Question:
Atheists, what if your child wants to become a Christian ?
Rinoa
2014-11-16 14:47:52 UTC
Recently atheists often complain that people are religious for no other reason because they were brainwashed in their childhood.
Therefore they wanna forbid Christian parents their right to educate their children with Christian religion.
So how would you Atheists react in a scenario like that:
You taught your children that being religious is wrong and a delusion. Nevertheless and despite your efforts to keep your child away from religion, your child grows up and still wants to become a Christian.
Wouldn't you wanna sue those who promoted Christianity to your child , thereby rendering all of your parenting pointless because you failed at preventing your child from being religious ?
Can you reconstruct now how religious parents feel when Atheists promote their sinful agenda already to their children, in order to bring them away from religion, ? Are you aware of the fact that doing so also undermines the natural bond of love and trust between a child and his/her parents ?
52 answers:
熊冰冰
2014-11-16 15:24:03 UTC
Well, I'm the non-religious child of non-religious parents, so I'll try to answer some of your questions.



>>Recently atheists often complain that people are religious for no other reason because they were brainwashed in their childhood.



I wouldn't use the word "brainwashed", but it's quite true that most religious people follow the religion of their parents, mainly because that's the religion they were brought up in.



>>Therefore they wanna forbid Christian parents their right to educate their children with Christian religion.



That isn't actually true. At least some atheists are opposed to the indoctrination of children, and quite a lot are against state funding of religious schools, but I've never met a single atheist who wants to "forbid" parents from teaching their children their own religion.



>>You taught your children that being religious is wrong and a delusion.



I don't think I'd teach children that. My parents are non-religious (functionally atheist), and my mother is strongly opposed to organised religion, but nobody ever used words like "delusion" to me. I'm actually pretty relaxed about the whole thing.



>>Nevertheless and despite your efforts to keep your child away from religion, your child grows up and still wants to become a Christian.



I'm not sure what you think life in a non-religious family is like. I wasn't "kept away" from religion. Religion happened around me. Our neighbours and many of my friends where I grew up were fairly religious Christians. I also had Muslim, Jewish, and Hindu friends and acquaintances when I was slightly older. It was the 70s and early 80s in Canada, so we still had some Bible reading and so forth in school. It just wasn't all that interesting to me, and my parents didn't participate, so I never developed any real religious beliefs or connection with a Church-based community.



The only thing that I'd really want to be different for my own child is the Bible in school bit, as I am very much opposed to public schools pushing a religious point of view.



>>Wouldn't you wanna sue those who promoted Christianity to your child , thereby rendering all of your parenting pointless because you failed at preventing your child from being religious ?



No. I hope that I would bring up a child capable of rational thought and conscientious choice. If that means that s/he becomes religious, then so be it.



>>Can you reconstruct now how religious parents feel when Atheists promote their sinful agenda already to their children, in order to bring them away from religion, ?



What is this sinful agenda we're promoting, exactly? My parents were pretty big on moral values and so am I. Christians knock on my door all the time to promote their religious agenda, but so far, not even one atheist has turned up.



Anyway, no, I can't. If I joined a religion, my atheist parents would still be my parents.



>> Are you aware of the fact that doing so also undermines the natural bond of love and trust between a child and his/her parents ?



Nonsense. This is nothing more than a rant about how religious people can't stand the fact that people don't agree with them. Srsly, you need to get over it.
Let Me Think
2014-11-16 15:10:55 UTC
I've never said that Christian parents don't have the right to teach their children about their faith. I think it's a mistake, but it's the parents' mistake to make. Furthermore, it's a mistake that should be made at home, in church, or in private religious schools.



If you found teachers in public school who were teaching that there is no god, then I'd have some sympathy for the ensuing lawsuit. Public schools shouldn't take a stand on religion at all.



If I had children, I would teach them why I believe what I believe, but I would hope that they'd determine what they believe for themselves. If they ended up believing in gods or astrology or psychics, I'd want to know that they arrived there as the result of their own reflection.
?
2014-11-16 15:04:12 UTC
Well, I have no children, I want no children and, as a gay man, I'm certainly not going to have one by accident.



The only thing I have a problem with is that religions are actively lying to children for the purpose of misleading them into believing something for which there is insufficient rational justification. Even if the Christians actually ARE correct, there is no good reason to believe what they believe -- just like there could be two-headed purple aliens living on Mars, but until someone shows up with one (living or dead) there is no good reason to believe the claim in and of itself.



