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My parents told me God is a myth. And I will tell this to my children.
Hi,
Im asking this just out of curiosity. A person who identify themselves as atheists, do you still celebrate religious holidays, depending on where and how you grew up? For instance, lets pretend you grew up in a typical American household that celebrates Christmas. Do you still do that but only for traditional reasons and for the sake of your children. The magic of Christmas if you understand what I mean.
I once tried to explain to my son why we celebrate Eater and Christmas. I tried to explain the background behind it. We don't go to church and we don't ever talk about religion, Christianity, God. We just live an everyday life like most Americans but religion is not a part of our everyday life.
So when I once tried to explain for my son why Easter and Christmas is celebrated, it was purely for educational reasons. The first thing my son says is " Who is Jesus"?
It made me feel bad. I think that he should know about these things. But how do I teach him without preaching it to him?
I'd teach it as history - there was a man who lived around 2000 years ago who was a religious leader and some people believed he was the Son of God - that kind of thing instead of in a religious way.
I once tried to explain to my son why we celebrate Eater and Christmas. I tried to explain the background behind it. We don't go to church and we don't ever talk about religion, Christianity, God. We just live an everyday life like most Americans but religion is not a part of our everyday life.
So when I once tried to explain for my son why Easter and Christmas is celebrated, it was purely for educational reasons. The first thing my son says is " Who is Jesus"?
It made me feel bad. I think that he should know about these things. But how do I teach him without preaching it to him?
I teach my kids "Christians/Jews/whatever celebrate this holiday because they believe XYZ (ie religious explanation). But we celebrate it because ABC (ie family tradition, because it's fun, to learn more about other people)". It's pretty straightforward, actually.
Both my husband are atheist/agnostic and we will let our son decide what he wants to believe. We wont exactly raise him atheist/agnostic, but we will not be going to church. If he decides he wants to go that route, I'll send him with a friend or something, I have a lot of religious friends. Heck, me and hubby are friends with a catholic priest for gosh sake, so its not like we hold disdain for religion and those who believe in it.
This is pretty much what we have done. When my younger son wanted to go to church with his Great-Uncle (LDS/Mormon) we were okay with that. We were okay with my Aunt buying him a nativity set as a gift and we even bought him a book of Bible stories. When he was a bit older and decided he wanted to explore Wicca we encouraged that too. Now he is 15, about to be 16, and pretty much agnostic but he is a very open minded kid which was the goal.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ADVentive
I teach my kids "Christians/Jews/whatever celebrate this holiday because they believe XYZ (ie religious explanation). But we celebrate it because ABC (ie family tradition, because it's fun, to learn more about other people)". It's pretty straightforward, actually.
Same here. Also, many major holidays actually have pre-Christian roots (roots in paganism) and we explain that as well.
The same way you think that it does exist. pure speculation on both sides (this is coming from an atheist)
Quote:
Originally Posted by glass_of_merlot
Hi,
Im asking this just out of curiosity. A person who identify themselves as atheists, do you still celebrate religious holidays, depending on where and how you grew up? For instance, lets pretend you grew up in a typical American household that celebrates Christmas. Do you still do that but only for traditional reasons and for the sake of your children. The magic of Christmas if you understand what I mean.
Yes we do. We celebrate Easter, but easter is mostly pagan traditions anyway (easter bunny and dying of eggs). We will also celebrate christmas since its just a highly commercialized holiday anyway. His birthday is the winter solstice anyway, so he'll have lots to keep him busy.
We debated a long time if we wanted to do holidays and we decided keeping in with common traditions was a good thing in the long run.
The thing is, do we know the truth? What happens if they ask that follow up question? Isn't saying to them that god doesn't exist demonstrating you as a parent have faith god doesn't exist? Couldn't they call you on that one?
Do we even know that? There might be a risk if your kid does a little digging and questions you. What will that do to your credibility? It's a slippery slope. Risky. For example, what happens if your kid points to a resource that questions of Jesus actually existed?
Do we even know that? There might be a risk if your kid does a little digging and questions you. What will that do to your credibility? It's a slippery slope. Risky. For example, what happens if your kid points to a resource that questions of Jesus actually existed?
The thing is, do we know the truth? What happens if they ask that follow up question? Isn't saying to them that god doesn't exist demonstrating you as a parent have faith god doesn't exist? Couldn't they call you on that one?
How is that any different from any other faith?
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