Buddhism being forced upon my half Thai daughter..,.

[EyesWideOpen]

PMNL

"Buddhism is not about donation...."

Wow that is a bit of bad news for the temples collecting millions of baht

from the Thai people.. So you would advise everyone to stop donating ??

" Not about luck?" Have you ever actually been in a temple before ??

[bina]

of for goodness sake:

get back to the discussion and stop getting caught up in 'words':

the OP is worried that his kids are being forced to believe something he doesnt want them to believe without learning about it all first.

in actuallity, they most likely dont learn anything about buddhism but chant some chants and then go on to the rest of the day.

as a child i had to say some prayer that i seem to remember to this day which is christian in nature. at some point america stopped with hte prayers in school so i stopped having to say it.. it was just an anoyance and certainly didint turn me in to a christian (and my parents' jewish ethical beliefs infiltrated strongly but didnt last, since, although i am in israel, i am buddhist with jewish CULTURAL practices (rosh hashana etc w/o god being involved and mostly with out the halacha being invloved as well).

mixed race/ethnic group kids/ mixed culture are a bit different.

mixed race means that genetically speaking the kids will have to test for several sets of recessive and dominant genes when marrying since genetically they will hvae the mix from their biological parents. in other words it is dna.

mixed cultural means that the kids will have to synthesize their beliefs and actions based on what they learn from both nurturing parents (or three if they ahve more then one or two) and also from what they are exposed to in school /internet/home/grandparents/friends houses. it is learned and not dna.

but in general terms most people understand what is meant regardless of the fine and hard differences in term (nomenclature i think is hte english term although my english seems ot be deteriorating rapidly).

and stop the personal diatgribes and jives

[alex88]

At least they aren't Christians. I wouldn't want Christians around my kids, but Buddhists would be ok.

[gk10002000]

Thai education is behaviour based.

Western education is competency based.

The result is Thai schoolchildren spend a lot of time focussing on how to conduct themselves and their relationships with others. They tend to be poor in measurable competencies, such as arithmetic, problem solving, foreign languages, etc.

Interesting classifications and I tend to agree. Many Asian countries really stress behavior in groups, Japan for example. But all countries have that to some extent. JFK, USA president famous quote: "ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country." Pardon me if the quote is not exact.

[gk10002000]

I was "raised" Greek Orthodox here in the USA. All my grandparents came from Greece. Went to Greek school part time, went to church, half of sermon was in Greek so I really couldn't follow it. Sunday school was miserable, but they lectured us with picture books about things. I memorized of course the Lord's prayer. In retrospect, the education was not an issue. That was just a teaching. I didn't have to believe in it. But one thing that stands out was the "Creed". This thing a few pages long that I had to memorize and recite in greek. To this day I only remember the first sentence, mainly because of course as you memorize it, you always start with that sentence. But it said something like: "I believe in one god". Well, I firmly dislike parents or schools or any institutions telling children or forcing children to say what they believe in. I much prefer exposure and education and as the child grows let them decide what they want. Of course most parents are going to raise their children as they were and usually along similar lines. Most of you can understand how your friends or fellow church members or relatives would react or have reacted if you didn't go to church, told them your kids are not going to be taught the traditional way, etc. I happen to appreciate much of Buddhism, not necessarily the organizational kind, or forcing behavior. I like the peaceful, meditative aspects of it. The cause of unhappiness, stress, etc.

[zeichen]

"If a Thai family moved to America, put their child in an expensive private school, then

the school was trying to turn their child into a Catholic, they would be pissed off."

If a Thai family brought their child to a Christian School in America, then yes it would be strange for them to complain.

Most schools in Australia have some kind of religious education.

The majority of schools in Thailand have some kind of religious education. Even the Christian schools often have a meditation at least 1 time a week.

The national curriculum starting at P1 has religious studies. Buddhism is about 75% of what is covered and all other religions are summed up in the other 25%.

As for not wanting your child to be taught what other people believe seems like you want to hinder her social growth. How can you communicate fully with people if you don't understand where they come from or what they believe in.

You don't want your child to believe in any religion. That is your prerogative, however what if your child wants to believe? Are you going to tell her/him that they are not logical. That they are stupid for believing in something you don't.

I think you would be better off than denying your child that time in school for you to explain in great detail what you believe in. My daughter asks me questions all the time. I am not Buddhist by any stretch of the imagination but I still studied about it, read, learn and discuss with people. Same goes for many other religions.

I don't tell my daughter what to think just what I believe. She sometimes asks why our neighbors do this, or why monks do that. I explain why and then explain why we do not. If she wants to pray like them, why should I stop her?

Praying or meditating doesn't hurt us. You think it is a waste of time and that is fine, but so is watching TV, playing video games and sleeping more than what your body requires. None of those bring joy, lasting happiness or peace to ones heart. Faith does for many so why hinder your child if they desire it?

Instead of fighting the system or pretending that your education system is superior to the world, spend time with your child and have long discussions about what you believe in and why.

[talktomarty]

I'd be more worried about bringing my child up in Pattaya rather than being exposed to a bit of Buddhism

[IMA_FARANG]

I used to enjoy religious instruction at my old school. My old reacher and I had some very interesting discussions in class. Made me see what a heap of crap it was and turned me into a lifelong atheist.

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For a historical note...... the first two English settlers in the Jamestown colony in the U.S. to be shot by the authorities were two men arrested for treason and executed by the authorities for the crime of refusing to join the church of England which was required at that time.