If a child is presented with sufficient objective evidence, I would EXPECT them to align their ideas about the world to the truth that evidence supports. If Christianity had any such evidence, there would be no need of faith and there would be no rational way to be an atheist.
Casper Tellyson
2014-11-16 14:58:06 UTC
Murder it! I'm joking. Sit down and talk to him/her about Christianity and religion in general. Let them decide but make sure they the both sides. I was christian as a child because they Banged into my head while it was still soft, my mother just told me what she thought and as a child I used reason to decide. Let the kids do some thinking for a change but if they did choose religion then I couldn't care less. What business is it of mine what they believe in? Let them live they're own life. And of coarse I wouldn't sue anyone for my own problems and prejudices. Surely a loving parent wouldn't let a silly thing like religion or ideology affect they're relationship.
тιgєя.
2014-11-17 01:40:58 UTC
Then I'll support him/her. Part of being a good parent is being there for them despite not agreeing with the decisions they make or the life they want to lead. I also think that if I have kids, when it comes to explaining religion I would just explain that people have different opinions. I would explain why I believe the way I do, but ultimately the choice is up to them.
s k a n k h u n t 42
2014-11-16 14:55:21 UTC
First: No atheist wants to " forbid Christian parents their right to educate their children with Christian religion"



Second: The word is "indoctrinate" not "educate"



Third: Atheists do not teach their children that "being religious is wrong and a delusion". We just don't indoctrinate them into any religion.



My children are free to make their own choices as to what they choose to believe or disbelieve. Unlike a christian upbringing where you are forced to believe in a god, and punished if you don't.
Anne Arkey
2014-11-16 14:58:09 UTC
I raised my niece and my nephew. I exposed them to religion, and when my nephew expressed an interest, I took him to church and I educated him in the flavor of Christianity with which I was brought up. My niece is an atheist, my nephew -- who is gay, by the way -- liked religion so much he studied theology and is now a minister. He's not sure he believes in god, but he loves religion and feels it can offer a lot to people. Atheists have no sinful agenda, that is all in your mind.



But, let me ask you this: Can you reconstruct now how atheist parents feel when Christians promote their self-righteous agenda to their children, in order to bring them away from reason? Are you aware of the fact that doing so also undermines the natural bond of love and trust between a child and his/her parents ?
anonymous
2014-11-16 14:53:46 UTC
No. I wouldn't. If my child grew up and wanted to be Christian, I would support him/her. I I wouldn't teach my children that any religion is wrong or delusional. I'm not a Christian. I'd let my child choose for themselves which faith they want to be part of
bubblegun2448
2014-11-17 17:11:32 UTC
A 24-carat atheist named Jean-Paul Sartre wrote that is was much better to raise a child Christian than as an atheist. Atheists were too scared to allow a child choice; a child raised Christian had something to compare alternatives, including atheism, to. (Near the end of his life, Sartre became enamored w/ messianic Judaism.)
anonymous
2014-11-18 22:43:45 UTC
A good education will likely help a person avoid the delusions of religion.
tentofield
2014-11-16 14:57:54 UTC
Christians, what if your child wants to become a Hindu? Or Baptists, what if your child wants to become a Catholic? I suggest that atheists would be far more tolerant of their children taking up any religion after giving it due thought than Christians would be of their children changing religions. I would not cease to love my child because s/he wanted to follow a religion.
?
2014-11-16 14:50:53 UTC
"Therefore they wanna forbid Christian parents their right to educate their children with Christian religion." Source for that? Sounds like you're jumping to conclusions.



