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Dancing Fire

Super_Ideal_Rock
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young adult childs? and,did your parents preached you?
 
My parents never preached theirs to me...at that age I'm not sure I would have cared one way or the other.
However, my 17 year old son knows where I stand. I havent really preached to him about it but he has asked
me questions while working on school projects. I think my 17 year old knows a lot more than I did at 17 :cheeky: .
 
Not really, but she has been exposed to my husband and I and basically shares them as most offspring do during the early years. All of it is up in the air though because I know I for one am going through a HUGE change living here in China. I am sure my husband is affected as well and I don't know where any of us will end up when all is said and done here...
 
no i do not and my parents didnt either :appl:
 
I don't have kids so I can't comment on the first part of your question. My parents feel pretty strongly about their democratic political beliefs, as do I. My husband's parents and he are the same way. Neither one of our parents had to preach their beliefs to us. We agree on politics and always have.
 
Nope. Never talked politics at all growing up. Not really much after either, come to think of it. Although I'm certain I chose my stances on issues based to some degree on how my mother saw things, whether we discussed it or not. It's not like kids don't figure out pretty quickly the approximate lens through which mom and dad view the world after all.
 
No preaching - and can't imagine why a parent would "preach" beliefs to their kids. I do come from a family that is interested in politics so it was discussed informally around the dinner table, Sunday morning,etc., so I'm sure there is indirect influence there, just as there probably is on many topics that get discussed as part of family life. That's very normal - of course if a child comes up with a different opinion, that's fine too - it's healthy and intellectually challenging to be able to form your own views and debate them especially at a younger age!
 
I wouldn't say preach, but we definitely talk about why we see things a certain way. They are free to disagree and choose their own
way.

In the family I grew up with, if you didn't agree with them you were stupid. I didn't agree. I would never raise my kids that way.
 
My parents always talk about their political beliefs, but I usually agree with them, so I don't mind. My fiance and I have the same political beliefs, too. We don't have any children yet, so I can't comment on that portion of the question. :)
 
No, I don't preach but my kids know where I stand and my beliefs are pretty firm. I want them to be informed so that they can make good decisions for themselves - regardless of whether or not they agree or disagree with my opinions. I feel very strongly about people exercising their right to vote - much has been sacrificed so that they have that right and I think they owe it to themselves and their country to be informed and cast a ballot. Sitting on the sidelines complaining will net you zip.
 
I have no kids but thought I'd add that my parents always appeared to me to be completely 100% apolitical.
 
I have no kids but thought I'd add that my late parents always appeared to me to be completely 100% apolitical.
The subject never came up when I was a kid or an adult.

I'm pretty sure they never even voted and were devout members of the largest political party in America, The NAA - The National Apathy Alliance.
 
My kids are in elementary. They're too young to understand but see books I read and have commented and so I am no longer leaving the books out for them to see. My DH was concerned about it...not because of my beliefs, but more because I was reading books that are NOT my belief system...curiousity about other political idiologies and that will confuse the kids and they may say something to friends and it could cause misunderstandings. Once a friend's son said some political comments to me that were obviously what he overheard from his parents and his comments horrified me.

My dad didn't preach to me but was vocal when an election came up. I don't remember if my mom ever said anything. She never became an American citizen so she couldn't vote. lol
 
DH and I both come from politically active families so it has always been a huge topic. That said, in both families (we're each one of 4 kids) we span the spectrum of political views.

Daisy has been on the campaign trail since the day she was born so I'm sure she will grow up very exposed to political topics and views but since DH and I don't always agree on things I doubt it will be one way of thinking. We are also used to arguing dispassionately - some of our closest friends are members of Parties that we would rather die than become members off and we can rail against each other across the chamber and then go out for dinner afterwards - so it won't be a huge issue if she doesn't follow our views.

