Question for Atheists and Agnostics

[Present]

I would just like to know how you plan to raise your children. ive always thought that a christian upbringing was always better this is for a couple of reasons.

1. if your child goes to a christian school and goes to church in their early years, they are taught values and about morality both ideas are highly beneficial to them and society in general.

2. if your child doesnt grow up to be as intellegent as you then they could continue to follow christianity and their beleifs would give their life meaning. also, much of lifes trauma is easier if there is a god who you can blame, or even pray to.

wadaya think?

 

[James R]

1. if your child goes to a christian school and goes to church in their early years, they are taught values and about morality both ideas are highly beneficial to them and society in general.

What makes you think atheists are amoral?

Atheists are at least as moral, or perhaps more moral on average, than religious people. Atheists base their morality on reasoned arguments, rather than on a fear that God might punish them if they are bad, or that they might not get into heaven.

2. if your child doesnt grow up to be as intellegent as you then they could continue to follow christianity and their beleifs would give their life meaning.

What makes you think atheists live meaningless lives? On the contrary, if there is no afterlife, then the single life we have becomes all that much more important, doesn't it? After all, there are no second chances.

also, much of lifes trauma is easier if there is a god who you can blame, or even pray to...

Is it? Bad things still happen to good people, even if there is a god.

Anyway, what do you want, comforting illusion, or reality?

 

[cato]

also, much of lifes trauma is easier if there is a god who you can blame, or even pray to...

it is also easier if you smoke crack, does that means its better to smoke crack than to be clean?

 

[Present]

What makes you think atheists are amoral?

Atheists are at least as moral, or perhaps more moral on average, than religious people. Atheists base their morality on reasoned arguments, rather than on a fear that God might punish them if they are bad, or that they might not get into heaven.



Anyway, what do you want, comforting illusion, or reality?

your right some atheists are just as moral or more moral then christians. however a good deal of atheists are people who simply dont care about what will happens when they die or where they came from (the just want to live in a way that pleases them). despite this, isn't atheism a tad hard for a 7 year old to swallow? why not be taught by fun bible storys?

What makes you think atheists live meaningless lives? On the contrary, if there is no afterlife, then the single life we have becomes all that much more important, doesn't it? After all, there are no second chances.

i meant to say, it gives their life meaning, in their own eyes. at his death wouldnt a christian expeirience the same fullfillment as an atheist?

Anyway, what do you want, comforting illusion, or reality?

its about your child, not what you want him to have.
its about what will make your child most beneficial to society and also happiest. either way.., if he stays a christian or becomes an atheist, whichever path he follows will most likley allow him to live at his fullest potential.


(this isnt thought out well at all..)
two scenarios.

in the case that he is highly intelligent and questions his teachings then he will become an atheist and seek to do the best he can for himself. at his end he will feel that he has benefited himself and society and die happy.

in the case that he is slightly less intelligent and doesnt question what he has been taught, he still has the moral lessons taught to him as a child. and at his end he will think that his life has been righteous and that his great reward lies ahead of him.

 

[Michael]

I would just like to know how you plan to raise your children. ive always thought that a christian upbringing was always better this is for a couple of reasons.

I'll raise my children to be whatever they want to be. Probably Buddhists or Shinto. I'm atheist so I would assume they'd eventually go that way.

As for ethics/morals. Most Japanese AND Chinese are very moral in a Xian way but not because they are worried they'll be punished by God, but because these are the values that their society upholds - as most do regardless of religion (or lack there of) anyway. Raise your child Xian all you want, I suppose if they grow up in Amercia they'll probably have sex at a younge age, before marriage, try drugs, ect...

and so what?

raise you're kid in KSA and they'll probably not have sex before marriage and not even drink alcohol.

So you wanna raise your kid in Kingdom of Saudia Arabia? You know, make sure they get those morals.




It doesn't matter if they are raised Xian or not, religous or nor, what matters is what they are taught is proper behaviour and what society they live in.

 

[QuarkMoon]

I would tell my child Santa Clause is evil, and that my child must perform slave labor for his father so that the evil Santa Clause doesn't eat him/her at night....

Uhhhh....disregard that, the FBI and George Bush might be reading. :m:

I would raise my child with the accepted moral definitions of society. Killing is wrong, it's better to give than to recieve, etc. As my child grows older, he/she can decide whether they want to subscribe to religion or not. The best parent, in my opinion, is the open-minded parent that allows their child to make decisions for themselves along with your protection and guidance.

