Should atheist parents teach their kids about religion?
23 June 2009 by StardustThe Friendly Atheist wrote an interesting post titled “Why Does Religious Literacy Matter in Secular Families?” Hemant asks a good question to consider, “Is it worth filling their heads with mythology when we know there’s no truth behind it?”
IMO, yes. Religious literacy does matter in secular families because in order to debate something, or make an informed decision, one must know all of the facts even if it brings a risk of the child choosing to believe and adopt one of the religions he or she is being taught about.
Hemant Mehta writes:
Dale McGowan, author of Parenting Beyond Belief and Raising Freethinkers, suggests four reasons why you should teach them about religion:
* So they can better understand the world
* To empower them
* To help them make their own informed choice
* To prevent the “teen epiphany”
Here is a video that he also posted to better explain:
23 June 2009, on 2:12 pm
I took my son to a Unitarian Universalist congregation. He learned about different religions in their Religious Education program as well as learning about atheism, secular humanism etc as valid points of view.
He is now 24 years old and remains a skeptic.
23 June 2009, on 4:09 pm
I think secular parents should teach their kids about religion, mostly because it will never go away and they will always be assaulted with idiotic religious viewpoints.
But mostly they should be taught it so the religious can’t say we’re indoctrinating our children into atheism.
23 June 2009, on 7:31 pm
Religion is part of our culture and should be taught to children as should art, music, literature, etc., and, of course, critical thinking.
23 June 2009, on 9:29 pm
Can’t we just sterilize the religious?
Snark!
23 June 2009, on 10:59 pm
Education yes, indoctrination no.
23 June 2009, on 11:24 pm
First, and foremost…when ready, of course…children should be taught to THINK; and not to be afraid to question…anything…especially, not to believe anything without some evidence that also makes sense to whatever stage the child is at.
I wasn’t a parent; but if I had been, I would have let the child indicate, by whatever questions, what KIND or level of, and how much information he/she was ready for.
Mainly, I think it’s important not to squelch curiosity.
Details about various religions should be added, I think, when the child is a bit older; and depends on the schooling situation, as well.
I was brainwashed, right from the get-go in Catholic schools; learning about sin, angels, devils, etc.
Which, brings up, IMO, another VERY important point…giving a child a positive self-image; with absolutely none of that fucking child abusive…”You’re a worthless sinner; who deserves hell” bullshit that many of us got.
As to those things like believing in Santa Claus, Fairies, etc…I think lying about it might not be a good idea. One could possible say something like…
“We’re not sure about Santa, the Easter Bunny, or those weirdos living next door..what do you think…”Johnny (or Penelope)”?
[Johnny]: “Daddy?…I think Santa’s weird. Sliding down chimneys and riding in the sky with a red-nosed reindeer. And where does he go to the bathroom?”
[Me]: “Shut up and drink your Gin!…
while I play with your Red Ryder BB gun!”
Yeah…and, of course, keep a sense of humor about it all!…?
24 June 2009, on 3:48 pm
My 7 year old son recently deduced, all by himself, that the Santa Claus myth is crap. I asked him how he knew that, and he said he didn’t know it, he just doesn’t see how it could be possible. It was a defining moment, for me at least. He’s already questioning outrageous crap. Flying sleighs being pulled by animals that mystically fly all over the world once per year to deliver an innumerable amount of toys to innumerable children… hopefully he can conclude that a cosmic Jewish zombie who will thrust those who do not love him correctly into a burning inferno is equally absurd.
“Is it worth filling their heads with mythology when we know there’s no truth behind it?”
