June 20, 2011

Comments (18)

  • wow so many links

  • Some of these intigue me.  Thanks for the links.

  • wow there is SO much about that. I wish my parents would at least have given us a choice on whether or not to go to church.

  • Is there a Unitarian Universalist church there? If so, that might be something to look into. I’ve been attending at one for the past six months or so, and instead of Sunday school they have religious education classes for kids. There’s all kinds of people there- atheists, agnostics, Buddhists, pagans, very liberal Christians… it’s really cool. 

    I’ve been really strongly drawn to Druidry, and I think that’s probably what I’ll stick with, but I definitely plan on giving my children the ability to choose instead of raising them in a church the way that I was. I think what religion you belong to, or which one belongs to you, is probably too big of a deal to be simply forced on. 
    How is it going with your kids? Were you raising them in the church and now are not? Sorry, I’m just curious but I know that’s a really personal question, so if you don’t want to answer me by all means don’t feel like you have to. 

  • @prettynpink628 - yes, there is a UUC in our area. My sister goes to it. Not sure it would really be my thing.

    My children have been exposed to many many branches of christianity and religion and stuff

  • HOLY CRAP! That’s a lot of info!

    I had a friend who’s got a toddler ask me recently what to tell his child about religion. He’s a non-theist, but not very active on the “atheist scene” if you will. I basically told him to keep it neutral, and offered a link to UU books for children. I’m gonna shoot him this whole thing you posted here.

    Thanks.

  • They’re certainly interesting. I’d argue that raising someone with the intent of the tainted idea of having them be a “free thinker” is painting them with a bias towards atheism and the implications of that that often go without discussion. Is that truly a choice either? I’m sure that to an atheist even if it’s not a choice or a choice that’s leaned to one direction, that that is preferable, as I’m certain is the case with Christians and the leanings instilled in their children. I find it flawed either way. Trying to inspire a child to a virtue that you are personally logistically incapable of expressing seems nonsensical. 

  • I think we should teach kids to question and love learning, but I think it’s just as wrong to indoctrinate them from a young age into being irreligious as it is to indoctrinate them into a religion.  Teach them how to think for themselves and they should be okay.

  • great resources, thanks =)

    I plan on having kids one day and I’m always worried how I should answer certain questions.   i’m atheist as well, but I have to admit religion has some easy answers to questions like “what happens when I die?”   If my 5 year old asks me that I don’t want to say “You rot in the ground” =p but i also don’t want to tell them there’s a magic fairy tale land that you go to if you’re good.   I’ll keep this post in mind when I start needing to worry about it more seriously =)

  • @agnophilo - I quite agree with you.

  • Awesome links.

  • i’ll teach my son & daughter what me and my husband believe but i won’t force it on them. it’s their natural right to grow up and believe or not believe whatever they want…and i’ll respect whatever they choose. 

  • If you read the Bible, not thinking of it as theology or monotheistic indocrination, it does come off much as mythology might, with men so strong they can tear down huge buildings (Hurcules), that water can be turned into wine (Rumplestilskin), or that donkeys talk (Eyore), Whales can swallow men (Pinochio).  What is the harm? ANY knowledge can teach kids to be free thinkers, and we should offer them any and all resources.  And as they grow, they will make their own choices.  

  • @Kristenmomof3 - Sweet. Just thought I’d mention it, as I’ve been going to ours. It’s all right; I’m not sure it’s always my thing either, but on an individual basis I’ve met a lot of cool people there. 

    Thanks for posting the list, by the way. I don’t plan on having kids any time soon, but it’s good to know that there is so much stuff out there, for when I do need it someday. 

  • Parents always raise their kid with some bias toward their own world view, which is to be expected.  Whether you raise them with atheist principles, Christian principles, Islamic principles, etc.  The important thing is to let them know what your stance is, what else is out there, and be willing to accept them no matter what they choose to follow themselves.  Teaching them how to process information for themselves is crucial.  That allows for free-thinking regardless of your own belief system.

  • I’m really glad my parents raised me as a Christian, and I will do the same. When they reach adulthood, my kids will make their own choice, just as I did, but I’m going to bring as much of God’s love through the person of Jesus Christ into their lives as I possibly can while I’m raising them. I believe in raising critical thinkers, not thinkers who haven’t been directed to the truth. I know the truth, and I will raise any future family I have to know it. I could not care less how politically incorrect or correct that is. I’m totally grateful that my parents raised me to know and experience God’s amazing love, and there’s no way I would ever let my future children miss out on that.

  • I never fussed much over encouraging or discouraging my kids for or against religion.  I let my mother put them in a private Christian school for a while since it seemed an improvement over our lame public school system, but it turned out to be a mistake.  The school had bigotry against non-Christians woven all through it, definitely curttailed and penalized any form of free thinking, vehemently disapproved me of the mama agnostic witch, and excercied various attempts at mind control on my kids, even going so far as to insist they sit through church services every morning, chant hymns, and sway.  Failure to sway would get them swatted.  I kid you not.  So I finally took them out and returned them to public school.  They were grateful enough to thence strive hard at their studies for fear that I’d return them to religious school if they didn’t.  As if!  But my home library is as loaded with relgious as with non-religious books and I’ve always encourged them to explore and believe as they pleased.  The one caveat simply being that if they turn religious, I won’t be joining them in that.  Likewise, I’ve resisted all my extended family’s efforts to make me or the kids go to church with them, finally telling them that I don’t believe what they believe and don’t care to pretend or even look like I do.  Notheless, we celebrate most holidays.  We don’t even need a reason.  We just like to.  Besides, many of the holidays that Christians now claim belong solely to them belonged to others long before as I refered to in my poem, My Christmas and Yours.

    All that said, I commented to someone the other day about a church group that called all other religions “cults” under the spurious definition of any belief system that didn’t followed their brand of Christianity and I’d laughed that they’d included agnostics and aetheists on the list even though they’re not formal organized or anything.  See, the actual definition of cult has more to do with method than beliefs: it’s a system by which groups of people can be manipulated and controlled for the benefit of their leadership – emphasis on mind control tactics.  I’d said something to the effect that even though religions in general were often controlled via cult methods, agnostics and aetheists weren’t likely to be because those very methods were the main of what they’d turned their back on when turning their back on religion.  Anyway, he said that yes aetheists could too employ cult tactics and he named this post as an example.  I was surprised because I didn’t know you were an aetheist.  I thought you were a strict Messianic Jew but have noticed you’ve changed your personna a LOT over the past year or two such that I thought you might be an apostate in rebellion stage such I went through myself after leaving Islam.  I said as much to him.  I thought when you tagged me that you’d seen the comment and were going to bawl me out over it for whatever reason.  But I came here to check your post here and that’s not what I’m seeming here.  Yes, the purple hair probably had something to do with rebellion (I liked it though), but this post, if it’s rebellion, is very mild and not at all what I’d call cultic.  Resisting cult tactics while not even bothering to condemn them?  There’s not manipulative tactics to give some head honcho aetheist power here.  Sound more like defending your own turf from unwanted incursions by manipulators.  And what’s wrong with that?  It’s sensible.

    So when did you become aetheist and how did you get here from where you were?  Now I’ curious.  Sorry for such a long comment.

  • You have been taking a strange spiritual journey. 

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