 

[James R]

Present:

however a good deal of atheists are people who simply dont care about what will happens when they die or where they came from (the just want to live in a way that pleases them).

Atheists believe nothing happens when they die. They don't believe in souls, or spirits or whatever. As for where they came from - they came from their parents.

And as for doing what pleases them, I don't think there's any difference between atheists and nominal Christians in that regard. Do you?

despite this, isn't atheism a tad hard for a 7 year old to swallow? why not be taught by fun bible storys?

Aren't fun bible stories a tad hard for a 7 year old to swallow?

No child starts off believing in God. Nobody knows there is supposed to be a god until somebody tells them. Atheism is the natural starting point, then, wouldn't you say?

At his death wouldnt a christian expeirience the same fullfillment as an atheist?

He might very well. But fulfilment depends very much on how you judge you've lived your life, doesn't it?

its about what will make your child most beneficial to society and also happiest. either way.., if he stays a christian or becomes an atheist, whichever path he follows will most likley allow him to live at his fullest potential.

I don't see any reason why a child won't be of benefit to society just because he hasn't been fed "fun bible stories". In fact, chances are he will be more tolerant of people who have religious beliefs. After all, every religious person believes that all other religions are wrong except theirs. An atheist isn't choosy. He believes ALL religions are wrong, without favoritism.

in the case that he is highly intelligent and questions his teachings then he will become an atheist and seek to do the best he can for himself.

Why not skip to the end, and just bring him up as an atheist, then?

in the case that he is slightly less intelligent and doesnt question what he has been taught, he still has the moral lessons taught to him as a child.

Again, you assume that atheist parents don't teach their children moral lessons. You're wrong about that.

and at his end he will think that his life has been righteous and that his great reward lies ahead of him.

What if he's wrong? What if God doesn't exist?

 

[Mythbuster]

An atheist parent can easily teach ther child what is positive and negative in this life without using Jesus, God and superstitious nonsense fairy tales.

The bible is too dangerous for the kids mind.

 

[FallingSkyward]

Present:



No child starts off believing in God. Nobody knows there is supposed to be a god until somebody tells them. Atheism is the natural starting point, then, wouldn't you say?

No, atheism is not the natural starting point. The young child is devoid of original thought about the subject. She may get to a point in her intellectual development and ask, "Where did everything come from, daddy?" but from there, her mind is molded by the parents. The child neither believes nor doesn't believe in a God until the parent directs him/her.

Nobody knows there is supposed to be a god until somebody tells them, eh? Then why has virtually every society in the history of the Earth believed in some higher power? This remarkable desire to have life's questions answered by something greater permeates throughout culture, race and time. Indeed I'd say the starting point, once this thought process does start, is in fact to believe in a god, no?

 

[SnakeLord]

I would just like to know how you plan to raise your children. ive always thought that a christian upbringing was always better this is for a couple of reasons.

Wouldn't you be a better parent if you just respected your childs right to have their own beliefs and left them to it?

I remember the day I went to get my daughter's birth certificate. First the lady asked for my daughter's name, then place of birth, place of my birth etc. Eventually she said:

"what religion is she?"

To which I could only respond:

"I dunno, you'll have to ask her."

Anyone that thinks they can say what their child's beliefs are before they're even a week old is an asshole.

1. if your child goes to a christian school and goes to church in their early years, they are taught values and about morality both ideas are highly beneficial to them and society in general.

I have found that children that go to a religious school end up vastly intolerant of others around them that do not share the exact beliefs that have been rammed down their throats. This is the absolute opposite of morality.

2. if your child doesnt grow up to be as intellegent as you then they could continue to follow christianity and their beleifs would give their life meaning. also, much of lifes trauma is easier if there is a god who you can blame, or even pray to.

They still could if they wanted to. That does not mean you have to force it down the throats of young children. In the case of christianity, it doesn't matter when you find jesus, as long as you do, (they say even if that's on your deathbed), so what harm would it do to let your child get to at least 17 before teaching them anything concerning it, (and thus have the ability to discuss the issues as opposed to just being forced to accept them).

Then why has virtually every society in the history of the Earth believed in some higher power?

You mean those ancient societies where the people thought the world was flast as a pancake and the sun went round the earth? Thinking up invisible rulers would be quite natural for a people that didn't understand much about the planet.

