Outing myself as atheist to the family - Page 12

But at the same time, Swice Girl, certainly you wouldn't want your kid to believe non-Christians aren't 'better' people?

What are the teachings of Christ, anyway? I know a couple who take their newborn and little kid to church because they want them to be 'good', but I don't see how it goes much beyond "Don't kill people!" or something.

I was taken through church as a kid for the very reasons you outline, and confirmed in Catechism (Lutheran church) but I didn't learn anything valuable. Just a personal anecdote, I'm not about to tell somebody how to raise their kid.

My stance on organized religion is it's just an ego trip...you want to believe you're right regardless of any facts. The creator of the universe is on your side, after all. And nursing you specifically. Man, I just keep spouting the same stuff over and over again...argh, maybe if I can convince one person who's devout I'd be satisfied. But even still, it'd be just an awakening by themselves more than anything I had to do with.

::blink::

Seriously?

Seriously?

Go read the Sermon on the Mount. Don't come back until you're done. While you do that, I'm going to send a very sternly worded letter to your former pastor.

Yeah, there's probably nothing of value in Jesus throwing the money-lenders out of the temple. Or, you know, showing great respect and deference to the lowest castes of society. That was just another ego trip.

I mean, you're intentionally ignorant, which is funny but also kind of annoying.

"Don't kill people or something."- Jesus

It's almost sigworthy.

Do it. Jesus would want you to.

I am ignorant of it, as I am ignorant of most things...but I will check out the sermon on the mount and try to be more knowledgable.

EDIT: My church mostly just emphasized how we can all be saved if we just ask forgiveness, so there was little dwelling on right or wrong, as it was irrelevent in Christ's eyes.

When you read the Sermon (great piece of writing), imagine Ian McShane saying it. Makes it a thousand times more awesome.

"What did He say?"
"I think it was 'Blessed are the cheesemakers'."
"What's so special about the cheesemakers?"
"Obviously it's not meant to be taken literally, it refers to any manufacturers of dairy products."

Yeah. Go to church with them. Don't reject THEM because of the silly Church. Express your opinions in terms of what you believe in, as opposed to what you don't believe in. Don't go "What you just said is stupid, let me tell you why", but "I read that such and such is true "... without stating outright that it contradicts anything they believe. You can, in fact, talk in their language, if necessary "I don't see why God is incapable of doing things in the way I believe". Eg; Evolution. I don't see why going to Church is such a problem. That pre-supposes that NOTHING of ANY worth is capable of being said in such a setting.

Your atheism really really isn't that important. If the subject of Santa comes up, are you going to go along with what the kids believe, or insist on telling the "truth"? Go along, to get along. You can slip your own ideas in diplomatically. Just leave the "I believe religious people are idiots" opinions out of it.

I actually wish I'd been more diplomatic last Christmas when my atheist brother in law started going on about 9-11 conspiracy theories, and I made him feel stupid by supplying my own opinions.

If only NoDiggity had responded earlier, Nordling might have avoided the ugly incident that never happened!

I do not discriminate when it comes to religion. I believe in God (I think they're all the same being but with different names), I don't believe in religion. That being said, when you are teaching your child, you start with what you know. As I said before, I know little as an adult even about Christianity. My daughter is only 18 months old so I have a long time before these topics come up. When they do I want her to be educated on everything before she makes a decision. We can explore together, because I'm sure there will be other religions forming that I won't know about either. That includes other religions not revolving around Jesus. I am going to do my best to educate her without swaying her in any direction. Isn't that what we're supposed to do?

Renn, Swice Girl and I both decided long before we had children that we wanted them to learn and be knowledgeable about all religions or belief systems and let her make her mind up herself. The bigger problem is going to come from the extended family (paternal side, natch) that is going to sway her toward the road of Christianity. I don't want to do what most of our parents do and force MY beliefs on her, but at the same time I don't want her indoctrined with a "traditional" Christian belief system either.

I hope my child is more well rounded and learned than I was growing up.

I'm going to insert a funny story here that Swice girl will vouch for:

We had the the radio on while we were preparing dinner and all of a sudden the station changes to a Christian station playing a sermon. She'd obviously discovered the radio. I looked at my wife and made a comment that she's already rebelling against her Dad's beliefs.

Yeah, with my luck she'll be a fundie.

<SIGH> NOTE TO SELF: Next time I will copy text before clicking submit reply!

This may sound cliche, but what the hell. We are planning on teaching our child that Christian or non-Christian, we are all still members of the human race. By being a better person, that means (in my mind anyway) in comparison to the person one would have been had one not been educated on the importance of deference to others, acknowledgement of the existence of others in the world around us (egocentrism?), and overall respect for the world around us and others living in it. (I just realized how much I sound like a treehugger.) I don't know if Jesus or (insert favorite deity here) ever really existed. Maybe the idea of Jesus or (insert favorite deity here) was created because we can't wrap our small minds around anything we can't physically hold onto.


I do not believe I am "right", nor do I believe anyone else is "wrong". That's why they are called "beliefs" and not "truths". I don't think the creator of the universe is on my side, or anyone's, for that matter. If that was the case, then I would have to be of the opinion that anytime something horrific happened, it must have happened because it was deserved.