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What did my parents tell me......

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Buzzcat:
Quite an interesting discussion here. And amazingly, quite civil. That's usually not the case from my experience.

Another atheist here. And, after seeing this thread, I'm convinced that there are a LOT more atheists living right now than the media will have us believe.

Susano:

--- Quote from: Siibillam-Law on 16 Dec 2008, 12:33 ---Mark Twain said, and it makes me smile oh so, "I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it."

--- End quote ---

So? Say Ive been in jail for 10 years and are now free. Would I be scared of going back? SureIi would!
Thing is, if you die and theres no afterlife (which is most probable), then it is as if you have never existed, as all your consciousness, all your memories are gone. Sure, from your personal, subjective PoV only - but you only have that one PoV, so its valid to say that for you it is as if youve never existed. And that is goddamn scary as hell to me!

Usopp:

--- Quote ---Speaking from experience, teaching religion to children is very akin to brainwashing.  What child, when told that if they don't believe in God they will burn in hell for all eternity, will choose not to believe?
--- End quote ---

By that token, teaching a kid pretty much anything constitutes "brainwashing", because you're an authority figure and they'll generally listen to you, even if you have no grounding in fact. Telling a kid that the Earth revolves around the Sun takes a fair amount of faith on their part, but that's not considered brainwashing. If you decided to teach your kid that the Holocaust was a hoax, is that brainwashing?

Aaaarchy:
I have a lot of trouble teaching my kids the various things that various people believe and asking them to "pick" between them. The problem is that I might as well tell them that an invisible pink unicorn carries them away to Candy Mountain, because it's equally as likely as any religious viewpoint. I was told about various religions when I was little, but I realize now that it was just confusing. No religion is any more or less likely than any other, and I'd feel dishonest claiming that there were only so many options.

I feel that the only responsible thing to do is tell your child what you believe, with a caveat that you may be wrong. As I said before, when I have kids I'll tell them the most likely scenario (no afterlife, just a cessation of life), and educate them to make responsible decisions about it.

The truth may be scary to some people, but if you, as their beloved parent, face the issue with grace, confidence, and intelligence, your kids will have no problem dealing with it.

Love the Mark Twain quote, too. That's exactly how I feel.

And to whomever mentioned the prison analogy, you are WAY off. Nonexistence is nothing at all like prison, and cannot be likened to it properly. Prison is uncomfortable, sad, lonely, forced upon you, and a profoundly negative thing, while nonexistence is none of those things, in any sense.

Also, I joined the board for this discussion, too, because it's an extremely important part of my life.

pwhodges:

--- Quote from: Usopp on 16 Dec 2008, 17:50 ---If you decided to teach your kid that the Holocaust was a hoax, is that brainwashing?
--- End quote ---

You are teaching them to deny evidence and logic, and not to think for themselves, which is close enough to it for me.

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