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I am a Deist (in short, I believe in some kind of Divine Creator, but not any kind of personal or "bible"-type God), but even if I were an atheist, I would get around the oath issue by knowing that many people think of "God" as simply being a convenient term for Nature, Science, and the Cant't-(Yet)-Be-Explained. In your son's case, that might solve the dilemma.
OP, google the alma mater your son will be singing at the high school he will attend.
Are you happy to have him sing that from the stands (or play it from the marching field)? Who actually believes in their heart they're pledging undying loyalty to a high school? No one, is the answer. No on there believes a word they're singing.
I know you keep trying to compare this to Christians denying their God - and it's the exact opposite. Denying something you firmly believe in, instead of singing a little singsong oath to something that doesn't really cross your radar are completely different.
I agree. BTW, here are the closing words of the first verse of my college's alma mater. This is a now public university that was once private but never religious:
"Dear Old Pittsburgh, Alma Mater; God preserve thee evermore".
My son is now 45, so my days with the Cub Scouts were back in the late Seventies, but I'm on your side, OP. I agree with you that words and pledges have meaning and that you should live your beliefs. Your son will survive missing out on the Cub Scouts better than he will survive having a Dad who sells out his values for social acceptance.
You're getting a lot of peer pressure here, a lot of shaming and unwarranted accusations of being close-minded and hypocritical. You're not. And you're not a mean parent, either.
I, like a previous poster, also found the "Hitler Youth" aroma disturbing when my son was in the troop, and while I didn't forbid it, I didn't encourage him to continue, either, and he eventually dropped out. His troop was sponsored by a local church we didn't attend and they made a HUGE deal about him being the only one from a "broken home". We shared a table at the awards dinner with the only two black kids in the troop and their dad and no one would speak to any of us. If I had it to do over, I'd have said no.
I feel sad for a 5 year old who is not able to participate in scouting because his mother is an atheist. I was a Girl Scout, and the subject of my belief or non belief never came up.
As someone else mentioned, the mother’s atheism feels no different than that of a fundamentalist Christian.
I wish your son could fully comprehend what you are doing to him and why - and that he had the power to argue HIS stance with you - but he is a child, and you are the dictator. It just seems really selfish to me. It's all about YOU. Your son would not be hurt by this at all, but YOU would be.
The same thing is true for those who are bringing up their children in their own religion, you know. Would you let your 5 year old choose a denomination that was not your own?
I feel sad for a 5 year old who is not able to participate in scouting because his mother is an atheist. I was a Girl Scout, and the subject of my belief or non belief never came up.
As someone else mentioned, the mother’s atheism feels no different than that of a fundamentalist Christian.
Girl Scouts are not the same organization. They allow substituting the word God in their oath with something else. Also just so you’re aware I’m the child’s father not his mother.
The same thing is true for those who are bringing up their children in their own religion, you know. Would you let your 5 year old choose a denomination that was not your own?
You illustrate part of my issue pretty well. The poster you were replying to said it wouldn’t harm my child. I don’t think they comprehend that to me religion is harmful. Again, not trying to offend anyone, that is my personal viewpoint.
I will say this. Bear with me as I think it is relevant to this discussion. I was raised in a pretty strict Southern Baptist home. My parents taught me there was a God and this is how He is. There was no discussion. It was a my way or the highway approach. It really screwed me up for a lotof years as I didn't believe in God because of my own through processes, but rather my parents said there was a god and that was that.
When I became a dad, I was still kinda iffy on it all, but I decided to let my kids decide for themselves what they believed it. My ex was more firm in her beliefs than I was, but she agreed with me. We had family discussions on religion and morality all the time. Some times we would go to church, often times we would not. Somehow my kids decided for themselves what they believed in and both me and my ex were happy with that.
As parents, we should want our kids to grow into who they are, not be forced into it because we say so. However, at 5, you get to choose what organizations he belongs to.
You illustrate part of my issue pretty well. The poster you were replying to said it wouldn’t harm my child. I don’t think they comprehend that to me religion is harmful. Again, not trying to offend anyone, that is my personal viewpoint.
Have you looked at any detailed description of the scout teaching and activities ? You'll be placing him in an organization that emphasizes religion [in a good way] in almost every facet of its programs. Before long, God will be a dinner conversation in your home and you might have to make a decision you think should wait until your son is older.
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