Atheist Parenting Guide

[Aoi Magi]

Atheism is the logical outcome of intelligence.

Just ensure they get good education and foster their analytical skills, and things will turn out just fine.

[freedeepthink]

I appreciate all of your advice. I've imagined telling her that Jesus is like Santa Claus for adults, but I know i wouldn't feel right feel approaching it like that.

Jenny, I like the "information without indoctrination" approach.

Surgenator, I also will introduce my girls to all different types of religions of the world, both past and present. That way she understands that all of the religions cannot be right and that even if a society believes in something, it doesn't mean that it is true.

Exian, it sounds as though a lot of us are in the same boat. Let me know how it goes. It would be so much easier to tell our kids that the loving and cuddly Santa-God is real. But then we aren't atheists because it is easy. We are atheists because we have the strength to live in reality.

[Exian]

I think you should let them find out their faiths/beliefs in their own time, don't pressurise or stop them from doing things, (apart from illegal activities)

This was my approach as a Christian. The problem with this is I don't want her growing up with the inability to think critically, or the possibility of her wrongly denying scientific facts based solely on the idea that they conflict with her beliefs. With Christianity (her most likely religious choice) she would be more likely to deny evolution, archeology, genetics, physics, cosmology, and geology, to name a few, and almost scariest of all, all of her beliefs would not be tentative.

[freedeepthink]

I think you should let them find out their faiths/beliefs in their own time, don't pressurise or stop them from doing things, (apart from illegal activities)

This was my approach as a Christian. The problem with this is I don't want her growing up with the inability to think critically, or the possibility of her wrongly denying scientific facts based solely on the idea that they conflict with her beliefs. With Christianity (her most likely religious choice) she would be more likely to deny evolution, archeology, genetics, physics, cosmology, and geology, to name a few, and almost scariest of all, all of her beliefs would not be tentative.

Excellent! I agree. Share the science, not wishful fantasies. Help your children understand the beauty of the real world. I really like this. Then when she is confronted with religious influences, she will naturally ask herself logical questions.

---

I think back to when I was a devout Christian and I had that ridiculous "blind faith" attitude. To question your Christian dogma was immoral. It was only in my deep pursuit of what the whole bible really said did I discover the ridiculousness of the bible. I realized that the God of the bible wasn't at all loving but a selfish and threatening bully that would create a civilization knowing, in advance, that most of it's creatures should burn eternally. Utter madness! Hopefully, my girls will understand the ridiculousness of the bible too, but through their understanding of the truth.

Now, I am not going to tell my daughters to be atheists. However, in discussing history how can I resist warning them of the dreadful consequences that religion has had upon mankind? It really isn't a subject I can ignore. Imagine: Daddy, why did the inquisition happen? Daddy, what does ISIS wan't from the rest of the world and why?

Isn't religion the biggest scam ever fabricated upon/within human civilization? How can I not share my opinion with her while at the same time (to be fair) to explain the converse. Again, when age appropriate? I wonder how other atheists are explaining ISIS and the religious war to their teens?

[Thumpalumpacus]

Bad Wolf nailed it -- how to think is your goal. It works. My son got honest answers with as little bias as I could manage when he asked about the beliefs of his friends and his mother, who converted from Catholicism to Buddhism. His mother and I both agree to inform and not indoctrinate, and to be honest.

Kids aren't dumb. They will sift the data and establish conclusions, and the more information they have, in this topic, the better.

[Jenny A]

I think you should let them find out their faiths/beliefs in their own time, don't pressurise or stop them from doing things, (apart from illegal activities)

I'm very pleased to hear a Christian say not to pressure children about god. I think religion and the god question is a matter that should never be forced. However, in my biased opinion, providing information about religions, skepticism, and reason will almost invariably result in atheists or deists. This is particularly true if the parents are not devout.

[RobbyPants]

I have the added complication of being an atheist married to a Christian. I basically plan on making sure my girls are good critical thinkers.

I could tell my wife had talked to our five-year-old about me when she asked me "Daddy, why don't you believe in things you can't see?". My wife isn't trying to poison her against me, but she will explain it in a way that fits within her narrative.

[C4RM5]

I think you should let them find out their faiths/beliefs in their own time, don't pressurise or stop them from doing things, (apart from illegal activities)

I'm very pleased to hear a Christian say not to pressure children about god. I think religion and the god question is a matter that should never be forced. However, in my biased opinion, providing information about religions, skepticism, and reason will almost invariably result in atheists or deists. This is particularly true if the parents are not devout.

I saying this I am thankful that when I was young my parents brought me to church, now I want to go to church on Sundays.

[JesusHChrist]

I saying this I am thankful that when I was young my parents brought me to church, now I want to go to church on Sundays.

Brainwashing.

[C4RM5]

It is not brainwashing if I freely go, where have you got this idea of brainwashing.