Atheists. Its time to turn the spotlight on you.

[Insomniac55]

Do Atheist parents have the right to force Atheism on their children?
No, but they do have the right to tell their children what they believe and why.

How many of you will raise your child not to belive in a god?
If I have kids I'll raise them to be good people and answer any questions they have about religion by telling them what both sides believe and why.

How many of you will raise your child with knowledge of God? (Without making fun of it while you teach it.)
Again, I will tell them that some people belive in god, and some people don't. I'll tell them reasons why each side believes what they do and let them make up their own mind about it. (I went to a Catholic primary school and attend a Catholic high school so I ought to know at least a little about christianity, so I should be able to remain fairly neutral)

How many of you will take your children to church?
I don't attend church if I can help it and probably won't start attending any time soon... but if they decide they want to go to church I'll let them, and I won't have a problem with them attending church if they are staying at a friends house etc.

How many of you will raise your children to make their own decission, like you had?
I'll let them make up their own mind and try my best to not let my beliefs influence them.

How many think that your child will be Atheist?
I feel that if I don't indoctrinate them one way or the other, the logical choice is to not belive in god (why else would I not belive in one?) so it makes sense that there's a good chance a child raised without being told either side is 'correct' will turn out Atheist or Agnostic. Then again, I can't read the future so anything could happen.

Let's be honest. No matter what you do, your child will almost certainly be Athist. Because thats the house hold they grew up in. So did you think you forced it on them?
No, but unfortunately no matter how hard I try it's likely my own beliefs will have at least some influence, so I won't lie and say that I had nothing to do with it.

 

[101194]

I would make sure My Child knew all sides of the stories, Every religon from Eygptian and Islam. Telling him Unbaisly, I'd make sure He was raised in a Secular, Free Household

 

[traceur_]

Do Atheist parents have the right to force Atheism on their children?
-Sure, why not?

How many of you will raise your child not to believe in a god?
-Why the hell would I raise them to believe in god when I don't?

How many of you will raise your child with knowledge of God? (Without making fun of it while you teach it.)
-They'll pick it up at school so I won't need to.

How many of you will take your children to church?
-Only as a form of punishment.

How many of you will raise your children to make their own decission, like you had?
-Only if they're decisions don't contradict what I think is best. Kids are stupid.

How many think that your child will be Atheist?
-Most certainly.

 

[Ninja_X]

I'll raise my kid the way my parents raised me.

With no emphasis on religion at all.

My kids will learn about other religions and cultures without me pushing anything on them.

That is how it should be, how many Christians can say that?

 

[Biosophilogical]

Do Athiest parents have the right to force Athiesm on their children?
Hell yes they do.

How many of you will raise your children not to believe in God?
I will raise my kids as Non-thiestic (is that a word? if it isn't just piece the meaning together).

How many of you will raise your child with knowledge of God? (Without making fun of it while you teach it.)
I will but I will take the time to teach them about the majority of prevalent religions so that they get a whole view. And I will not put any religion into contempt except for those issues I feel strongly about (no gay marriage, women as inferior, no alcohol, etc.)

How many of you will take your children to church?
I won't. Church is boring and IMO a waste of time.

How many of you will raise your children to make their own decission, like you had?
I will raise them that way but I will still have inlfuence over their mental development as I think some branches of thinking to be beyond the cpabilities of a child and I would rather give them a foundation so that they can approach those areas maturely at a later age.

How many think that your child will be Atheist?
Of course my children will be Athiest and if they aren't then that will just be interesting for me to observe. And I can always argue against their personal beliefs later in life.

 

[Captain Blackout]

*snip*

I'm not going to even read all 5 pages of this thread. If this has already been posted, oh well, I doubt you'll mind pimp. I'm pretty sure much of this thread is filled with the usual Escapist atheist asshattery.

Your OP was brilliant. I've been trying myself to show the failure of atheism vs. theism as opposing belief systems but like any fundamental Christian many of the people here are deeply entrenched. There are reasons I finally ended up a Taoist (Taoist Christian to be precise, but for the purposes of this the Taoist part is the pertinent part)

Anyway, again I applaud your OP. You hit the nail on the head. Don't let the tools here get you down.

 

[Slayer_2]

Who gives a shit what your kid believes in? As long as it isn't mass murder, I'm fine.

