Pretending you're a christian for your kids Anonymous 03/14/15 (Sat) 00:42:02 9f7584 No. 4274
If I have kids I want them to be able to fit into society and yet not be easily brainwashed. I am thinking of sending them to sunday school and pretending to be a fundamentalist Christian while otherwise being completely honest and encouraging them to think critically. Aside from Christianity I would provide them with a secular educational materials. When they hit 12 if they still believe I'd tell them I've been an Atheist for a long time. It'd be similiar to letting kids have fun and then when they get older saying there is no santa clause.
Anonymous 03/14/15 (Sat) 00:46:45 8c6ab8 No. 4275
>Pretend to be a Christian. >Be rational.
Anonymous 03/14/15 (Sat) 01:10:03 9f7584 No. 4277
>>4275 I don't want them to be vulnerable to Christian propaganda in their later years such as "What do you know about Christianity. You never even were one." Or, "Being a Christian gives a feeling nothing else can." I think it helps to experience the lifestyle and hypocritisy of a cult when younger, but the important thing is not to stay part of the cult long enough for it to significantly deaden your mind.
This raises a fun question. Would you rather be born a smart and educated man who was raised to believe in in many lies, or a dumb man who was less educated but who had the power to see through the bullshit?
Anonymous 03/14/15 (Sat) 02:02:03 c79c4b No. 4278
>>4274 Your baby is not a toy
What the fuck is wrong with you?
Anonymous 03/14/15 (Sat) 02:04:34 fd4ed7 No. 4279
Are you aware that sunday school is not an enviroment open to discourse and critical interpretations? It's indoctrination. Plain and simple. You want to force your children through this crap instead of teaching them _about_ religions and critical thinking skills and letting them figure out their faith for themselves.
Anonymous 03/14/15 (Sat) 02:45:25 9f7584 No. 4280
>>4279 > You want to force your children through this crap instead of teaching them _about_ religions and critical thinking skills and letting them figure out their faith for themselves. I still want to teach them those things, but why stop at knowledge? If you teach someone a lie when they grow up, and then pull back the curtain on that lie, I think they'd be stronger when faced with liars in the future.
Christians and Atheists like to teach their kid what they see is the right path from the start. But what if you teach them a lie, prod them to cognitive dissonance, and then pull back the curtain on the lie early on? Presto! A lifetime of healthy skepticism.
Anonymous 03/14/15 (Sat) 03:10:06 8c6ab8 No. 4281
>>4277 >Smart >Believes lies >Can see though bullshit U wot m8?
Anonymous 03/14/15 (Sat) 03:10:57 8c6ab8 No. 4282
>>4280 Then your children will not see you as someone that you can trust, but they will see you as a liar.
Anonymous 03/14/15 (Sat) 03:11:56 ecff09 No. 4283
>>4274 Kids don't think about religion.
Just do the fun stuff from holidays…
Santa Claus,, chocolate bunnies, and ghosts for Halloween.
Normal children don't talk about Jesus to each other.
Anonymous 03/14/15 (Sat) 03:14:25 ecff09 No. 4284
>>4283 Hell! normal adults don't talk about Jesus all that much.
Just the usual platitudes about "thank god" on special occasions.
And we can fake that to be polite, like saying a "have a nice day" when you don't care.
Anonymous 03/14/15 (Sat) 04:46:34 b83b14 No. 4288
What the fuck? Just teach them what is reasonably true and not to be shitty about their beliefs. It's rarely relevant to even bring up being an atheist. You also shouldn't raise them to be atheist. Raise them to think critically and let them come to their own conclusions. If you do your job right, they'll naturally be atheist or agnostic. Don't make a point about being atheist unless someone brings up religion as a topic for discussion (unlikely except for door knockers or what have you).
Anonymous 03/14/15 (Sat) 05:58:49 e4ab80 No. 4290
Holy shit OP, I just can't be bothered to reply seriously to you. Just how in the hell can you claim to support critical thinking and lie to little people who are growing and learning from you so hard? > I am thinking of sending them to sunday school and pretending to be a fundamentalist Christian > and encouraging them to think critically
Anonymous 03/14/15 (Sat) 06:36:38 9f7584 No. 4291
>>4290 After they come back from Sunday School you can ask what they learned. When they talk about Noah's ark question if they believe it is possible and question them hard on how Noah's family could build such a big boat or how so many animals could fit into such a large boat. Try to make sure your kids know how difficult it is to build a boat and how many animals there are before they get to that story. Do the same with the rest of Genesis and Exodus. It could be a useful method to teach skepticism.
