Atheists. Its time to turn the spotlight on you.

[Lunar Shadow]

I'll raise my child in a secular household and teach him to be a decent human being, regardless of whatever religion he may choose. He/she will probably end up atheist because often times children do end up similar to their parents. He/she will have the final say in the end, however.

This. My parents did the same (They are Christians) with me and my brother, my brother is an Atheist and I am a Buddhist. I plan on doing the same with my children, though I would love to raise them Buddhist (it is easier to follow the path when it is started young) but I feel like that would be dishonest and denying them the chance to form their own opinions.

 

[Skuffyshootster]

Yes, because the child is usually not mature enough to be able to know what religion they want to be a member of, though there can be exceptions.

If I were to have children, I would try to leave how they form their beliefs to them.

I would try to educate them about other religions, but still do the above.

Not me.

See answer 2.

It's a possibility.

See answer 2 again.

EDIT: This is more how I would raise my child rather then if I were atheist.

 

[Cakes]

I'm actually getting quite sick of this. Atheism is not an organised religion. Religion is just choosing what to believe and what not to believe. Atheism is a religion, and it's a damn hypocritical one at that.

Dear sir, what the hell are you on about? Hypocritical in what regard? I wouldn't call it a religion either, 'tis the absence of religion.

 

[Ossum]

I'll let them believe what they want... Are we going to do this thread one religion at a time?

Atheism is not a religion.

I'm actually getting quite sick of this. Atheism is not an organised religion. Religion is just choosing what to believe and what not to believe. Atheism is a religion, and it's a damn hypocritical one at that.

I'm gonna let my kids choose, but I'm going to introduce them to the cold, hard realities of logic and fact last, because I want my kids to be kids, and cold cynic isn't that.

Atheism is not a religion just as a hole in the ground is not a lake. Lack of belief in a deity = no religion. Lack of water in a hole = no lake.

If you believe otherwise then my bike is a motorcycle even though it lacks an engine, my paycheck is sizeable even though it lacks a decent wage, and my sex life is wild even though it lacks frequent partners.

EDIT: Ninja'd. Damn you, Cakes! I thought you were a lie.

 

[SomeUnregPunk]

"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?
Sure! young and impressionable is the best time to do this anyway.
How many of you will raise your child not to believe in a god?
There is only one of me. I'll raise the kid to believe and then confuse him later by showing off the rest of the religions in the world. Even the old dead ones.
How many of you will raise your child with knowledge of God? (Without making fun of it while you teach it.)
if I had the knowledge of god, I wouldn't be typing this.
How many of you will take your children to church?
not all religions/cults/faiths have church
How many of you will raise your children to make their own decission, like you had?
unless we live in a cult when I raise the kid, uhm...yes?
How many think that your child will be Atheist?
if I knew the future, I would be rich, have a harem and own the largest tower made of grated cheese.
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?
huh?? if they grew up in a religious house, they may be religious, if they grow up in a non-religious house they may be non-religious, if they grew up blue they may turn out pink! See previous response about the future.
*Btw, I do hate Religious threads, but Im kinda pissd at the one sidedness of that other thread*
don't be pissed, be loony!
Since people appear to be blind, or have never been children.
that happens due to age, people tend to forget how they change and what they used to be like. I figure if I ever met myself in the past I would get punch in the crouch while I'm smacking that darn hooligan across his face.
[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]
I do know a ten year old convert. Watched it church last week. The kid was raised by one jewish wife and an catholic hubby. The kid decided to go catholic.

 

[Pimppeter2]

I Inspire people ... I feel so pround
But no but if its not enforced its okay

Sorry to call you out, but I wanted to show how it goes both ways

 

[falcon1985]

I think i would take my que from my parents, and let my kids (in the odd eventuality that i will have them) figure it out on their own. There are plenty of ways of getting information about any religion, science, or other belief system out there. I'm sure if you type the word "religion" on wikipedia, you'll have reading material to last you a couple of days.