 

[PsykoDragon]

I'm not even gonna talk about religion or the concept of god to my children. If they ask a question (such as how the universe was created) then I'll tell them there are many different opinions, then I'll tell them the more common ones (big bang, god), & finally I'll teach them that there are some things we don't have an answer for yet, & we mustn't simply choose whichever answer suits us.

 

[HappyHacker]

"Inspired" by the Right of parents to force their religion on their children thread. I feel its time to turn the tables.

Try answering the question.

Atheists

Do Atheist parents have the right to force Atheism on their children?

How many of you will raise your child not to belive in a god?

How many of you will raise your child with knowledge of God? (Without making fun of it while you teach it.)

How many of you will take your children to church?

How many of you will raise your children to make their own decission, like you had?

How many think that your child will be Atheist?

Let's be honest. No matter what you do, your child will almost certainly be Athist. Because thats the house hold they grew up in. So did you think you forced it on them?

*Btw, I do hate Religious threads, but Im kinda pissd at the one sidedness of that other thread*

Since people appear to be blind, or have never been children.

[HEADING=2]Its a child, it cannot choose its own religion. Stop saying that. It can when its a teen, but how many 5 year old converts do you know?[/HEADING]

Spoiler: My answers

I grew up in a traditionally Greek Orthodox family. Going to church semi regularly. I was never really that devout. My mother was, so I would go to church with her to please her. I started questioning around the age of 12 and a little bit lower. Today, I still call myself Christian, but my feelings about religion can be sumerised by "there could be". I don't buy into many things the church says. Like the wrongness of homosexuallity and the "sort of" denial of evolution. I belive their might be a god, but my opinion wavers twords oneside or the other constantly. The reason I do belive in god is because of all the great things I have recived through prayer. Like my brother being diagnosed with somethin curable rather than fatal, which I know is just medicin but I am still thankfull for. Latly, my opinion has been more "who cares". I belive in being a good person on earth, and belive that if their is a god I will be rewarded for being a good person, not for being devout.

Anyway, thats a ramble on me.

Do Atheist parents have the right to force Atheism on their children?

No but I still think a majority of their kids will be Atheists, because they grew up in a Atheist household. I will raise my children to be good people. My wife can make them religious.


How many of you will raise your child not to belive in a god?
As above

How many of you will raise your child with knowledge of God? (Without making fun of it while you teach it.)
I will teach my child the concept of god. To help him make his decission.

How many of you will take your children to church?
Not frequently. My wife can take them more

How many of you will raise your children to make their own decission, like you had?
I will raise them Christian. But focus on being a good person over just belief. Then they can choose

How many think that your child will be Atheist?
Maybe, the world is a ever growing frightening place. If its hard for me to stay devout. it will probably be harder for them.

who the hell gives a dam? seriusly.....

 

[Flamezdudes]

"Inspired" by the Right of parents to force their religion on their children thread. I feel its time to turn the tables.

Try answering the question.

Atheists

Do Atheist parents have the right to force Atheism on their children?
Not force but more.. explain. Like said plenty of times in the other thread, bring them up as you see fit and when they decide their own beleifs and are smart enough, let them be.

How many of you will raise your child not to belive in a god?
I'l raise my child not to beleive in God if i ever have a kid >_>.

How many of you will raise your child with knowledge of God? (Without making fun of it while you teach it.)

I'l raise them with knowledge of other religions, the majority of my family are Catholic so they're bound to learn something. I'l help teach them morals.

How many of you will take your children to church?
I won't do that, no. I'm Athiest so i'm not going to send my child to Church now am i?. My parents won't be too happy though i'd imagine.

How many of you will raise your children to make their own decission, like you had?
When they're old enough to understand things and make their own opinions, 13 or 14+ then i'l let them make their own decision.

How many think that your child will be Atheist?
Umm, i think mine will be.

Let's be honest. No matter what you do, your child will almost certainly be Athist. Because thats the house hold they grew up in. So did you think you forced it on them?

It could be more true for Athiests but not religious people though. I can't count the many of times i've heard on the Internet people turning from Christtianity when they're 14+ after being brough up as it.

 

[mdk31]

The way I'll do it is, if they want to discuss religion or read the bible or whatever, I'll do it with them, and constantly remind them to not take the claims of the books for granted. I'd encourage them to be skeptical, and I'd point out mistakes and flaws and contradictions and all that in every one we discussed/read about.

Skepticism for the win.

 

[Rafe]

UGHHH... more religion threads.

Oh and don't say "All you Atheists" as if its some group or gathering.

