It Is Okay To Tell Your Kids There Is No God?

Well, that fact that you made such a statement indicates a tendancy toward self delusion - at a minimum.

Let me know when atheists are in reality perfect human beings, made so, magically, by simply choosing to be atheist.

Nice to see yet another thread tun into a series of pot shots from atheists unable to offer cogent analysis despite their self described intellectual superiority.

 

the delusional is when a person chooses to be religious then creates a label for an atheist and not even recognize that HE is doing the creating.

let me know when any life, ever, is perfect.

Ever.

I mean, wingnuts consider jesus perfect and yet jesus called peter an anti christ, when could not teach him how to walk on water.

i guess, jesus aint perfect either

the closest to perfection is an honest human being.

but then again, i am that honest and stil aint perfect

The honest person is superior to the liar.

ie... the thread is about children, not atheist, not religious wingnuts and not whether god exists or does not exist but whether it is ok to tell a child there is no god or not.

the pot shots are coming from the wingnuts who will not put the child before their very own selfish beliefs.

I hate liars and idiots who are so rude as they will attack anyone who does not believe as they do.

Man, i cant wait until each and every person is held accountable.

<<< Mod Edit: Insult >>>ie.... maybe i should take up the religious adherance of 'headhunter'?!?!?!?

 

The person making a claim that a god exists has the burden of proof. If you declare that you saw something then you have to prove it.

So prove to me that a god exists!

 

If you declare that there is no evidence for something then, whether your shoddy faith wants to acknowledge it or not, you have to be able to explain the investigative processes. It called BOTH science and logic.

Getting pissy is not logic.

How many times does everyone else have to say it before threat bashing atheists acknowledge the obviouslness that the evidence for God is inconclusive? Faith.

YOu have it too. It just makes you angry to acknowledge it.

BTW - I do not believe I have ever 'seen' God. I just know he is real. Just like You apparently know he is not real, and have perfect evidence, inescape evidence of this most logical conclusion, that results in .... no evidence.

 

I don't see any problem with it. People tend to raise their children to believe what they believe. Why should athiests act differently? Personally I would tell my children what I believe, and tell them what others believe. I would not force them to see things my way, the decision is up to them. I will teach my kids to think for themselves.

 

Parents must educate their children, and this education must be focused to make that children think for themselves, so they decide what they want to believe.

It is good to say that your parents don't believe in God, but there is other people that does. Children must be educated and know how more possibilities, better prepared will be to fight the reality.

 

Makedde , you know , you told one time that you despised Christians , especially US Southern Baptist hillbillies , so maybe that was pointed at me , and maybe this should be in a private pm , but since it's on the open PF forum , and you did ask for opinions , well , I'll just take my chances on my post landing on your good side . . .

Mak , it don't matter where on this planet a person is , whether in the United States , or Australia , or where-ever , even if there is no God , or no Bible , or no religion , none , , , that can be proven to exist or proven NOT to exist by the mind of man , we would , as tribal communitties existing in the 1600's but living in 2011 ,

we would recognize , for the safety / preservation of the tribe , that there is acceptable behavior and un-acceptable behavior . . .

and , for whatever it's worth , Mak , maybe you ought to think on that ...

I've left my personal religious beliefs out of this post as best I could , no Bible scripture , no wise prescriptions for morality ...

I can't prove that God exists ...

but for kids to be taught that God is not real , , , well , it seems to me that would be telling kids a lie ... my opinion ...

 

RELIGION = THEISM + MANY OTHER THINGS

Some of these "other things" have very little to do with theism.

Ludwik Kowalski (see Wikipedia)
.

 

Humans are a lot of things. Some of us are gullible and impotent, some of us aren't.

 

Of course I am. Most Christians are.

I disagree that it was designed to take advantage of the gullible. I agree that it is often used (by less than honest folks) to take advantage of the gullible.

 

Well, what do you mean by "okay" and "wrong"? I'm not going to bother arguing with anyone who does, so I tolerate it, but if anyone asks me or if I would do it myself? No.

I see no reason to bring it up myself, but if my (presumed) child would ask me, I wouldn't say that this or that is true, I'd tell them what different beliefs there are and possibly what I believe in if it is relevant in the context.

 

The "is it OK" phrase need to be explained. Otherwise the question is not answerable.

Ludwik Kowalski (see Wikipedia)
.

 

so the subject of god or representing your belief/nonbelief in god is relevant or are you going to tell the child what others believe and not your belief, as if irrelevant?

 

I'm not certain what you mean. Of course it can be relevant in certain situations, that doesn't mean I have to express certainty, directly or indirectly.

I see no point in telling a child either side as "true". I do see a point in telling them that both sides exist. If they ask me what I believe, I will tell them what I believe.

What *I* believe is what I *believe*. I will not assume that I am completely correct about these things. I don't want to force my children into my own thinking.

I would also suggest not to make their minds up until they're old enough to make an informed decision.

 

Certainly it is OK to tell my kids that no god or gods exist! Why would I lie to my children?

 

It's up to the person making a declaration eg there is a god, to supply proof of his/her allegation. If a person goes to a criminal court it is the responsibilty of the accuser to prove their allegation. So if you declare there is a god, then provide us with the evidence!

And dont just chant 'God is Great' or similar

 

No. I don't think it is because I don't know that there is no god. To tell children there is or is not is either directly or inadvertantly lying to them.

 

So what about telling your children that there might be a God?

 

Simply give your kids the facts!

There is no evidence for the existence of unicorns, flying elephants, mermaids, or gods. Since there is no evidence for these things, it is quite obvious that they more than likely do not exist. End of story! Then move on to factual things, like Astrophysics and Evolution.

 

Personally I'd choose simply to never mention God to them and do my best to keep them away from religious doctrines for as long as possible. Hopefully by this time they'll be old enough to make their own decision. I never had anyone sit me down and preach to me about Jesus when I was a young child. "God" as a concept never really featured in my childhood and by the time people got around to trying to "convince" me there was a god I was too old to take them seriously.

My parents never told me whether they believed in God. If I had to guess I'd say my Mother did (loosely) and my father didn't (at all). They also never told me who they voted for in any Election. This wasn't just during my childhood but continued for as long as they lived. They were of the opinion that these things were private. I wish everyone was like this.

My sister is Catholic and apparently believes in God which I cannot understand at all, although she thinks the Bible is allegorical. But she somehow got herself into "Sunday School" at a young age. I think because some of her little friends went and she didn't want to get left out. Then she went to a Catholic high school. Where as I don't believe in anything supernatural, went to a public high school and have never been able to take any "religion" even remotely seriously.

And you can't "lie" to someone if you're telling them something you believe to be true. If you believe that there is a God, you're not "lying" when you say there is one, and vice versa.

 

But tell them that misleading truth, is wrong!


ie.... you are opting to tell them your opinion and that these other ideas exist but th 'truth' of the matter must be held and any speculations disclosed. What i mean by that is many preachers that rant that 'god' is here or 'god' is there, is full of 'crap'

 

already did that

 

telling them the truth is better than lying to them.

ie.... have you ever seen a punk on a thrown with lightning bolts in his hands pulling the strings of angels and demons?

(please do not reference movies)

 

truth is;
people will do as they please,
however their reality is, whether it's an illusion or not,
they will inject it into their children; or leave needle scars while trying.

to me;
science, love, reason, compassion, and tolerance comes from Allah (God).
so nah, i wouldn't hide the reason of their existence from my children.

but i would tell them to stay away from fairy tales and bigotry too.

 

I like this, even though I'm not a Muslim.