If I had children (I don't), I would allow them to believe whatever religion they wanted.
Aubrey
2014-11-17 23:05:18 UTC
A good education will likely help a person avoid the delusions of religion.
Paisley
2014-11-18 20:29:40 UTC
Christian parents are too scared of losing their own faith to worry about their children's beliefs.
anonymous
2014-11-16 15:03:38 UTC
A good education will likely help a person avoid the delusions of religion.
?
2014-11-17 05:27:40 UTC
Christian parents are too scared of losing their own faith to worry about their children's beliefs.
anonymous
2014-11-17 05:07:25 UTC
Christian parents are too scared of losing their own faith to worry about their children's beliefs.
?
2014-11-20 21:26:52 UTC
Christian parents are too scared of losing their own faith to worry about their children's beliefs.
Faith
2014-11-17 03:40:13 UTC
Christian parents are too scared of losing their own faith to worry about their children's beliefs.
?
2014-11-19 20:42:22 UTC
Christian parents are too scared of losing their own faith to worry about their children's beliefs.
Annabelle
2014-11-17 01:41:58 UTC
Christian parents are too scared of losing their own faith to worry about their children's beliefs.
God of Thunder
2014-11-16 15:43:51 UTC
Unlike Christians, I don't tell my kids what they have to believe in order for me to love and accept them.
anonymous
2014-11-19 08:02:53 UTC
Christian parents are too scared of losing their own faith to worry about their children's beliefs.
anonymous
2014-11-19 05:14:17 UTC
Then I would have failed as a parent
anonymous
2014-11-17 13:35:14 UTC
Then I would have failed as a parent
Nutty Professor
2014-11-16 14:54:12 UTC
Christian parents are too scared of losing their own faith to worry about their children's beliefs.
Khloe
2014-11-19 03:53:39 UTC
Then I would have failed as a parent
?
2014-11-21 00:28:29 UTC
Unlike Christians, I don't tell my kids what they have to believe in order for me to love and accept them.
Nolan
2014-11-17 22:57:09 UTC
Then I would have failed as a parent
anonymous
2014-11-17 11:32:36 UTC
Then I would have failed as a parent
Brigalow Bloke
2014-11-16 15:08:43 UTC
No child is capable of making long term decisions for itself. This is virtually the definition of a child.
?
2014-11-18 22:31:42 UTC
Then I would have failed as a parent
anonymous
2014-11-16 22:47:51 UTC
Then I would have failed as a parent
?
2014-11-16 14:58:15 UTC
You are trying to make a point off of a hypothetical situation and a straw man argument. Please give us some real material to deal with and explain to us why you think this is a mainstream problem we should worry about.

Since only 5% or so of people worship your particular Christian god, it is far more likely that such an unmanipulated child would choose some other religion or no religion at all. 1 in 20 would randomly agree to be your religion. But here in the US they mysteriously are "free" to choose Christianity an amazingly large percent of the time as opposed to globally.
Alexis
2014-11-21 01:11:43 UTC
Christian parents are too scared of losing their own faith to worry about their children's beliefs.
anonymous
2014-11-20 10:06:44 UTC
Christian parents are too scared of losing their own faith to worry about their children's beliefs.
anonymous
2014-11-19 23:04:37 UTC
Then I would have failed as a parent
anonymous
2014-11-19 21:07:00 UTC
Christian parents are too scared of losing their own faith to worry about their children's beliefs.
anonymous
2014-11-19 06:52:50 UTC
Then I would have failed as a parent
Genesis
2014-11-19 04:18:03 UTC
Christian parents are too scared of losing their own faith to worry about their children's beliefs.
?
2014-11-18 03:44:14 UTC
A good education will likely help a person avoid the delusions of religion.
David
2014-11-18 02:25:29 UTC
A good education will likely help a person avoid the delusions of religion.
1Netzari
2014-11-17 16:57:37 UTC
My Dad was raised an atheist, not in the manor of todays rabid atheists, he was simply told there was no god.

When I was in the hospital dying at 4 years old, he prayed "if you are really" save my son. That night in the ward where I was I saw a man I thought was a doctor, it was light around my bed and he smiled and put his hand on my head. I immediately felt better and started jumping up and down. The nurse came in and told me to lay down when I said that the doctor made me better, asked who. I turned around and he was gone.

My Dad died a believer.
Archer
2014-11-16 15:51:09 UTC
I do not wish to forbid my children from learning and then choosing on their own not only what they will be in life but also that which they choose to believe or disbelieve. I did not teach my children a specific but availed them information on all faiths and religions and variations of such that exist not only today but in the past. I personally am not threatened by someone's choice in beliefs or disbelief but then I am me and not all Atheists.
Still
2014-11-16 14:50:05 UTC
This is a good question. I dont have an answer being christian myself, but i find it very interesting and thought provoking.
Nevaeh
2014-11-16 20:01:33 UTC
Then I would have failed as a parent
anonymous
2014-11-16 15:01:57 UTC
No, i would have to kick my kids to the curb. being a christian is just as bad as being a homosexual. we can't have either.
That guy that did that thing
2014-11-16 15:08:02 UTC
Then I would have failed as a parent
Jem A'dar
2014-11-16 14:50:51 UTC
Don't tell fish with feet stories.
anonymous
2014-11-16 14:49:45 UTC
Reality is not a sinful agenda.



Sorry if that scares you.
Evan
2014-11-16 14:50:52 UTC
Perhaps you should limit yourself to one question per rant....