Well I'm not sure if I would want my child worshipping an old and outdated system but I wouldn't force my opinions on them just like my parents didn't force anything on me.

 

[aruki]

To be quite frank, if you tell a child enough 'remember that time you got your hand caught in that mouse trap?' they will believe they did (there was a scientific study on this).

Thus if you tell them their is a god, they will believe you. How is that by any means, them having faith in a god?

Let them find out and make up their mind when they are old enough (i.e teenager +). If you believe their is a god, then surely someone without intervention can find him?

Although side note question... If god is the divine creator of all, the perfect being, then to be perfect he would have to know all correct? If he knows all, he knows what will be and what has been. If this is the case, then he wouldn't need to create us to choose to follow him or not, since he will already know if his creation would or not since he knows all.

Following this method of thought, if he knows all (and you follow that satan is a fallen angel) then he would have known satan would have turned dark, so why create him?

 

[Custard_Angel]

I'm a Christian from a Christian home who grew up with Christian friends. But wait. Theres more.

From about the age of 14 to 18 I turned my back on Christianity and did my own thing. I didn't care for it. I returned to my faith and haven't looked back since...

After my soul searching I chose to identify myself as a Christian. Not because of my parents, church, friends or school, because I chose to.

 

[RYjet911]

Well since I don't see the point of religion to help the development of the human race, since it doesn't advance itself at all, I couldn't give a fuck about teaching my child about god in any form other than "This doesn't exist, move on".

However, more realistically, I would want my child to think like me, taking issues and solving them logically. I would tell them what god is, but only at a time when my child can think about it in a way that allows them to feel it's incorrect, instead of at a young age where they believe all manor of magical fairies exist.

 

[ben---neb]

"Inspired" by the Right of parents to force their religion on their children thread. I feel its time to turn the tables.

SNIP

You've not picked up on the Biblical principle that the natural man HATES God. We are all born into this world sinners, hating God and doing evil. There's no need for parents to teach children to be atheists, by their natural instincts they will do their best to not believe in God.

To be quite frank, if you tell a child enough 'remember that time you got your hand caught in that mouse trap?' they will believe they did (there was a scientific study on this).

Thus if you tell them their is a god, they will believe you. How is that by any means, them having faith in a god?

Let them find out and make up their mind when they are old enough (i.e teenager +). If you believe their is a god, then surely someone without intervention can find him?

Although side note question... If god is the divine creator of all, the perfect being, then to be perfect he would have to know all correct? If he knows all, he knows what will be and what has been. If this is the case, then he wouldn't need to create us to choose to follow him or not, since he will already know if his creation would or not since he knows all.

Following this method of thought, if he knows all (and you follow that satan is a fallen angel) then he would have known satan would have turned dark, so why create him?

That is a mystery along with why God created humans even though he knew they were going to fall into sin and he would have to sacifrice his son. But then "God's way are not our ways and his thoughts are not our thoughts" You forget about the incredible gap between our intelligence and mental capacity and God's.

Basically, we can't understand because we're too weak and feeble. But just think, God went ahead depite knowing that so many of the human race would never acknowledge him, that 's some pretty awesome love for us.

 

[Arkzism]

Do Atheist parents have the right to force Atheism on their children? well no, same thing that christian parents shouldn't force their kids to their religion

How many of you will raise your child not to belive in a god? amybe not there is no god... but more of a don't count on it

How many of you will raise your child with knowledge of God? (Without making fun of it while you teach it.)see above

How many of you will take your children to church? i probably wont

How many of you will raise your children to make their own decission, like you had? i would

How many think that your child will be Atheist? kinda opin for at least agnostic

Let's be honest. No matter what you do, your child will almost certainly be Athist. Because thats the house hold they grew up in. So did you think you forced it on them? well no it's forced when they reach an older point in life and force them to


example of the above buddy of mine got disowned by his family due to them finding out he was atheist please note his dad is a pastor and his grandpa was a bishop, and he was the only son..


Since people appear to be blind, or have never been children.

 

[data_not_found]

[HEADING=2]Its a child, it cannot choose its own religion. Stop saying that. It can when its a teen, but how many 5 year old converts do you know?[/HEADING]

Don't be stupid. Raise the child agnostic.

I was raised agnostic, and I have to say being the uncommitted guy in a world so polarized by people like richard dawkins and the people richard dawkins hates just isn't good. I'd say it's better to be in the religious camp as a child to be honest. Again, I'm agnostic, but I rarely find myself thinking that those committed, atheist people have it soo great.