Even up until quite recently people thought a headache was a sign that you had a demon inside you and so they would chop off your scalp. Until quite recently people thought there were witches and went about drowning or burning them.

We know there's no demons or witches, but stupid people don't.

If you take some time to look at gods, you'll see they reflect the environment. Egyptian gods were all crocodiles and jackals, Indian gods are elephants, South American gods were generally snakes etc. The activities of those gods was also dependant upon the weather.

I suppose it's why there's no god of the English - It would have to look like a badger or squirrel and would never have killed naughty humans with anything other than rain.

 

[Mythbuster]

"Where did everything come from, daddy?"

Easy, teach them evolution and physics. They will love dinosaurs

Parents teach religion to their child for many reasons.

- Easy Answer (Where Do Babies Come From ? Mom: god made them)
- Easy Education (If your a bad boy, little Jesus will not give you presents)
- False Friendship (I want to be your friend because it's an order of god)
- Easy Excuse (God eat my homework)

Any child will ask you, what created god ? and you dont know the answer.
He/She will ask infinite questions like:

Why god did this, why god did that ....? God did it, or did He......?

See what i mean ?

 

[purple_hairstreak]

The child neither believes nor doesn't believe in a God until the parent directs him/her.

So the child is basically agnostic. There's your answer. I won't have to tell my children anything. They already follow my faith.

 

[KennyJC]

1. if your child goes to a christian school and goes to church in their early years, they are taught values and about morality both ideas are highly beneficial to them and society in general.

What evidence suggests children need to be taught religion to learn to be good? Secular countries contradict this mistaken notion by having high levels of atheism along with a resulting good social health.

 

[Lemming3k]

I would just like to know how you plan to raise your children. ive always thought that a christian upbringing was always better this is for a couple of reasons.

1. if your child goes to a christian school and goes to church in their early years, they are taught values and about morality both ideas are highly beneficial to them and society in general.

I went to neither, but was surrounded by a christian society and christian people, i was taught values and morality by neither, and in fact became disgusted at the way they conducted themselves despite what they claimed to follow, religion has no bearing on morality, and whose religion would they follow? why not Islam? What beliefs of this religion? Some christians or muslims think gays are fine, others think they should be killed, what of abortion? Evolution? There are simply too many divisions of religion.

2. if your child doesnt grow up to be as intellegent as you then they could continue to follow christianity and their beleifs would give their life meaning. also, much of lifes trauma is easier if there is a god who you can blame, or even pray to.

My children will follow whatever they want to follow when they are old enough to understand and whatever happens they WILL be tolerant of every diversity, life can be made worse when you are taught about a god that does nothing to help and it can be confusing with so many different religions and different beliefs even amongst the same religion, if they wish to believe in god then so be it i cant stop them, if they ask me what i think i'll tell them, i'll also inform them of others beliefs, and the facts, then it is their choice.
I think someone already brought up that kids ask questions, and they will ask where god came from, and im quite happy to sit my child down and say that some things cant be answered and hope they figure it out for themselves.

wadaya think?

I think perhaps you could shed your one sided views of non believers? Or at least accept being religious doesnt mean better morality.

 

[Mythbuster]

1. if your child goes to a christian school and goes to church in their early years, they are taught values and about morality both ideas are highly beneficial to them and society in general.

MORE MORAL?

1)A Christian Scientist who prays over a sick child, or the Atheist parent who seeks immediate medical attention.

2)An Atheist who feeds a starving person because that person is hungry, or the Theist who feeds that person because he is commanded to.

3)A philosophy that emphasizes reasoning, critical thinking, and education, or a philosophy that exalts submission, conformity, and indoctrination.

As I explained earlier regarding the idea of eternal damnation: Any philosophy which ultimately must fall back on such techniques as personal attacks, threats and eternal damnation for non-conformity disqualifies itself from the sphere of acceptable morals and ethics and should be discarded as quickly as possible.

How arrogant and ridiculous! Why don't religious people see how absurd they can be, when they try to force others to believe as they do??!!

 

[spuriousmonkey]

1. if your child goes to a christian school and goes to church in their early years, they are taught values and about morality both ideas are highly beneficial to them and society in general.

I'd rather teach them real values and morals myself.