It makes answering easier.
Jason
2016-06-06 00:42:56 UTC
Hey I just read about you and your brother I really do hope you two stay together that former bf anyway was a total sh*** bag. Well my parents are not religious at all my mom is a atheist we live in the U.S. in the state of Ohio and we are Chinese I'm a sixteen year old guy and yes most people in China are not religious and the majority are atheist and I'm very very very proud of my motherland China and our kind the U.S. is only my 4th favorite country. Anyway an true non religious person or atheist who has experienced the full value of it would never want to go back to religion. My grandparents live in China close to the coast and two month after I was bored in Brooklyn New York I went to China to live with my grandparents and they are religious Buddhism btw I went through 5 fives of it and they aren't the conservative ones (thats a good thing) I didn't know what in the world it all means but it isn't like christians or islam or Judaism where you're stuck buddhism you can leave anytime you want nothing will happen. So then I came back to the U.S. after preschool in China (I didn't even know I was American I didn't even want to come to America). My mom is an atheist and I learn a lot of things from her as I got older I came to a better understanding of what not believing in religion means and the value of it. It shaped me as a child I tend to be in the middle of things a lot and have a open mind that are open to ideas I can take ideas from others and incorporate it into my own advantage. Christian say that we have no morals or any value LET ME TELL YOU THAT IS NOT TRUE. We do it just a different way the religious people do them they are just wanting put a end to us. Which is not going to happen. I'm lucky I didn't live in the southern states they get piss when you don't believe in christ yes christ just christ jews get negative views too. My mom she let me see reasons and look at datas and information and never stop me from researching things that are unusual which in very conservative religious families that would never been allowed which I thanked her for because when I read them and judge them I see reasons and facts and I put them together. Then I decide based on the information do I believe in religion? Well I chose not to. Which in the end it was THE RIGHT DECISION FOR ME. Back in 7th grade I went to church 3 times the first time and second time I went to a white and a Chinese one and it was BORING the preacher was nice but what he said made no sense to me. Then I went to downtown and there is this black church and they weren't preaching they did it in another way that made me come to my sense once and for all. I DON'T BELONG WITH RELIGION I BELONG WITH THOSE NON RELIGIOUS FOLKS. So then I never went to church again but I would remember that black church and that black speaker guy who made me come to my sense. Now I'm done with freshman year on high school I talk with Christians Jews Muslims and I research about them and I think all of them are flawed and plus all of them claim they are the right one which there are so many different religions how do we know which religion is right what if all of them are wrong what if all of us are wrong? I chose to be non religious because I chose it of free will I'm not in the middle east where they torture you if you're not religious I think everyone should be allow to choose and be educated to make that decision. I feel sorry for those muslims and other children of very religious people who are not given a choice mainly because they were neither forced or have to my friend had to go to church and believe in god because he had to there wasn't a choice. Every time at school when I told them I do not believe in religion they go off kind of weird I don't see why they can't see that we are confident when we chose this. We see reason and and we understand why we chose this. Those bishops and other church leaders yes because it is mostly christians here where I live. They don't even understand who we are and what we believe in. All they care about is when we say that we don't believe in god they get piss they don't care we have different morals or values. I don't even think they have any nonreligious friends. I dare them to sit down with an atheist or someone like that at a cafe and talk. Non religious people in the U.S. has to speak up and rise up to show them that we are not people they want to mess with. My parents never force me to believe anything they let me do the exploring which was fun and let me decide what to believe. They would be fine if I turn religious which I didn't and it is not going to happen. There is a difference when you are taught or forced to believe in something verses you explored it yourself and understand it and choose to believe in it. I used to not talk about it when I was younger but now since I'm older and understand why I don't believe in religion I talk about it freely now and I'm very proud of the decision I made and thank you my parents letting me explore and choose what I believe. I don't understand why they think it is sinful to not believe in god I think those religion had mess them up and they don't see a person is human anymore just because they don't believe the same thing as them. This make me very mad. A lot of times I want to rip those bishops and church leaders apart but I don't think they are people who just hate us they just don't understand if they still hate us even when they understand I don't even think they are humans any more. A lot of the things they wrote about us online I read them they are not true don't always trust that whatever they write about us are true. I had Mexican friends in 7th grade and 6th grade they told me and show me their cross that this is very important they will die if they stop believing in it I have no idea what they were talking about. My current friend now said he has to believe in god if he doesn't he die this is something we non religious people never hear or seen anything like as serious as dying just for not believing in something I was glad I didn't have to deal with that. I notice I don't fit well with religion at all even if I try it would be pointless and moral less and valueless for me. Sorry it is long I hope you have a future with your brother don't take in what others say believe in what you believe in or you two. They don't understand I know it is illegal to marry your brother but I still think things might go differently than you would expect sometimes exceptions have to be made. Which country do you live anyway? In Europe?


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