Raising Atheists

We're atheists! hello x

 

We are!

My son is young yet and has't asked much about religion. And when he does, we will tell him that Mommy and Daddy don't believe in God for (list reasons here), tell him a little about numerous religions, and tell him he can believe whatever he likes and we will love him regardless.

 

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Lovely

Does anyone else ever wonder about what your child/ren learn when not in your care?
When my son goes to school I wonder what they're teaching him... are they teaching him about Christ and God? And if so are they teaching it as "the truth" or merely as something some people believe in?

As my children grow I'll answer any questions, and tell them what I believe. And in the end I'll let them practice whatever religion they want. But they will know that Mommy and Daddy believe in science

 

I think it depends if they are in a Catholic school! I know when I went to Catholic school they taught it as the truth.

Hi fellow atheists!

 

Hmm... I guess kinda. I want to raise our kid(s) similar to the way I was raised. Neither of my parents are religious or spiritual, but both had been force fed religion. I wasn't raised with anything, and wasn't informed on anything, either. This made things difficult and complicated for me in middle school what I started being harassed, and I wished I'd had exposure to various thoughts and religions, just so that I could be informed.

We're going to allow our kid(s) to decide whatever they wish, but we're also going to teach them about the history of different religions, holidays, etc. and let them learn about what they want to learn.

 

Hi all,

We are raising Scott an atheist, had some people question us saying he should make his own mind up. However to me it's no different to raising a catholic child.
The thread is fairly old I once read trying to group atheists is like trying to heard a group of cats!

 

I'm agnostic leaning a bit atheist. I like to think there is a god and even pray sometimes but I will tell my boy that no one knows if there is a god and to make his own choice on the matter when he is able.

 

My husband and I are very atheist, but we live in a Catholic country where events such as the confirmation and communion is a rite of passage for most children. I worry about when the time comes for my kids to have their communions. They won't have it, but the schools seem to take the kids for their communions or the confirmation (I don't know which TBH) during schooltime, so it'll be like a day out, and the girls get to wear little wedding dresses and dress up like princesses for the day - even if you're not religious, any little girl would love that. All of their friends will be having it, and talking about it for months (the party they have afterwards is as bi as a wedding reception would be, so it's a huge deal), and my kids will be the only ones not to partake. When you're that age it's not about religion is it, it's about doing what all your friends are doing.

I worry about my kids learning about religion from anyone else, because we choose not to factor it into their lives. The other day my daughter said that the doggy was "in the sky" - I don't know what dog she was talking about, but she'd obviously heard the term from somewhere. I don't mind them learning about religion in school, but my issue is when someone passes it off as the truth, just because they believe it. I do think it's imortant to teach the basics of each religion though, and to be accepting of those that believe and follow them.

TBH I do worry that my kids will want to be religious when they're older. I'm not against religion, but I'd prefer them to not follow a religion, and I feel very strongly about that. But I also realise that I can't dictate how they live, and they need to make the decision for themselves. But it does worry me a little, especially since we have such a huge Catholic influence here.

 

I'm more agnostic than atheist (I don't support organized religion), but I do wonder as well what my future child will learn when he/she is away from me. I want to teach my child about religions as a belief system so that he'll have that knoweldge, but I fear that my child will grow and "find god" and then try to convert me. I mean, the decision is his/hers at the end, obviously, but I'm hoping my child will decide to believe in fact and science over what no one has ever seen or experienced in a measurable way.

 

Hi Ember, I am agnostic but will not be raising my babies that way. I would rather they choose what they would like to be. I will probably try to expose them to a variety of religions.

 

Ds, age 3, asked me a couple of days ago where heaven was? I really wasn't expecting this one yet but I think he had heard talk of it when he was visiting his aunt. I explained that to people who believed in god heaven was a place they went to when they die if they were good when they were alive. I went on to say that I believed heaven is were you are when you are with people you love and are happy. He thought for a minute and replied that this meant heaven was where his best friend was.
My plan is to give him an overview of as many religions as I'm able to while telling him why each aspect is not my personal belief, that way he'll have the information to choose for himself.

 

I am an athiest and my son has asked about god and stated once that he believes in him. They do the nativity at school and I think that's where it came from as it was quite a while ago and shortly after Christmas he was talking about it.

I will not chose what he believes in, just like my parents didn't with me. If he asks questions I answer them to my knowledge and when we talked about god I told him that I didn't believe in him and asked him if he did and he said yes and I told him he was allowed to believe in what he wanted to believe. Not to compare the two but I'd feel hypocritical telling him he can't believe in God and then encouraging him to believe in Santa haha.

He is however very inquisitive and very interested in science (asks a lot of science based questions, especially questions about earth and how things work like seasons and day and night and bees and flowers those sorts of things) so I think that when he's old enough to connect the two he will probably go the same way as me. But like I said if he doesn't that's okay.

My OH (Toby's step dad) was religious until his teens when he read the bible and did a lot of his own research and changed his mind, he's actually really educated on the subject and I think Toby will probably go the same way as he seems like he will be the kind of person to question things.

 

My husband and I are ttc and will be raising a little athiest (hopefully) as well. We're both scientists (DH is an archaeologist and I'm an archaeologist/geophysics researcher) so we are excited to teach our LO how amazing science is