I have an 'agreement' with my sister. I consider myself to be a Christian, but I must say I can't find the intolerance and hate of 'fundamentalist' christianity to be anything but presumptuous and contradictory.
About 15 years ago she decided to join the Christian Science movement. I had done some some research and in my opinion they used the word Christian in a misleading manner, and their beliefs were questionable. I decided to make my 'disapproval' clear and tell her if she joined I wouldn't speak to her again.
She had made up her mind, and she often sent christian science material to other members of the family, but knew not to send any to me.
I was at my grandma's when I said it, and s...

I have an 'agreement' with my sister. I consider myself to be a Christian, but I must say I can't find the intolerance and hate of 'fundamentalist' christianity to be anything but presumptuous and contradictory.
About 15 years ago she decided to join the Christian Science movement. I had done some some research and in my opinion they used the word Christian in a misleading manner, and their beliefs were questionable. I decided to make my 'disapproval' clear and tell her if she joined I wouldn't speak to her again.
She had made up her mind, and she often sent christian science material to other members of the family, but knew not to send any to me.
I was at my grandma's when I said it, and she was horrified. I knew straight away that what I had said was both stupid, and unlikely. I also told my Nan about the 'worries' I had about Scientology's practices. She just said that if she has found something that makes her happy, then I don't have to join, and if she has made up her mind I had no right to argue, or attempt to condemn her by virtue of what little I knew about Scientology. I knew she was right.
Since she has joined I haven't changed my mind about about scientology, but I haven't seen her unhappy, or that she regretted her decision. She has gained confidence that I have no right to qualify. While she has done things I disagree with. her sense of ethics has not diminished and has become clearer through self examination, and experience. I still have little time for scientology, and she no doubt has little time for what I consider to be Christianity. That is as much her right to choose as mine. Her behavior since has only made me more proud that she is my sister. I don't have the right to tell her about what I believe-she already knows. I never condemned her again, and have never since been been able to see my original statement as anything more that a display of theatrics, but she's never sent me any scientology pamphlets.

I'm not sure of this fits here or not, but I'll share anyway. It kind of goes along the lines of morality and the thinking that without god, morality doesn't exist.

This week my daughter had an awards dinner for the high school soccer season. She was selected by the coaching staff as most inspirational (that's not what they called it, but that's about the equivalent of it). They mentioned her struggling through injuries, her teamwork, integrity, etc. She was proud of the award and I am proud of her.
Her award was a necklace with a soccer ball and on the back was Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me."
Is this implying that she must be a christian if s...

I'm not sure of this fits here or not, but I'll share anyway. It kind of goes along the lines of morality and the thinking that without god, morality doesn't exist.

This week my daughter had an awards dinner for the high school soccer season. She was selected by the coaching staff as most inspirational (that's not what they called it, but that's about the equivalent of it). They mentioned her struggling through injuries, her teamwork, integrity, etc. She was proud of the award and I am proud of her.
Her award was a necklace with a soccer ball and on the back was Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me."
Is this implying that she must be a christian if she has all of these qualities. She's agnostic, I'm an atheist, and my wife is a recovering Catholic. Why would the coaches assume she's christian? Because she has these qualities? Do they think non-christians don't have these qualities? If they knew she wasn't a christian, would she still get the award?
She plays for herself, her family, her teammates, her coaches, and her school. Is she less of a player because she doesn't play for Jesus?
I think to her it kind of ruined the award.
On the front of the necklace, it says "Integrity, Serving, Excellence, Teamwork" all separated by crosses. I told her to be proud of the award, wear the necklace. All of those words describe her, and those words can't be hijacked by christians.
She's a good daughter and teammate because she wants to be a good daughter and teammate. Not because she'll be punished eternally if she's not.

laceym, I think a lot of this depends on if your daughter's school is public or private. If it's public, the award appears to be a violation of the 1st Amendment. If the school's private then all bets are off. Of course this all may be moot if you don't even live in the US.

I think your take on the matter is centered where it should be, your daughter. As long as we can talk to our children and they feel they can talk with us, the rest is details. If she's happy with the school and you're happy also, a few religious phrases aren't going to negate the spirit in which the award was given.

She's a good daughter and teammate because she wants to be a good
daughter and teammate. Not beca...

laceym, I think a lot of this depends on if your daughter's school is public or private. If it's public, the award appears to be a violation of the 1st Amendment. If the school's private then all bets are off. Of course this all may be moot if you don't even live in the US.

I think your take on the matter is centered where it should be, your daughter. As long as we can talk to our children and they feel they can talk with us, the rest is details. If she's happy with the school and you're happy also, a few religious phrases aren't going to negate the spirit in which the award was given.

She's a good daughter and teammate because she wants to be a good
daughter and teammate. Not because she'll be punished eternally if
she's not.

As I've posted before, ethics and morality are developed within, not imposed from without. Congrats to you and your daughter.