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

No, you cannot lead a string, you can pull it, and if you freeze it, you can push it, in fact, put your finger in the middle of a string and you can push it anywhere.
You propose we teach kids that gravity might or might not be real, that the sun might or might not be what the planets revolve around, NONSENSE. Teach reality.
The planets revolve around the sun!
Gravity is REAL!
There is no evidence to support the existence of any god or gods!!

Reality is what should be taught to children, not myths, superstitions and "you decide what is real and what is not"!!

 

Hmm, since you wrote it, I thought you meant it to be humorous, so I laughed!

 

Should kids also be able to make up their own minds about things like:fire kills or does not, you decide; if you jump off the roof you might get killed or you might fly; playing in traffic is fun or dangerous; there is no evidence for fire breathing dragons so they may exist or not; unicorns are real, maybe?

NONSENSE, teach children facts! When you teach them religion explain that is is MYTH and SUPERSTITION and beliefs invented by long dead ignorant (by today's standards) savages. DO NOT teach children that gods such as Allah, Jehovah, Jesus, Shiva, Thor, Odin, Zeus and the millions of others are real.

 

Since the moral values of a society are changing and in general created by a consensus of the local society, fine, teach them. But teach them that they are changing. Some may have originally derived from a religion or at least appear to, but all moral values are like laws, they are just tools that allow humans to live and work together with the fewest problems. Killing your neighbors makes it hard to work with them. Stealing from your neighbors makes it hard to work with them. But remember, even the Jews who invented the ten commandments found it was fine to kill those that were not your neighbors. Murder men, women and children, if they live in Jericho or any of hundreds of other places. Steal the land, produce, resources and riches of anyone not of your religion, etc. Oh and it was a godly thing to own slaves, both in the bible, Qur'an and in America for a great many years. MORALS are changing things.
Teach your kids facts, no evidence of any gods, morals are not god-given but are tools of society, and one and on.

 

Why lie to your children? There is no God.

 

say no to drugs.

 

But if you can't prove it either way, then you are lying to them while at the same time possibly telling them the truth...

 

Then I'd have to elaborate that there is no God in the western sense, as science has proved much of that false as of now. Perhaps there is something else, then, but the Earth is a little older than some would like to believe.

 

Nope, I will keep my drugs (legally prescribed medications) all 17 of them. Without them for my blood pressure, diabetes, arthritis, heart problems and stroke, I would be long dead.

But thanks for thinking about me.

 

It is not a lie to tell you kids that leprechauns, unicorns, fire-breathing dragons, trolls, and gods do not exist. It is a simple fact. MYTHS and SUPERSTITIONS are NOT reality.

 

Then it's settled. It is not okay for a parent to tell a kid one way or the other, since neither has been proven absolutely, therefore no actual facts can be told, so anything told would be a lie, even if it were in fact the truth, due to its unknown nature and the source obviously being irrationally biased.

To tell your kids that you know the answer to a question you do not is a lie. To justify telling them that God doesn't exist with the fact that religious people tell their kids he does exist, is to stoop to the level of religious people, and to embrace just as much failed logic.

The only fact on the matter that could be told to your children is that you have no freaking clue whether or not God exists, and neither does anyone else.

 

Just tell them that there is no evidence that supports the conclusion that any of the thousands of gods that humanity has believed in are in any way true.

 

yep, one can tell their kids whatever they want, what one can not do is use their position of public power to force their beliefs on other peoples children


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I could tell my kids that I don't believe in any gods but that they will have to decide for themselves.

I could tell them that whatever happens to them has already happened to countless other people and that it's within the realm of probability.

I could tell that that people have worshiped countless gods of all kinds throughout history but that not one god of any kind has ever shown itself to man unless it was a man or woman who claimed to have been a god or goddess.

I could tell that that it might give them a degree of comfort to believe in a god.

I could tell them that if they don't profess to believe in a god (preferably the one that their society believes in) they will be ostracized and discriminated against.

I could tell them that their belief about gods will change over their lifetimes and circumstances.

 

What if you didn't mention God at all and you home schooled them and didn't let them watch tv so they had no concept of God. Wouldn't they be atheists by default?

 

Everyone is an atheist by default.

 

Parents raise their children based on their own experiences. Religious people raise them to be religious, atheists raise them to be atheists.

There is nothing wrong with either way. But in he end, you must let your kids make their own choices.

 

Of course it's ok. I think it's worse to tell your children there IS a god than NOT a god. Either one is known for certain, but I'd say it's much less likely that god exists, especially the horrible gods humans have come up with. I have no kids and hopefully never will, but I'd tell them about my lack of belief in god, and then let them reach their own conclusions.

I'd say teaching them religion is generally more dangerous and psychologically damaging. But people love to lie to their kids because it makes it easier to lie to themselves.

The first amendment does not cover brainwashing your kids. Failing to provide proper education and teaching them things that are psychologically damaging is child abuse.


http://www.childwelfare.gov/can/defining/can.cfm

 

How terrifying it would be for a child to be told that there is no God...as opposed to a God who will burn them like a fire log because they don't believe in soul saving zombies. Friggin soul...what is it anyway?

 

The question in my mind is not about "rights" but what is the right thing to do.

 

I think it's up to the parents really. I wouldn't have a problem to let my child grow up without being a part of any religion. I'd not have a problem with them growing up Christian, as I was. I'd have a problem if the local priest would try to molest my kids though.

I think in my case it will be up to the partner. If she thinks it's a good idea, I'd probably let her. Obviously I would try to make the children grow up without religion, but I'd personally rather teach them about what religions are out there, and what they believe in. I think it's important that any child knows that Judaism is an older faith than Christianity and what the differences are. Important because I'd like my children to respect all religions no matter what they believe in...

 

As a father of 4 teenagers, I tell them what I believe to be the truth.

They hear other versions of the truth as well.

They will have to decide what they believe.

I just hope they are not religious.

 

Personally I taught my daughter to make her own mind up on theology. As a kid, I was forced to go to Church. I would get bored listening to a dry sermon and get elbowed by my grandmother for fidgeting and yawning. Finding God is best done on our own terms and in our own time... not forced on one by another.

And if any were to force Church on a child, as the parent they better practice what they preach, because children are not stupid and can pick up on the parents hypocrisy. That is a good way to insure that as an adult your child will run from Christianity.

As for saying yes on the poll, besides the lack of an "other" option... it is a free country and parents do have the right to force their child to attend Church as far as I know. Not saying I agree with the practice.

 

I will simply tell my children that they have a right to believe in any fairy tale they want. If they want to believe in an invisible spaghetti monster, they have a right to do so, and that will never change how much I love them. Teaching your children how to understand, cherish life, love and friendship and to tolerate other peoples beliefs has nothing to do with god. It has everything to do with being a good parent. Though I do think its important to talk to them about all the religions. how they differ, how they are similar and let them know they have their own path to walk.

You shouldn't be able to dictate on what your child or anyone views the world. Because everyone sees the world in a different light.

 

"Teach how to think, not what to think"