Anonymous 03/14/15 (Sat) 10:21:39 e30148 No. 4304
> It'd be similiar to letting kids have fun and then when they get older saying there is no santa clause.
Anonymous 03/14/15 (Sat) 12:58:47 8c6ab8 No. 4305
>>4288 >Raise them to think critically. >Not raising them atheist.
Anonymous 03/15/15 (Sun) 07:44:34 5d3c71 No. 4337
>>4282 This
>>4304 >If you want kids to have fun then why send them to Sunday School? That shit's boring, yo. Also this.
Anonymous 03/15/15 (Sun) 18:22:49 b83b14 No. 4352
>>4305 >what is emergent property see
>>4288 > If you do your job right, they'll naturally be atheist or agnostic
Anonymous 03/15/15 (Sun) 21:46:01 8c6ab8 No. 4362
>>4352 If this were the case, there would be no religious people.
>>>/christian/
Anonymous 03/16/15 (Mon) 15:48:24 6629ee No. 4405
>>4274 I strongly suggest you don't have kids until you sort this out. You will only confuse them further.
Children, regardless of what some may tell you, aren't capable of grasping complex social dynamics.
Their first and most obvious question will be: "If there's no God, why are we in church?"
Their second question will be: "Why aren't we proud of who we are?"
You better have a damn good answer. Until you do, I suggest double layer condoms.
Anonymous 03/16/15 (Mon) 18:45:51 9f7584 No. 4417
>>4405 Kids are terrible at keeping secrets unless you give them an unhealthy persecution complex: thou must not reveal you are an Atheist to Christians. That's why it'd be easier for them to live believing they are Christians. They can mingle without ostrachization or extra discrimination from parents, until you reveal there is no Santa Clause or God.
The first question has reasonable. You're here to learn what most people believe so you can better deal with people when you grow up. In fact, I think it might be a good idea to teach them mythology and folklore from several countries, since Greek mythology widened my own perspective.
The second question can be answered with, "You can tell people what you want now that you're old enough. And Atheist or not, religion or lack thereof should never be the primary source of your self-worth. But if you do want to feel special, let me tell you secrets from academia about how the bible was written and what it has made people do."
Anonymous 03/19/15 (Thu) 16:12:50 9f7584 No. 4728
As I drove home today I saw two kids holding a sign by the road, "The punishment for sin is an eternity in hell." They must have been about 10 years old. On the other side of the road a man was holding a sign…something about Jesus rising from the dead. Neither was particularly loving message. At least I could get a few chuckles if the sign said "God loves you" but making kids carry such an angry message is bad parenting.
Anonymous 03/19/15 (Thu) 17:03:00 ecff09 No. 4731
This is what I wish my parents had taught me about god.
Anonymous 04/08/15 (Wed) 01:17:44 9f7584 No. 6340
Op here, I now think it'd be better to teach kids them the myths and philosophy of the bible, and take them to church a handful of times so they know what it's like. But I've decided I wouldn't want my parents to lie to me so I wouldn't do that. I won't brainwash them either.
Anonymous 08/06/15 (Thu) 06:36:06 f50c37 No. 10295
This Atheist author sent his daughter to a Christian preschool, and then taught his kids about other myths at home. He decided not to tell them anything was wrong, but to encourage them to analyze ideas. Isn't there a danger that not telling them anything will leave them suceptable to indoctrination from their peers?
http://infidels.org/kiosk/article/parenting-beyond-belief-on-raising-ethical-caring-kids-without-religion-758.html
Anonymous 08/06/15 (Thu) 07:30:15 520d17 No. 10296
>>4274
If you want to scare your children into behaving just tell them there's a monster under the bed that will eat them if they misbehave.
Anonymous 08/06/15 (Thu) 11:52:14 342f31 No. 10298
>>10296
Or you know, you could tell them that it's in their own interests to be decent human beings because actions have consequences and you reap what you sow, so plant things in a row.
Anonymous 08/06/15 (Thu) 15:43:48 520d17 No. 10301
>>10298
But that's not reality.
Karma is the childish belief that life is somehow fair.
