want him coming home having heard something that's completely against what I believe and me having to try to disabuse him of whatever it is. Both kids have gone to church a couple of times with family members or with friends who I trusted not to be taking them to some gay-bashing church or something, but they both said it was super boring.

Anyway, they had a good time at the pool and I suspect she won't bring it up again. She really doesn't seem like a pushy person. If she does I'll ask her more about her church maybe to see if it's something he could do if he wanted to. There are a couple of very liberal churches in town. And while I don't believe Christian theology, I'm not worried so much about that (we have talked a lot about comparative religion) as I am about the extreme conservative politics that issue from the pulpits around here.

[angel-ent.livejournal.com]

lol I wouldn't worry about Tyler liking church. She probably liked the fellowship more than the actual service. And if she really did find something valuable out of it - what is the harm? She is getting to the age where she will start asking questions about life and I am sure religion will be one. If she finds that she wants a personal relationship with God - there are worse thing she can do - such as become a Republican! ;)

[jorjedatoy.livejournal.com]

Tyler has actually believed in God for several years. I've always told her that it doesn't matter what others believe (regarding God, Santa, whatever) - only what SHE believes. I'm an atheist and her father was an agnostic... republican. <gasp>

But yeah, like Lisa said - I wouldn't want a pulpit spouting that gay is wrong. She has family that are gay. And Tyler does tend to believe whatever anyone tells her.