Teaching Reason (to Children)

[Koolay]

One of my more recent (and more-or-less ongoing) conversations with my spouse is how to raise my daughter and any future children we have. We agree on a number of things, such as education, morality, family values, discipline, and much more.

Still, there are some things that we don't always see eye-to-eye on. My wife is agnostic, leaning more towards spiritualism, whilst I am pretty much a full atheism, unable to fathom the idea that there is a supernatural anything. (What can I say? I'm a sucker for the laws of physics.)

One of my fears is that any one of my children might decide to have a belief in a higher power. I understand that this could be inevitable, considering that the rest of our family and friends are more or less religious (we have a number of Mormons and Roman Catholics to boot). All I care is that he or she grows up with an understanding of reason and that it's important to strive for truth, as well as knowing when to say, "I don't know enough, and that's okay for now".

My wife agrees with that to a point, but she's worried that I may force-feed atheism down my children's throats. This worry is not unwarranted, as I have a knack for being outspoken about my unbelief. The other worry is that my children might rebel against my determinations the same way a child would rebel against a parent's religious beliefs.

Does anyone have any insight on how to lead a child to deciding on his or her own about how to keep an open mind and use reason in answering these hard questions? I see more articles/writings/blogs out there concerned with keeping children in the faith while maintaining an atmosphere of love, as opposed to keeping children out of faith.

Also, one thing my spouse suggested was to have our children attend other churches at some point when they're searching. Well, I'm sure some of you can imagine the big red flag that went up in my head as I heard this. How do I keep this from happening too, or should I not worry about this so much?

Well, it's great that you want to talk about reason to your kids. Children are very philosophical, they will ask many whys. If your wife is irrational, and you profess to be rational, I have to ask why you are with her if you recognise her to be irrational in the first place?

[Bad Writer]

Well, it's great that you want to talk about reason to your kids. Children are very philosophical, they will ask many whys. If your wife is irrational, and you profess to be rational, I have to ask why you are with her if you recognise her to be irrational in the first place?

Your conclusion about myself and my wife, as well as our relationship, is rather irrational. Not once did I state that she was irrational; all I said was that she leaned towards more spiritual matters, but she is, for all intents and purposes, a non-theist. Would you enjoy it if I made half-assed assumptions about you and your personal life?

[thesummerqueen]

Well, it's great that you want to talk about reason to your kids. Children are very philosophical, they will ask many whys. If your wife is irrational, and you profess to be rational, I have to ask why you are with her if you recognise her to be irrational in the first place?

Your conclusion about myself and my wife, as well as our relationship, is rather irrational. Not once did I state that she was irrational; all I said was that she leaned towards more spiritual matters, but she is, for all intents and purposes, a non-theist. Would you enjoy it if I made half-assed assumptions about you and your personal life?

Please do!

[Bad Writer]

Your conclusion about myself and my wife, as well as our relationship, is rather irrational. Not once did I state that she was irrational; all I said was that she leaned towards more spiritual matters, but she is, for all intents and purposes, a non-theist. Would you enjoy it if I made half-assed assumptions about you and your personal life?

Please do!

To appease TSQ, I will! Tit for tat, and all that.

Ahem. Koolay, I'm assuming you're upset that I even have a relationship, for yours is probably not doing so hot. However, whatever relationship you're in, be it with a woman, a man, a toad or the starship Enterprise, is falling apart, and is even abusive to you. You can't lash out at your lover because: 1. You're too obese to move and 2. you love the relationship, abusive as it is, because it's the only thing you have in life. So, instead of fixing your personal problems, you lash out at others in a virtual forum, hoping it will give you some satisfaction in life. The truth is...it doesn't. However, you have gotten so used to being an online dick that not only do you actually smell like a giant, unwashed penis, but you keep screwing people since it's the only thing you think you're good at now. This has made you out to look like a giant asshole to the online community...and now there's shit all over your cock.

Happy herp derp to you.

[Koolay]

Well, it's great that you want to talk about reason to your kids. Children are very philosophical, they will ask many whys. If your wife is irrational, and you profess to be rational, I have to ask why you are with her if you recognise her to be irrational in the first place?

Your conclusion about myself and my wife, as well as our relationship, is rather irrational. Not once did I state that she was irrational; all I said was that she leaned towards more spiritual matters, but she is, for all intents and purposes, a non-theist. Would you enjoy it if I made half-assed assumptions about you and your personal life?

So you are saying spiritualism is rational?

[thesummerqueen]

[Bad Writer]

Derp again.

[Bad Writer]

So you are saying spiritualism is rational?

To be honest with you, after having a little fun at your expense, I do think there is an irrationality about Spiritualism. But I don't think believing in a deity, Santa Claus, or poltergeists makes a person irrational, as you seem to imply that it does. Some of the most renowned scientists are Christians, and these are VERY rational men and women. Not to mention some of your peers on this site who are religious are very smart cookies.

[thesummerqueen]

Don't you know it's all or nothing, Sparty? NO SHADES OF GREY ALLOWED! A person is either all rational or all irrational!

[Bad Writer]

Not even if there are exactly 50 shades?