RE: A Weird Post-Religion Thing, Maybe Help?
May 9, 2015 at 9:51 pm
(This post was last modified: May 9, 2015 at 10:02 pm by cocunningham.)
(May 7, 2015 at 4:25 pm)Cephus Wrote:(May 7, 2015 at 1:02 pm)cocunningham Wrote: I can relate because as a child I found comfort that when I lost loved ones they went to heaven and watched over me. I have an 18 month old and another on the way and my wife and I are still discussing how we are going to raise them. My gut reaction is to raise them Christian and when they are older and able to understand my theories explain them and the evidence that led me there. I may be underestimating their mental fortitude or may just be acting selfish to avoid the hard conversations. I want them to form their own opinions and will support them no matter what decision they make but while they are at such an impressionable age I'm not sure the right lessons to teach them.
Don't raise them as anything, let them make their own decisions. There is absolutely no evidence whatsoever for the validity of Christianity or any other world religion. Why would you lie to them and tell them otherwise?
Well for a number of reasons. First being atheist I do not believe in a God or afterlife so i do not worry about my child being damned for worshiping a false god. So I have no problem with my children believing whatever they want as long as they don't use those beliefs as justification to harm another physically or emotionally.
Second I was raised Christian and came to my own theories on my own following evidence. Would it not make sense for them to learn the principals of religions and when they have doubts and questions encourage them to seek the answer on their own. As I said before I don't have a problem with religion as long as it's not a media used to cause suffering or personal gain. I just want to instill in them the strength to challenge the status quo and find their own path wherever it leads them.
Third and this is where I feel like I'm being selfish. My wife as a rare untreatable condition where her immune system will attack her organs. It is not unlikely my wife may die when my children are young. And if I raise them atheist I will tell them that while everything that made up their mother still is and always will be in some form, but the organs that made up her consciousness have ceased to function so in that sense she had ceased to exist. The idea of that conversation scares the hell out of me. I would much rather tell them she was in heaven and would watch over them at last until they were old enough to cope a little better.
But I still have not made a decision. Those are just the reasons I'm considering it.
(May 7, 2015 at 4:37 pm)Pyrrho Wrote:(May 7, 2015 at 1:02 pm)cocunningham Wrote: ... My gut reaction is to raise them Christian ... I want them to form their own opinions ...
Which is it that you want to do? Raise them to believe something in particular, or try to get them to form their own opinions?
I'm more meaning as when they are young raise them as christian because at age 8 they are not going to have a good foundation of understanding but as they learn more and find gaps or inconsistencies encourage them to seek their own answers and support them on whatever path that takes them.