Anyhow, we've already resigned ourselves to her becoming an evangelical Christian Socialist just to spite us! :bigsmile:
 
My parents and I never talked politics much until recently. In the past few years, it has become apparent that their views are MUCH different than mine (although we generally agree about the ultimate issue, just have diametrically opposite ideas how it should be achieved) and we've gotten into some hot discussions. They don't "preach" though, and we usually all have the good sense to stop talking when things get too testy!
 
My children are too young to talk 'politics' but I am teaching them right form wrong (obviously) and will "discuss" anything and everything when the need arrises. "Preach" is a strong word. I have always had open discussions with my parents about their views. I enjoy (and always have enjoyed) listening to my father's opinions. It helps that I find him to be one of the smartest men I have ever met. But I will disagree with him from time to time and that is when the conversations are most interesting.
 
I think if you 'preach' something you make your kids more likely to rebel (which a lot, maybe a majority are going to do anyway at some point. Some come back, some don't).

With politics also, things can change, which can make your people change their ideas. For instance, my dad was a staunch and proud Democrat and had very good reasons why he was a Democrat, which I totally agreed with at the time. However, since he has died, I haven't officially changed parties (still a registered Democrat) but haven't voted for any Democrats for quite some time. I find their moral stances on things quite disgusting and I won't support that with my votes. I also find that they have become extremely intolerant of other views. Or maybe they always were and I just didn't notice.However, I couldn't say I have become terribly fond of Republicans either. My general feeling most of the time when elections come up is that both choices are lousy and whichever party gets into office is going to continue spending us into oblivion while taking perks for themselves and making sanctimonious and hyprocrital speeches while cutting backroom deals that screw the public. Often on the way to the polls I have to remind myself that people actually died so that I could vote and it is a duty (because it is not a pleasure).

Neither me or my husband talks about politics really with the kids. They know where we are on moral issues, which is much more important than political issues to us. So far the results are that one son is staunch Republican who is conservative on every issue, one son is an equally staunch Democrat who is liberal on some issues and conservative with others and can explain rationally why to him this party is best and one son is too young to vote and hasn't made up his mind yet what he thinks. We respect the right of all our sons to have their own opinion and do not try to change them, though if they ask what we think, we will tell them. I do not totally agree with any of their opinions and they do not totally agree with all of mine, some of this is probably generational and some is just individual personality, which is how it is--we are people, not clones. I hope I brought them up to think for themselves more than anything else.

We have friends on both sides of the political spectrum, so far apart that sometimes they hate each when they meet, which to us is odd. I can't imagine hating someone for their political beliefs and I believe that people have a right to their opinion even when I don't agree with it at all.

The thing that I probably resent most about the current political climate is the way that many don't think that I have a right to MY opinions and make it clear that they don't wish to discuss or see if I have a reason why I feel the way I do about certain things, but just immediately start name-calling (which is something I honestly try not to do to others).

My husband is officially an Independent. Both of us feel that it is not out of the question that we would vote for Democrats again sometime (he also used to vote Democratic quite a bit but hasn't recently and also is disgusted with how things operate in Washington).

When I talk like this about Washington, I do not mean that I do not love the USA, which I do--and though I have visited other countries and enjoyed them (including the one I was born in, which was not here) I cannot imagine living anywhere else at all.
 
My father was very anti- anything. My mother was very preachy with good intentions. My brother and I were sent to a private Catholic school although none of us were Catholic, for a few years, simply because it was the best school in town. (The school in our district was 1800's gothic full of bats and crumbling, and was in process of being rebuilt). We'd gone to Baptist Sunday school and then attended Catholic services

. Honestly, that's the end of the road as far as my explaining goes personally. SO is Jewish and has similar beliefs and wishes as far as explaining. We like our beliefs to remain ours, period. Love learning about everyone else's in moderation, though. One thing I know is that I will NEVER judge another for his/her beliefs or actions.
 
Absolutely not.
 