Virtue is not automatically rewarded..
You can be a generous kind person with nothing but love in your heart and still get hit by a bus.
Anonymous 08/06/15 (Thu) 16:04:37 342f31 No. 10302
>>10301
>But that's not reality.
>>it's in their own interests to be decent human beings
>> actions have consequences
>>you reap what you sow
None of these statements are false so you're full of shit.
>Karma is the childish belief that life is somehow fair.
That's not what I said. I said that actions have consequences.
If you want to hear my opinion on that claim, then no good deed goes unpunished. People will more often than not be assholes, but you can limit the effects by not antagonizing people. I didn't even say that you should tell them to be good people, I just said that you should teach them that being an asshole will make people hate you.
Asshole——–doing nothing———Kind person
>Virtue is not automatically rewarded..
Wow, now tell me something I'm not aware of. Where do you think you are? I am an atheist, so I have my fair share of experience with people treating me badly for being kind to them.
>You can be a generous kind person with nothing but love in your heart and still get hit by a bus.
>Being a kind person
>Getting hit by a bus
What do these two things have in common? Oh yeah, nothing.
Get the fuck out of here.
Anonymous 08/06/15 (Thu) 22:01:16 7a70bc No. 10304
>>4274
>>4277
Bad idea. You can just tell them the stories and say they are stories and that's fine.
Teach them to question all stories because most stories are "propaganda", it's always implied that something similar could happen to you and you should act/shouldn't act like the story implies.
>false dichotomy
>bad methaphors
>circle reasoning
Anonymous 08/06/15 (Thu) 23:08:08 4a6aed No. 10305
>>4277
>>4274
sounds like a good and well-though plan to me OP. But you could just teach them about religions from a secular point of view like >>10304 said.
I don't think you will fuck it up one way or the other. The worst that could happen is that your kids grow up very fond of religion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbGP_n04E4E
Anonymous 08/07/15 (Fri) 04:37:16 7a70bc No. 10309
>>10305
>The worst that could happen is that your kids grow up very fond of religion.
Or the kids become cynical assholes with trust issues.
Anonymous 08/07/15 (Fri) 06:12:00 342f31 No. 10310
>>10309
So decent, successful kids. Gotcha.
Anonymous 08/07/15 (Fri) 15:03:57 7a70bc No. 10317
>>10310
You don't get succesfull that way.
Anonymous 08/07/15 (Fri) 18:42:56 342f31 No. 10320
>>10317
You don't get out much.
Anonymous 09/01/15 (Tue) 22:22:10 f50c37 No. 10849
Sort of related; isn't it good to be alive in a time when we have the right to raise our own kids?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgardo_Mortara#Mortara_case
In 1820 Italy, non-christians weren't allowed to raise kids who had been baptized. So when a servant allegedly splashed water on a boy to baptize him at the age of six, the Vatican had grounds to kidnap him from his Jewish parents. They sent him to an orphanage, and brainwashed him into being a priest. The parents never got him back.
Even now if (literally) anyone baptizes you and says a few words, you're registered as a Catholic for life. It doesn't have to be a priest either.
Anonymous 09/02/15 (Wed) 00:19:53 342f31 No. 10853
>>10849
So christfags taking what doesn't belong to them.
Why am I not surprised that jew-worshipers act like jews?
Anonymous 09/07/15 (Mon) 17:34:32 d791c2 No. 11003
>>4274
The thing is, I've sometimes wondered about doing the exact same thing. The reason for this is that I have noticed that as a musician it's easier to get hired by churches and take their money when you profess some nominal belief in Christianity. Being able to play multiple gigs in different kind of churches has allowed me to see what kinds of people believe what kinds of things about religion in general.
This brings me to a kind of related point: if you don't like the idea of doing that, then hire more musicians for secular gigs. If there are enough calls for a brass quintet at your parties then I don't have to spend time in churches just to make money.
Anonymous 09/07/15 (Mon) 18:31:07 f50c37 No. 11006
>>11003
Being honest always has a price, and not everyone is rich enough to turn down money. I left the Christian absolutes behind, and understand the need to survive, and the practicalness of white lies when society is still intolerant and unequal.
Anonymous 09/09/15 (Wed) 14:28:29 0006a4 No. 11017
>>4362
>implying anywhere near a majority of parents do their job right