What do you teach your children about God?

[TheOracle]

This is taken from another message board. Someone was ranting that people who believe in a god or follow a religion are stunted and blablablah, the usual "religion is stupid" stuff.

I pointed out that religion was a type of philosophy, and philosophy is the study of problems. Religion revolves around curiosity and addressing the problems of humankind.

He kept arguing that there was NO reason for anyone to ever be religious in the 21st C. So then I got stuck explaining how religion can be useful even when one doesn't believe 100 per cent in the Bible or in God or whatever. I also had to stress again and again that religions evolve and change over time. I was thinking of this conversation I had with my son yesterday and I wondered how you guys handle the issue of "God" with your kiddos? If you are an atheist, do you say, "Believing in God is stupid"? If you are Christian, do you say that Jews don't believe in God? How do you all handle that?

(also feel free to respond if you are childless but your parents had that convo with you)

Son: YOU DON'T BELIEVE IN GOD?!
Me: I don't know if He exists or not.
Son: How can you be Jewish?
Me: You don't have to believe in God to be Jewish.
Son: But everything is about God.
Me: I don't think so.
Son: But how come you celebrate Passover?
Me: Because I believe in the Jewish people.
Son: But the Jewish people believe in God!
Me: Most of them do, yes.
Son: So how can you believe in Jews?
Me: Yuda, I know the difference between right and wrong because I'm Jewish.
Son: But God tells us what is right and wrong.
Me: He tells us how to treat each other.
Son: (panicked) Are you sure you're Jewish?
Me: Yuda, who tells you about Jewish law?
Son: My teachers.
Me: So God doesn't tell you about Jewish law?
Son: NO! But my teachers also tell me about God!
Me: I know.
Son: But you don't believe in God!
Me: No; I believe in Judaism. And most of the time, I believe in Jewish law.
Son: I won't tell anyone you don't believe in God.
Me: It's not a secret.
Son: Do you care if I believe in God?
Me: Nope.
Son: Do you care if I believe in Jewish people?
Me: Yup.
Son: What's for supper?
Me: I don't know yet...hey, Jude, do you believe in faries? [thinking of his love for Furn Gully]
Son: Yeah.
Me: Why?
Son: Because there could be fairies in the forest and I just haven't seen them yet.
Me: Makes sense.
Son: Do you believe in fairies?
Me: No, but I don't want to cut down their trees, either.
Son: Yeah, I don't think God would like that.
Me: I don't, either.
Son: You don't believe in God.
Me: Yeah, but I can still have an opinion on what God thinks.

edit* This isn't a conversation about if God exists. It's more of a conversation about how that idea gets transferred from one generation to the next. Mods, if you want to move this to "Parenting", that's OK. Sorry if I should've stuck it there!

WHY is this in debates? There's no debate here. It's an informal poll! wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwhaaaaaaat