@Willow Blackbird: I wouldn't push too hard if I were you, especially with the middle child. Sixteen is a difficult enough age without feeling that one's parents are going out of their way to overturn the kid's worldview. I think the Unitarian church is a good compromise for the two of you for now, and it may help to provide a sense of community your child may be missing from the fundamentalist church. Beyond that, just let your kids see that you are the same person they've always known and that the only difference is that you shed something you decided was wrong and harmful.
You might consider buying some books to explore what freethinkers have to say on the subject of religion -- not to foist on the kids but to have around in case they get curious. You might also want to stock up on popular works on science. Fundamentalist churches are notorious for twisting science to suit their agendas, as you'll see here when fundies try to argue about evolution or cosmology. Once your kids begin to figure out that their pastors and others have been lying to them about that, they might start to wonder what else they lied about. I would also encourage the kids to read the Bible. It's not a foolproof method, and many people will only have their beliefs reinforced by the experience, but many an atheist got that way by actually reading the damned thing as opposed to uncritically accepting what other have told them about it.
Above all, don't despair about this. They are all young and have many years to explore and to think for themselves. Welcome to the dark side.
You might consider buying some books to explore what freethinkers have to say on the subject of religion -- not to foist on the kids but to have around in case they get curious. You might also want to stock up on popular works on science. Fundamentalist churches are notorious for twisting science to suit their agendas, as you'll see here when fundies try to argue about evolution or cosmology. Once your kids begin to figure out that their pastors and others have been lying to them about that, they might start to wonder what else they lied about. I would also encourage the kids to read the Bible. It's not a foolproof method, and many people will only have their beliefs reinforced by the experience, but many an atheist got that way by actually reading the damned thing as opposed to uncritically accepting what other have told them about it.
Above all, don't despair about this. They are all young and have many years to explore and to think for themselves. Welcome to the dark side.
