Another ? for athiests/non believers of any religion

[davej]

If your child ended up in church, continued to go and ended up finding God, would you be supportive of their decision? Why or why not?

[Universal Mind]

How old is the child?

[davej]

well i didn't think about that. how about old enough to decide for themself, to think for themself.

[Bearsy]

I wouldn't agree but I wouldn't berate them or anything. As long as they don't try to push it on me.

[Kiza]

Of course I'd be supportive of their decision. If he/she was old enough to think for him/herself, of course I would. Just wondering, dave, why do you ask?

[davej]

Just wondering, dave, why do you ask? The other day my friend (who is an athiest) and I were talking and that question popped up. He said he wouldn't allow her to go to church. I was just wondering what you guys thought

[Kiza]

That's the kind of atheist I dislike. That militant, possessive kind of atheist who will get in an uproar about how the Christians are forcing things on people, and then force their daughter to not go to church. Note that's not an attack on your friend, dave, just an observation about some atheists.

[Universal Mind]

well i didn't think about that. how about old enough to decide for themself, to think for themself. Then it's fine with me. I would explain my view to the child, but it would be up to him/her to go to church or not go.

[ninja9578]

Depends on the age. If the child was < 15, then they're easily brainwashed by fantastic stories that never happened. If they're older than that, they're free to make up their own mine.

[Xei]

Well I'd talk to them about it and what their reasons are for doing so because I think religion is ridiculous. But at an age of 16 or so they can make up their own mind.

[Idolfan]

It depends which God s/he finds. If it's the sadomasochistic bogoted piece of shit that they call the mainstream Judeo-Christian fucktard then I would probably shoot my child before s/he fucks any more people up in the head.

[SpecialInterests]

I think by the time my child reached the age of reason, I would have equipped him/her with what they need to muster a defense against a concept like religion. Things like basic reasoning. It should be noted I mean institutionalized religion.

[spaceexplorer]

Same question could be asked this way: Regardless of if you're an atheist or not, would you be happy with your child (who is old enough to think for themselves) joining a religious cult? I think the difference between an Atheist and the Religious, is just that Atheism considers all religions to be equally false and misleading. Whilst most religous people consider -every religion but there own- to be false and misleading. So be it a small cult, or a more popular cult, like say Christianity. It still requires the person stop asking questions and using critical thinking. Everyone is an Atheist to some degree. A christian is an Atheist to all religions other than Christianity. Atheism just takes it one step further and considers all religions to be false. So, Would I be bothered with my child adopting a lifestyle based on misinformation and the control of their behaviour based on someone elses rules? Yes I'd be bothered.

[Sornaensis]

If my child found god, I would no doubt be very proud. However I ponder this about as much as I ponder what would happen if the moon were a giant ball of cheese. ... Seriously though, I wouldn't support their decision. That would be like having a child that became a Neo-Nazi or KKK member to me.

[Alric]

If they got involved in their community and made a lot of friends, it would probably be a good thing for them. Regardless of if you agree with their belief or not, being involved in a community(such as a church), is normally a good thing.

[davej]

thanks for the responses.... I am surprised that this question wasn't turned around on me... If my child grew up and decided to follow another religion other then Christianity or became an athiest, would I support them? Sense it wasn't asked and all of you except for maybe one respectfully answered my question, I will answer as well. I think I would have to sit down and talk with him or her about their decision. Find out why they chose a different route. I would have a very open and loving discussion about their beliefs and I believe I would have to support them. I would obviously pray for them but if that is what they really believed in then I would do my best to be supportive. The only outcome i can see of not being supportive would be driving them away. I didn't realize how difficult this question would be until I answered it.

[Mes Tarrant]

I don't know. It's a good question. I'm aware of what the "right" answer might be, but... I would definitely try to persuade my child not to do this. But then again I suppose it could be useful for him/her to have this experience. We all go through phases of sorts and (hopefully) end up learning from them.

[Arcana]

i would probably start crying and saying "Why couldnt you just be gay!?"

[Catbus]

If your child ended up in church, continued to go and ended up finding God, would you be supportive of their decision? Why or why not? I'm not going to punish my kid for wanting to believe what he/she wants to believe, I don't see myself challenging their beliefs either, unless they confront me on my non-theism of sorts in an evangelical attempt. I'm sure I'd be very open with my non-belief. Honestly, I wouldn't have a problem with my kid being a theist at all as long as they were socially liberal to an extent (cool with homosexuality mainly), I wouldn't want my kid to be intolerant.

[LucidFlanders]

If your child ended up in church, continued to go and ended up finding God, would you be supportive of their decision? Why or why not? I'm agnostic but if i was an athiest and my kid was a church person i would not care really. If i forced the child to not go, i am no different then a church goer forcing the child to the church. Besides, i don't judge people or force people to stop drinking pepsi because i drink coke, or people who like basketball to switch to hockey because i like hockey. You're a terrible person if you must force beliefs onto someone. We are able to think for ourselves, make our own choices, understand things that make us the best of intelligence in the world, why strip away the freedom for a "choice". It's called a choice because you can choose to accept, or not accept it. We have evolved enough to understand these things, therefore we know of our own freedom. Besides, there are much more and better choices then "where am i going when i die", we live in the "now" the "moment", and death is in the future which is not known because there is no future, there are only events that are happening this exact second that lead up to a "future" as we call it.

[Black_Eagle]

I would make my stance very, very clear, but in the end I'd let my child do as he pleases. Like Catbus said, so long as they are socially liberal concerning other religions, homosexuals, and atheists, I'd be fine with it. That probably wouldn't happen though. I would have discussed religion with my child quite a bit so he gets the facts straight: That there is no reason to believe in God, only irrational faith.

[Indecent Exposure]

I wouldnt mind per se, I might point and laugh a little

[Photolysis]

I'd support them in the sense of allowing them to do so, but I wouldn't support the actual decision, though I'd only give them my opinion on the subject if it was asked for. But I wouldn't tolerate anything like "Homosexuals are fags" or any other religiously-justified bigotry. Not that I plan on having children, but I'd also doubt this would happen, given I'd teach my child how to think not what to think.

[khh]

I think I'd be very disappointed if a child of mine took to religion, but I'd do my best to hide it. Not sure what you mean by "support it", though.

[DreamQueen]

I would do everything I could to save them from the time-wasting delusion that is Christianity. I would sit them down and have a heart-to-heart with them and give them some books on evolution etc. To be honest though this would never happen. No child of mine would be stupid enough to fall for it especially since they would have been taught why it is all BS right from birth and why some people believe it, so would be able to see both arguments clearly instead of just one biased view in favour of magic.