^Umm, I don't think you quite mean that you will never judge anyone for their beliefs/actions. I agree its wrong to go around expecting everyone else to think and act exactly like you and even worse, not to attempt to understand why someone might think differently. But we all do judge others to at least some extent. Even if it's judging others for being judgmental.

If we get to the point where we don't judge anyone for their beliefs/actions, then we are like that lawyer last year (I know he HAD to do as a criminal lawyer and his statements probably dont' reflect his beliefs) who was arguing that his client had not gotten a fair trial because all potential jurors were prejudiced against his client when they heard about the crime, which was a planned home invasion in which they shot the husband, raped the wife and teenage daughter and then stabbed them to death and set them on fire? (I may have some details incorrect but the main gist is right).

I would venture to state that not only do I judge this person wrong for committing this kind of crime and for believing that he had a right to do something like this, but I also would judge anyone who felt that it was okay to remain neutral about things like this as having something seriously wrong with their mental processes or moral belief system or both. I could understand and accept that reasonable people might have disagreements as to whether or not the death penalty (if applicable in this case, I forget which state it took place in) might be wrong or right in this case or in any case--but I could not understand someone who felt that that they had no right to judge that the behavior of the criminal was way beyond 'inappropriate' or even 'unacceptable' and that some sort of punishment (in order to protect the rest of society) was necessary--and probably not jsut as a deterrent (although I would be willing to argue about sentences as punishments vs. deterrents also).
 
My parents didn't preach but they were so close-minded that it was irritating. Till this day, my mother has strong political "opinions" but doesn't really have anything to back them up other than their popularity.

We don't preach to DD nor does she really know where we stand on anything specific but we do try to teach her to be open minded. And the general attitude in our house is to each his own. The purpose was mostly to teach DD to be accepting but I think it's also made her feel comfortable being herself.
 
Does yelling at the television count? If so, I'm guilty. However I'm not sure that it makes a difference... All three of my children have different political beliefs, as do me and my three siblings. There are some interesting cross overs in terms of tolerance for some things, but we tend not to discuss politics or religion at family gatherings because it was long ago forbidden by my Grammy who prefers things to be significantly lighter - however it is difficult to suppress and there are a lot of under the table jabs, this is usually the result of my brother who began his political career as director for a senator (lower case used on purpose, I have no respect for any of them) and who is presently a lobbyist who recently ran for office (and won, but lost at the same time because his position was dependent on an annexation that did not pass).

Much more interesting is my the intolerance of other peoples' ill behaved children that all three of my children seem to have inherited from me... they were raised with the understanding that a certain expectation of behavior and manners was expected whenever they were in public (under punishment of death or severe bodily harm) and it's amusing to me that now that they're all grown, they get this clear look of disapproval on their face when subjected to ill behaved children - my fiance Valerie likes to point out that other people can see the look on our faces and apparently "the look" looks exactly the same on my face and my two boys which is kind of amusing. I actually got a text from my son while he was at the base commissary in Hawaii (USMC) that read "I think I inherited my intolerance of other peoples brats from you." This came out of the blue without any explanation, as do many such things come from my eldest son, upon further inquiry I determined that he was "observing" and "being subjected to" a band of unmonitored, unruly and rather destructive children running amuck through the PX as their parents shopped, apparently oblivious to their actions. The text was followed with video and the comment "I'd be DEAD if I'd acted like this as a child. Thank you."

So I guess my parents and grandparents can't take credit for my political beliefs and I can't take credit for those of my children, but I'll take credit (or the blame) for the way they behave in public as it is a direct result of how they were raised and they'd be more inclined to be "stoned to death" for spitting out food at the table (just witnessed a friend's five year old daughter do that during lunch at a restaurant without being reprimanded) than for being of a different political belief ;))
 
I would say my parents preached a bit, but I think I've mostly agreed with their stance as long as I can remember. Once I was a teenager I started understanding and getting interested in things more and then we would have good discussions. They never required me to agree with them or told me what I should believe, though I think it's pretty typical for kids to believe what their parents do.
 
