What a great parent!:"When My Young Daughter Asked If God Was Just a Story, Here's Why I Said Yes" (atheist, agnostic)

[cupper3]

I have to say, what a mature way of dealing with this. The mother goes on to say:

"God is a story some people believe, kind of like how Santa is a story some people believe." (That's right, we don't teach Santa at our house either.)

I Raise My Child In An Atheist Atmosphere

Wouldn't it be wonderful if ALL parents stopped indoctrinating their children, and wait until they were mature and could make their own decisions?

[Dude111]

I wonder if the mother is agnostic or athiest and doesnt realise it...

[prospectheightsresident]

But isn't the author of the article indoctrinating her child all the same, albeit in an anti-religious way?

[JerZ]

It's up to the parents, really.

[cupper3]

Originally Posted by prospectheightsresident

But isn't the author of the article indoctrinating her child all the same, albeit in an anti-religious way?

Or maybe she is teaching her child to think.

[JerZ]

Originally Posted by cupper3

Or maybe she is teaching her child to think.

She may be. This is one thinking exercise. There are hundreds of other possibilities as well. Everything is a teaching opportunity when one has children.

Look, I'm not a believer. The closest I've come to accurately describing myself is agnostic. BUT I wouldn't presume how to tell other parents to parent nor would I applaud "teaching" opportunities that matched my own philosophy just for that reason. I am just not seeing what's so notable about this; an atheist is teaching her kids that spiritual stories may be false, like the Santa story, then saying they can make their own decision ultimately...that just seems like a normal thing for a non believing person to tell his or her children...I don't think it's "what a great parent"-worthy. I don't mean to put down your view on it, just giving my own POV.

My sister is Christian and her now ex-husband is Jewish. They gave my niece all the information they had on their beliefs and encouraged her to find her own belief or no belief. And they ARE religious. My niece went through Judaism, a few branches of Christianity, Wicca and I can't remember what else while her parents supported to her and listened to all shed learned. I think a story like this might have been more newsworthy a few decades ago, today I see lots and lots of parents doing this, I do it with my own children. Maybe if a fundamentalist did this I'd think of it as hardcore news.

But regardless, thank you for sharing the story with us.

[303Guy]

Originally Posted by prospectheightsresident

But isn't the author of the article indoctrinating her child all the same, albeit in an anti-religious way?

Apparently not. Open mindedness doesn't qualify as indoctrination.

[Tarantula spider]

I think the honest answer would be there is no evidence that any deity exists, but it is remotely possible one could exist somewhere.

[KCfromNC]

Originally Posted by Tarantula spider

I think the honest answer would be there is no evidence that any deity exists, but it is remotely possible one could exist somewhere.

Don't limit it : it could be one god, 10, 100, 50 million or any other number. No reason to assume it has to be just one.

[skepticratic]

Originally Posted by prospectheightsresident

But isn't the author of the article indoctrinating her child all the same, albeit in an anti-religious way?

I don't know, what's being said is objectively true. The idea of God is a story some choose to believe. This answer implies that the truth of the story is dependent on what one decides to believe about the story. Frankly, I can't think of a more open ended way to answer that question. If that was the goal with that answer, then the goal was exceeded.