Autism, Religion and God

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Again, the people I'm talking about don't need evidence to claim they are right and everyone else is wrong...

Yeah, I know what you mean. I wasn't disagreeing with you. I just mean that I think it's better if they don't claim such things. It's not as if I expect that to actually happen, though, because I know many people who are fine with telling others they are wrong without evidence.

I have also noticed that evidence happens to be defined in a somewhat subjective interpretation.

Even when The Wright-Brothers demonstrated Flight, that was not enough "evidence" for the Denialists, for the Self-Proclaimed Skeptics proceeded to have News-Paper Head-Lines describe that demonstration as Fraud and Trickery, the article claiming that invisible wires were used to fool the public to believing in Heavier-Than-Air Flight.

I knew it! All those airliners and jet fighter, etc, are flying through the air by means of wires!

I was raised in an Orthodox Hebrew/Jewish home.

I rebelled and was a Hebrew school drop our before my bar-mitzvah
Rethinking it a few years later - I missed out on lots if gelt (money) & presents.
Today I read the old and New Testament. Our son is a believer but not active church goer.

I remember a pastor getting in a kid I knew to be one of us for coming out into the lobby insisting he (the teen) could sit through the hole service.
We talked and connected. (Me and the teen - not the pastor. )
The teen and his non were involved in an urban ministry outreach which was also more my cut or is it cup of tea.

Shalom--

Me also known as
Zvi

On one hand I think it's critical for any child your raising, especially one on the spectrum, to understand the cultural building blocks of the society they live in. On the other hand I also thing a child on the spectrum, who'll have lots of time to themselves in their lives to cogitate and reflect on all of it, will do the best job of finding their own answers to the big questions and that the best thing you can do is sort of take the Montessori approach and tutor their curiosities rather than push them in one direction or another. In that sense you might want them to read the bible, read the Quran, etc. for the sake of understanding why the world is the way it is, and if they're curious about why it works for some people they could research that further as well.

That's a really well thought out comment on this topic...

religion has to do with a lot more than faith and conditioning someone to believe in certain things. it has a lot to do with heritage and culture and community (and food lol). religious holidays, events, and ceremonies can be acted out with or without belief in their "truth" because of their additional non-religious meanings.
i think for religious parents its most important to just talk with your kids about what they think and what questions they have, and make sure to respond with "i believe" sort of statements rather than absolute "this is how it is" and "you should" type of statements. ultimately all of us, including children and autists, should have the free will to choose how we want to incorporate religion into our lives. as soon as a person can think for themselves enough to make decisions for themselves they should be given the freedom to question their religious standing as much as they are given the freedom to stay within their religion. and their beliefs and decisions should be treated with respect regardless of what the parents believe in. i think kids really just need to be given more agency and parents really need to be clear with their children that they have the right to decide the meaning of their own religious identity.

i'm so grateful my parents were like this with me because i love being jewish and participating in jewish holidays and in the community, but i don't have the faith and religious devotion. when i sing prayers i'm not actually praying i'm just reveling in the history of my people, our culture, our language, and the beautiful cantations of our stories and prayers. i realized i didn't actually believe fairly young but i never wanted to stop going to synagogue.

it really just comes down to treating children with respect for their autonomy, including urging that autonomy to exist. no one should ever be made to feel trapped in their religion.
ideally.

Parents are responsible for the upbringing of their kids, so they have the right to bring them up in a faith. Once the kid is an adult, they can make their own decisions.

Amen!

I am a Roman Catholic, and a former atheist, who converted to Catholicism after I finished my original Bachelor's degree in Physics and Math.

You have a right to make all sorts of crappy decisions.

I was raised in orthodox Judiasm (grandparents)

Then reformed Judiasm by parents.
I was what I called a social Jew. Passover cedars, bagels and lox , and Mogen David(aka Star of David- yes the 6 pointed star currently in the news)
Accepted Jesus in 1984
My wife is equally yoked and a wonderful person.
Love and prayers
me also known as
Zvi

True. ^.^