Raising atheist kids.

[Jehanne]

I have a darling six-year old girl whom I have told absolutely nothing about god, Jesus, etc.  She's in 1st Grade now but came home one day asking, "Who is Jesus?"  I told her that he "is some guy from Mexico", and since then, she has said nothing further about him/it!  But, now, her teacher has been giving me dirty looks for the last 6 months or so!

And, so, atheist parents, how do you deal with this?

[Ben Davis]

I haven't hidden anything from my eldest but then religion isn't much of a problem in the UK.
I said that lots of people believe in gods of different types. At the moment, his favourite are Hanuman, Shiva, Ganesh and Brahma because of a game called Battle Cats and this cartoon:





He also has a fantasy world called the Underworld. In there, the gods are his Team and he sets them on various projects. At the moment, they run his restaurants.

I don't think I've got any problems.

[Thumpalumpacus]

We each told our son our own beliefs when he asked. We neither indoctrinated him with our own opinions, just explained our views as he asked. She was Catholic, I was atheist. I was comfortable with this arrangement, and he's a 19-year-old atheist.

Of course, I will love him no matter his beliefs, so long as he isn't a dick to others.

[Mister Agenda]

It's probably a good idea to teach her about religion in a 'some people believe this and some people believe that' sort of way. Successfully teach her to be a critical thinker and whatever she winds up believing, you'll have done a good job.

[Alex K]

I'm not raising atheist kids. If they become atheists, it will be because they were never told by their parents that there's a God they have to pray to yadda yadda. I'm not going to tell my daughter that there's no God, much less that I expect her to not believe in one. I'm sure that I'll tell her that I myself don't believe in one and will explain why when the issue comes up. I first and foremost hope to raise critically thinking kids.

[SteveII]

I have a darling six-year old girl whom I have told absolutely nothing about god, Jesus, etc.  She's in 1st Grade now but came home one day asking, "Who is Jesus?"  I told her that he "is some guy from Mexico", and since then, she has said nothing further about him/it!  But, now, her teacher has been giving me dirty looks for the last 6 months or so!

And, so, atheist parents, how do you deal with this?

I would not mock religions or people of other religions. Teach respect.

[Shell B]

I'm not raising atheist kids. If they become atheists, it will be because they were never told by their parents that there's a God they have to pray to yadda yadda. I'm not going to tell my daughter that there's no God, much less that I expect her to not believe in one. I'm sure that I'll tell her that I myself don't believe in one and will explain why when the issue comes up. I first and foremost hope to raise critically thinking kids.

My stepson has a very religious uncle. Thankfully, he's ridiculous enough that the boy picked up on it from a young age. When we talked about belief in god, I just told him I don't believe in god for the same reason I don't believe in ghosts. When he told me he was an atheist at about 9 or 10, I told him maybe he should wait to label himself. I also told him to make sure my then in laws knew I didn't tell him to be an atheist.

[ukatheist]

Lol my kids go/went to a Church of England primary school (probably the least pushy of the xtian sects) despite both myself and my husband being atheist - many if not most primaries in the UK are faith based.

They both know we are not believers, and when they come home spouting jeebus nonsense, we just ask 'how do you know that happened?' 'does that make sense to you?' 'what other explanations are there?'. We've told them both that xtianity is something that some people believe, just like islam, judaism, buddhism etc, just like they used to believe in Santa and the tooth fairy.



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[Minimalist]

I have a darling six-year old girl whom I have told absolutely nothing about god, Jesus, etc.  She's in 1st Grade now but came home one day asking, "Who is Jesus?"  I told her that he "is some guy from Mexico", and since then, she has said nothing further about him/it!  But, now, her teacher has been giving me dirty looks for the last 6 months or so!

And, so, atheist parents, how do you deal with this?

You were right about jesus.  He's very important.



He's puts food on the table.

[Whateverist]

My brother is having this problem with my niece (11) and nephew (8). He's afraid they'll feel ostracized peers for not being a believer so he is avoiding talking about religion. Probably not the best course of action.