I think that my dad has actually become a tad liberal, but he's still a Republican. My parents have never preached their beliefs to me, but we have talked about it. They gave me a great education so that I could formulate my own opinions. I plan to do the same with my kids.
 
I can't say much about having kids as I don't have any. But my parents let me make up my own mind, though they're democrats. For a long time I was republican. (yes they even still loved me regardless!) I'm libertarian as thats where my views and heart is, and they still love me.

I thankfully have friends from all types of religious and political leanings, different countries, yada, yada, yada. I wouldn't have it any other way. :bigsmile:

-A
 
Todd Gray|1302885097|2896947 said:
Does yelling at the television count? If so, I'm guilty. However I'm not sure that it makes a difference... All three of my children have different political beliefs, as do me and my three siblings. There are some interesting cross overs in terms of tolerance for some things, but we tend not to discuss politics or religion at family gatherings because it was long ago forbidden by my Grammy who prefers things to be significantly lighter - however it is difficult to suppress and there are a lot of under the table jabs, this is usually the result of my brother who began his political career as director for a senator (lower case used on purpose, I have no respect for any of them) and who is presently a lobbyist who recently ran for office (and won, but lost at the same time because his position was dependent on an annexation that did not pass).

Much more interesting is my the intolerance of other peoples' ill behaved children that all three of my children seem to have inherited from me... they were raised with the understanding that a certain expectation of behavior and manners was expected whenever they were in public (under punishment of death or severe bodily harm) and it's amusing to me that now that they're all grown, they get this clear look of disapproval on their face when subjected to ill behaved children - my fiance Valerie likes to point out that other people can see the look on our faces and apparently "the look" looks exactly the same on my face and my two boys which is kind of amusing. I actually got a text from my son while he was at the base commissary in Hawaii (USMC) that read "I think I inherited my intolerance of other peoples brats from you." This came out of the blue without any explanation, as do many such things come from my eldest son, upon further inquiry I determined that he was "observing" and "being subjected to" a band of unmonitored, unruly and rather destructive children running amuck through the PX as their parents shopped, apparently oblivious to their actions. The text was followed with video and the comment "I'd be DEAD if I'd acted like this as a child. Thank you."

So I guess my parents and grandparents can't take credit for my political beliefs and I can't take credit for those of my children, but I'll take credit (or the blame) for the way they behave in public as it is a direct result of how they were raised and they'd be more inclined to be "stoned to death" for spitting out food at the table (just witnessed a friend's five year old daughter do that during lunch at a restaurant without being reprimanded) than for being of a different political belief ;))

I honestly busted out laughing at this post, the whole thing, but especially "the look". OMG. Even though I don't have children I found I too inherited "the look". My mother's "death" threat - empty but I think I always had just a smidge of doubt - was "I'm going to beat you black and blue!", but her stuff was overwhelmingly done with the look. And years later, a good friend's kids would actually ask ME (not their own mother) if they could do something. Once, she offered to take them for icecream if they wanted one night, and although I don't recall why, I must have been wearing the look...one daughter looked at ME with an uncertain look and asked, "well..umm...CAN we?" I just had to laugh. I told my mom about it, and she was quite tickled. "I'm so proud you inherited "the look" honey!!" ;))

My husband didn't get just the look, he also got the finger-wiggle from his dad. First time was a warning. If the finger wiggled twice, you were really pushing it. And the third time the class ring, which had been turned OVER by the previous 2 finger-wiggles, came down hard on the top of the head. He only ran it out to the end once -that was all it took. Sure honed his powers of observation tho.
 
In my case?? It's the opposite, they preach to me. They are straight republicans and cannot believe I voted for Obama...
 
Kaleigh|1302915920|2897438 said:
In my case?? It's the opposite, they preach to me. They are straight republicans and cannot believe I voted for Obama...
:appl: :lol:
 
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