2. if your child doesnt grow up to be as intellegent as you then they could continue to follow christianity and their beleifs would give their life meaning. also, much of lifes trauma is easier if there is a god who you can blame, or even pray to.

I don't care how intelligent my children will be. I'd rather hope they will be decent and interesting people and have a reasonable happy life. And if they will ever go to church and become religious I will mock them for the rest of my or their lives. Because it is my duty.

 

[Starman]

An atheist parent can easily teach ther child what is positive and negative in this life without using Jesus, God and superstitious nonsense fairy tales.

The bible is too dangerous for the kids mind.

That is AWSOME.

 

[SkinWalker]

your right some atheists are just as moral or more moral then christians. however a good deal of atheists are people who simply dont care about what will happens when they die or where they came from (the just want to live in a way that pleases them). despite this, isn't atheism a tad hard for a 7 year old to swallow? why not be taught by fun bible storys?

Your kidding, right? I'd like to see you quantify the assumption that "a good deal of atheists are people who simply don't care about what will happens (sic) when they die...[etc]." Atheists and agnostics accept that this life is what we get. One chance. If there is an afterlife, it hasn't been demonstrated or proven, so there's absolutely NO SENSE in living as if there were. Thus, we live THIS LIFE to the fullest and we respect THIS LIFE and the lives of others. It is, after all, the only one they get.

Theists of the three main monotheistic cults accept, without question, that there is an afterlife -that they can move on to "a better place." THIS is considered to be an immoral concept by many atheists simply because it cheapens the current life by design. This life no longer matters and as long as you meet some minimum criteria (accept Jesus as savior, repent, etc.) you'll move on to "everlasting life."

Poppycock. Prisons are quite full of theists and disproportionately populated by atheists. One might be tempted to conclude that this implies that theists aren't worried about what happens to them in this life, as long as they ask forgiveness and repent before they pass. Personally, I think religion simply becomes a license to act as you wish because this life not "the place that matters" but rather it is the afterlife that will be that place.

You can go on and on about how religion provides morals and values, and I'll certainly agree. Not just of Christianity, but of Judeism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, the Navajo Way, and the Fulani code. This is because a segment of population came together and decided that certain rules are worth following for the better of society.

I ask you this: why is it not okay to commit adultery?

its about your child, not what you want him to have.
its about what will make your child most beneficial to society and also happiest. either way.., if he stays a christian or becomes an atheist, whichever path he follows will most likley allow him to live at his fullest potential.[/QUOTE]

I have a four-year old. She's a perfect atheist. When I say 'perfect atheist,' I mean that she simply has no notion of a god or gods or any theology whatsoever. Many people will say that "an atheist doesn't really exist," or "atheists have a belief to," but these are both untrue with regard to my daughter. She simply has not been exposed to any theology, therefore the concepts of gods don't exist in her brain. She is a-theistic.

But she knows right from wrong. Better in most cases than the peers she plays with. She has compassion. She feels regret and remorse. And so on. These are all human notions, feelings and concepts. Not theological ones. I chose to raise my child without the introduction of any particular cult of humanity. As she's older, I will educate her on the religions of the world along with many of their cultures and how they are related. But I won't imply to her than any one is more valid than any other. Indeed, I will challenge her to question that notion. If she should choose to follow the path of religious belief in her future, I won't prevent it and I will respect her. Indeed, should that unlikely event come to pass, it will undoubtedly make for lively conversation at the dinner table!

But I have not doubt in my mind that atheism and agnosticism is far more beneficial to society than theistic positions. It was theism and the belief of an afterlife that destroyed buildings in Oklahoma City and Manhatten. It is theism and belief of an afterlife that may very well drive our current crusade against Islam in the Middle East. And it is theism that is fast reducing the number of scientists that our nation's universities are producing and we will soon loose our foothold in the world as the world superpower in science and innovation.

 

[Starman]

The young child is devoid of original thought about the subject.

Why do you not teach your "Child" about the Death, Destruction, Atrocities, Hypocrisies, Genocide to mention a few, for witch your Religion is responsible?

Telling the truth will set you free.

 

[SkinWalker]

Aren't fun bible stories a tad hard for a 7 year old to swallow?

Knowing my daughter the way I do, I expect that the question would be something like, "Daddy, why did Moses want to rape the little girls? Why did he kill their mommies and daddies and little brothers?" I wonder if Numbers 31:1-18 is a typical bible story that you would find cartooned and laying around the dentist's office?