What Should We Tell the Children?

Events such as the recent bombings in London throw up the question of what to say to one's children about such occurrences.

A few UK home educating bloggers have mentioned the matter of discussing these issues with their children but none, as far as I am aware, have explicitly linked the bombings to Islamic theology.

Some have correctly pointed out to their children that we do not want the bombings to hand the government the right to erode our freedoms any further, and that we will not allow the bombs to alter the way we live. Other HE bloggers have rightly hoped for the capture of the guilty parties.

But there is also a much less admirable strain that often runs concurrently and often in contradiction to these desires. Many have quoted themselves as passing on the relativistic dictum to their children to the effect that "Everyone has different views, and everyone is entitled to these views, but unfortunately some people feel that the only way they can get their views heard is through these violent actions." This view will only lead to confusion and perdition, since by stating that everyone has a right to hold any view they like, it is more than likely to imply to a child that these views are all equally legitimate. This formulation will also potentially imply that because people have a right to hold any view they like, they also have a right to express these ideas in any way they choose, since clearly one of their views consists of believing that it is legitimate to express their ideas violently.

As mentioned in Dymphna's Blog "A functional philosophical system must have an understanding of evil". We lead our children into an immoral maze of confusion and meaninglessness if we do not try to help them with this.