Why I don't believe in god

Teach children how to think, not what to think.


That's some really good advice, afraw!

I serve Apophis ! - a devoted stargate fan.

Originally Posted by st0wandgrow

That's really interesting to hear about your son, Tyler. I have a 10 year old daughter, and she is just beginning to ask questions about this. Is your son coming to these conclusions on his own, or do you feel you've had a hand in shaping his early beliefs on a deity? I'm not sure if I should simply present both sides of the equation and let her figure this out on her own, or if I should let her know exactly how I feel ..... or something in between??

Hey, Stow! I was careful for limiting his exposure to any magical thinking; no santa, Disney (hate their egalitarian bullshit), jesus, religion, etc. for the early years of his life. What was interesting was he never speculated that there could be anything outside the physical realm on his own. When he saw a magic act/trick, he would get wide-eyed and ask, 'how did they do that?' and we'd research the trick on the internet and see the mechanics behind it (his favorite show was that Magic Exposed show where the dude in a mask showed in detail how the heavies did their tricks. Not only for the tricks, but for the unbelievable women assistants the guy had ). He was amazed on his own how vulnerable our minds were to being fooled, and started to speculate on how tricks were done even before the research. He started to figure them out on his own without looking it up, 'She ran off the stage while they were misdirecting us with X', and he'd be correct. His mom's sister and I are professional musicians, and he started Suzuki guitar at 3 years old. We'd regularly gave recitals in churches, so without asking he grew up assuming that each and every church was simply a recital hall, and that all the parishioners were just attending a musical concert each week! At about age 7, we walked into a church while a service was still going on, and while I went to go warm up for my recital he wanted to just watch, seemingly transfixed on the spectacle. He had a LOT of questions afterward: what were they doing? Who were these guys god and jesus, and why couldn't they make it to the service (seemed a bit rude to him that all these folks got together while they didn't bother to show up). I explained their belief system to him and he asked, 'So they are all having fun pretending?' I laughed and explained that they were not. 'Even the ADULTS?' he asked, I nodded. 'What's wrong with them? What happened to them?' That was when I started to explain that most of the planet has this religious belief, and the specific dogma behind the major ones. He didn't think it was funny, and I had never seen him more perplexed. He never even asked why I or our circle of friends didn't believe, only why others did. When he discovered a lot of our own family members believed such things, he would question each until the answers got less and less coherent, and more and more uncomfortable, and I would pull him away.
He still considers magical thinking an awful infliction, and has made it his responsibility to inform his friends about reality, and we've gotten many angry phone calls that his friends don't believe in santa, and started to question their families' faith at home. I attempt to explain that we must be respectful of others beliefs and to leave each family to their own devices, and he still comes back with, 'How can you respect that?' I'm still struggling with that question myself...

Originally Posted by tyler.durden

Hey, Stow! I was careful for limiting his exposure to any magical thinking; no santa, Disney (hate their egalitarian bullshit), jesus, religion, etc. for the early years of his life. What was interesting was he never speculated that there could be anything outside the physical realm on his own. When he saw a magic act/trick, he would get wide-eyed and ask, 'how did they do that?' and we'd research the trick on the internet and see the mechanics behind it (his favorite show was that Magic Exposed show where the dude in a mask showed in detail how the heavies did their tricks. Not only for the tricks, but for the unbelievable women assistants the guy had ). He was amazed on his own how vulnerable our minds were to being fooled, and started to speculate on how tricks were done even before the research. He started to figure them out on his own without looking it up, 'She ran off the stage while they were misdirecting us with X', and he'd be correct. His mom's sister and I are professional musicians, and he started Suzuki guitar at 3 years old. We'd regularly gave recitals in churches, so without asking he grew up assuming that each and every church was simply a recital hall, and that all the parishioners were just attending a musical concert each week! At about age 7, we walked into a church while a service was still going on, and while I went to go warm up for my recital he wanted to just watch, seemingly transfixed on the spectacle. He had a LOT of questions afterward: what were they doing? Who were these guys god and jesus, and why couldn't they make it to the service (seemed a bit rude to him that all these folks got together while they didn't bother to show up). I explained their belief system to him and he asked, 'So they are all having fun pretending?' I laughed and explained that they were not. 'Even the ADULTS?' he asked, I nodded. 'What's wrong with them? What happened to them?' That was when I started to explain that most of the planet has this religious belief, and the specific dogma behind the major ones. He didn't think it was funny, and I had never seen him more perplexed. He never even asked why I or our circle of friends didn't believe, only why others did. When he discovered a lot of our own family members believed such things, he would question each until the answers got less and less coherent, and more and more uncomfortable, and I would pull him away.
He still considers magical thinking an awful infliction, and has made it his responsibility to inform his friends about reality, and we've gotten many angry phone calls that his friends don't believe in santa, and started to question their families' faith at home. I attempt to explain that we must be respectful of others beliefs and to leave each family to their own devices, and he still comes back with, 'How can you respect that?' I'm still struggling with that question myself...

Indeed. I detest those multiple symbol bumber stickers that say, "Coexist". Should we really tolerate rampant delusions?

Originally Posted by afrawfraw

Indeed. I detest those multiple symbol bumber stickers that say, "Coexist". Should we really tolerate rampant delusions?

I saw a bumper sticker a few weeks ago that read, 'So many Christians, So few Lions'. That guy had balls

wasn't Atlas a titan a father to the gods

Originally Posted by drive

wasn't Atlas a titan a father to the gods

In greek mythology, yes. He was paired with the moon ruler and was punished for siding with the Olympians. All Titans are gods, but not all gods are Titans.

holding up the earth for eternity has to suck