My only concern is the active recruitment by any sort of belief organisation, be it church or scrience based. If a person comes to an informed descision regarding a religion, and actively partakes in it, so be it. If a child is told by his/her parents that there is one true faith and only one, you basicaly indoctrinate the child to your beliefs.

I do not wish to lower the standard of this discussion, so i'll keep the following statement brief.

If it is allowed for parents to force either a religion or atheism on a child, it is my own firm belief it will only entice ignorance and hatered against people of other faiths. We can see this today in aghanistan and throughout the middle east. (Just to be clear, this is not an islamic problem, but one that holds true for all faiths.) Children who are tought all their lives that there is one true god, and all those who believe otherwise are infidels, etc, without anyone saying otherwise, will grow up to be religious zealots. This is how extremists are born.

I understand this might hit a nerve with some people, and for that i appologize. However those who believe it is right to force their religions, and for that matter their world views, onto their children are no better than the terrorists and tyrants of the present and past, no matter if they are christians, muslims, jews, hindus, budhists, or etheists.

Regards, Falcon

 

[CheeseFlareUK]

i choose the good ol' "ok fine. see this newspaper. read all of it. if you can think god exists afterwords then thats on you" method

So then subliminally force it on your kids? Great parenting dude.

 

[CCountZero]

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

On the subject of religion and anti-religion, I don't believe that anybody can force anyting upon anyone.
In my opinion, either you believe or you don't. There is no middle-ground. If you try to force someone to believe, you will quickly find that you have no effective means of ascertaining for sure if your coersion has succeeded.


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

I can state for certain that any future child of mine is likely to be greatly influenced by my opinions. It is the nature of any parent-child relationship, and will not be avoided.


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

Personally, I plan to inform my future child of the various religions at an early age.
I do not believe that I have the right to choose what my child should grow up to believe.
Naturally, I can and will hope that he or she turns out an athiest like myself, but that will be for the individual to decide, whenever they see themselves mature enough to do so.
Should she or he turn out religious, my greatest hope will be that the child be steadfast in his or her beliefs.


How many of you will take your children to church?

Refer to the above, should any future child ask for me to do so, I shall.


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

In regards to the human race as a whole, I will always be a pessimist. Thus I can only answer that I doubt even 5% of athiests would be as lenient as I hope to be.


How many think that your child will be Atheist?

However much I may hope that he or she will be, I do in fact have my doubts, as I have a long succession of crushes on girls who have all been more or less christian believers.


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?

I don't believe such a thing can be forced, but I do and always have agreed with your argument. All children are influenced by their homes, their schools and their childhood friends.


An interesting opportunity

Regards

Martin - 1989

 

[2012 Wont Happen]

I have no religion. I'm not an athiest, more like an agnostic, but I have no religion anyway.

I will not probably take the effort to take my children to church. I don't like going. If they want to take a church bus or whatever I'm fine with it though.

I will educate my children about ALL major religions. Not just one.

I don't know what religion they'll end up with. Nor do I very much care.

 

[Cliff_m85]

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

No, all I can do is provide them with a skeptical mindset.

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

I can only speak for myself. I will only give my child truthful answers, no faith.

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

I can only speak for myself. I won't. No need. I'm also against teaching the kid that Santa is real.

How many of you will take your children to church?

Can't morally do that unless s/he asks me to. I don't feel right listening to people talk nonsense without giving my opinion.

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

I certainly will.

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?

I disagree with the household quote because I came out of the Atheist closet to religious parents. It took 2 years to get my mom to drop the theological crap. A logical mindset causes people to reject faith.

 

[2012 Wont Happen]

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

No. I'll teach them to think for themselves, as everyone should.

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

First question applies.

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

Why would an atheist do that? I guess at some point I'll have to mention "Hey, these people believe in this stuff, if you want to learn about it go right ahead".

