(April 9, 2016 at 2:47 am)robvalue Wrote: What happened to all this free will I keep hearing about?
Programming a kid is taking away that free will, making the decision for them.
I agree. If I ever had kids, I would educate them about all the religions, explaining what they believe and why. I would, upon request, give my beliefs and own them as such. I'd make it very clear that they are free to choose to be a part of any religion they want, or to be an irreligious theist, or an atheist. It's up to them to come to their own conclusions.
That is exactly the philosophy my wife and I raised our daughters with... letting them know they are free to choose and come to their own conclusions. As a young teenager, one of my daughters asked me, "Dad, what are we?" regarding religion. I told her, "We are nothing. I am an atheist, your Mother is somewhat undecided, your aunt and grandparents are Methodist, and you are whatever you decide to be." After age 12, they were allowed to attend church with friends and family, but none of it ever "stuck" (thank goodness). Today, they can't understand why anyone would actually believe in Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny, Leprechauns, or God. (I keep telling them there are very good reasons to believe in Leprechauns, showing them logical syllogisms and challenging them to disprove their existence, but for some reason they're still not buying it. Go figure.)