How many of you will take your children to church?

'the hell kind of questions are these?
Hey Christians, would you take your kids to a Black Mass?
If they want to go to church, that's fine by me, but I'll sleep in thanks.

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

First question applies.

How many think that your child will be Atheist?

It depends on the kid. I really can't say.

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?

???
This is stupid. You don't necessarily inherit your parents religious beliefs. No.

[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]

I like how you refer to these hypothetical kids as "it" the entire time.

I converted from Christianity to nothing when I was 11...

 

[Sindaine]

Do Atheist parents have the right to force Atheism on their children?
no, but if my kids turn out Catholic or Baptist I'm disowning them.

How many of you will raise your child not to belive in a god?
I'll explain that there probably is some higher power at work, but it doesn't care what you do; it's only here to watch.

How many of you will raise your child with knowledge of God? (Without making fun of it while you teach it.)
I'll try and show them what other people believe, attempting to stay neutral about it.

How many of you will take your children to church?
If they want to go I'll take them, and then drop them off and pick them up after.

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

How many think that your child will be Atheist?
I think my kids 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?

Nah, not really. This all reads like 'butthurt Christian whines about athiests uh-BAW!!'

 

[DarkRyter]

We agnostics are never in the spotlight.

God(If he exists)dammit.

 

[Nmil-ek]

Dont plan on ever having kids but for hypothetical sake Ill go along with it.

Do Atheist parents have the right to force Atheism on their children?
No I think any and all indoctrination is wrong children should be educated and taught seular resoning and scepticism so they can decide for themselves

How many of you will raise your child not to belive in a god?
No I would however teach them to question everything they are told and not take anyones word at face value without evidence to support the claim.

How many of you will raise your child with knowledge of God? (Without making fun of it while you teach it.)
Alittle not a subject that intrests me as I feel its a waste of time I could spend doing soemthing fun, however I would teach them comparative religion show them how many hundreds of thousands have existed and passed on through out time.

How many of you will take your children to church?
Hell no, if they want too see it fine but otherwise why waste good free time.

How many of you will raise your children to make their own decission, like you had?
Presumptious of you, but yes I would however I would lecture them about actions and consequences tied to decisions in life.

How many think that your child will be Atheist?
Probably or not give a shit its a very common trend in secular household's hell the vast majority of religious beleivers have been tied down with it in some form from birth.

 

[Pimppeter2]

This is stupid. You don't necessarily inherit your parents religious beliefs. No.


I like how you refer to these hypothetical kids as "it" the entire time.

You have to admit, odds are against a 5 year old comming up to daddy and telling him he belives in a false god or that his belief in the lack of a god is stupid.

I also call dogs "it", unless its sack is swinging all over the place

 

[Joshimodo]

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

It's pretty hard to "force" Atheism, because there's no fear factor. Religion's primary control is a combination of fear and the afterlife.

How many of you will raise your child not to believe in a god?
I will, in a way. I'll raise my child(ren) with no preconception of any gods.

How many of you will raise your child with knowledge of God? (Without making fun of it while you teach it.)
I'll inform my child that there are options, and they can believe what they want to believe. It's not for me to choose.

How many of you will take your children to church?
Certainly not me. It's an archaic and corrupt ritual.

How many of you will raise your children to make their own decision, like you had?
I shall.

How many think that your child will be Atheist?
Doubtful, since agnosticism is more likely.



I wish people would learn the difference between atheism and agnosticism.

 

[dark-amon]

[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]

When an atheist talks against raising a child by religion, I think it's because most parents who do so gives the child no chance to evolve relavetism, wich can reduce the element of free will wich we of the west brags so much about.
My parents who are wery seculear raised me in a way that it was first when I read philosophical material that my horizon broadend to more than religious/not religious point of view.
So in short, should a child be raised at all in any religion, or should they from day one be learned that it should first be that when they are old enought to truly belive that they should choose what to belive in?