You see, I’m with Dawkins on this one. I don’t think I can actually come to the conclusion that I know there’s no truth behind it. I’m a 6.9 on his scale, but I have compunctions about using the same audacity and arrogance that believers use to say that they KNOW they are right in order to arrive at 7. Maybe that’s because I understand a thing or two about epistemology and what it means to know or not to know something, but my atheism is not at the point where I can say I know there is no god. The believers say they know there is a god but can’t prove it. I take this approach with my children. I point out that people believe in some really weird crap and have nothing to back it up (except subjective belief systems and feelings), but that there is a possibility, no matter how remote or how incredibly stupid, that WE are in the wrong, however unlikely that might be. So yeah, I (tacitly and lightly) expose my kids to religion, but I do NOT impose upon their minds that it is possible to KNOW that religions are false (in an epistemological sense). I hope I’m not raising them to experience the teen Jesus epiphany. If they’re going to have a teen epiphany, it better be about something like Van Gogh or Pink Floyd.
24 June 2009, on 5:20 pm
Of course, to educate, especially when it comes to their role in history. I mean, they wrote a lot of what is in history books!
But do we have to talk about it anymore? Another fundie just went down in a hypocritical shitstorm, AND I’M LOVING EVERY SECOND OF IT!!!
24 June 2009, on 9:26 pm
I am an atheist, a public school librarian and mother to one inquisitive 11-year-old. My daughter has been taught about world religions since she was knee-high to a disturbing dogma. LOL! My primary concern is to gift her with the tools for critical thinking…Comparing world religions is a favorite hobby of ours…I provide her with plenty of materials, thinking maps, and we make a game out of the endeavor. She enjoys writing her own creation stories featuring a mish-mash of colorful characters (sound familiar?).
In the process, my daughter learns how to evaluate sources, formulate questions, synthesize information and defend a position. I’m a hands-on mom. We have made Greek goddesses out of clay, Olmec heads out of marshmallows (edible Olmecs) and playdough. Our favorite fun-god is Yahweh but we have yet to make Yahweh out of marshmallows and toothpicks. We’re still not on the New Testament. I don’t even want to imagine how we will represent Jesus (dead-guy-on-a-stick? LOL!)….:-)
Learning about religions with your child can be quite an adventure. I highly recommend it!
24 June 2009, on 10:06 pm
Sure we should… the same way we teach them about pickpockets.
25 June 2009, on 11:36 am
Here’s the real conundrum, for me. Suppose we raise our little ones to think critically, to examine, to long for freedom, etc. and they wind up in their adult life choosing faith in god(s). They wind up thinking that The Trinity makes sense, that the Bible is the infallible, inerrant word of a loving god, what have you. That would suck. But would it? I mean, if I raise my son to think clearly and question outrageous crap, and for whatever reason he goes over to religion, would I have a problem with that? I hope not. I hope not…
27 June 2009, on 4:56 pm
Does it make sense not to!? Not understanding religion is the reason so many people are still religious! Of course this should be done at a proper age. Telling a child about these things when he still believes in Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy will not really sink that well because a divine being who watches people take shits in the bathroom isn’t too far away a concept. Also it is quite apparent that the vast majority of people from a secular and thinking background grow up to be skeptics themselves despite any religious influence of outside parties. It is just important to provide the critical thinking base and encourage the child to question things he/she does not know or understand.
28 June 2009, on 7:23 pm
I have no children. If I did I would teach them about religions, but I would not teach them a religion.
David J.:
It has been some fun over at this blogthread:
http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2009/06/calvin_v_darwin_this_time_its.php#comments
just editsearch for “heddle” and see what you get.
29 June 2009, on 6:36 pm
I think you would almost have to teach your children about religion. I do a lot of babysitting for two families- both of whom are moderately religious. I’ve already heard them tell me about bible school, church camp, etc, and ask me where I attended.
I ended up listening politely but eventually having to gently tell them that I wasn’t particularly religious and just redirected the conversation. It was no big deal, but my point is that these conversations will come up between children.
So unless you’d like to homeschool your child and choose only godless playmates for them, then you’re gonna have to say something sometime.
30 June 2009, on 10:16 am
democommie,
I haven’t had time to comment yet, but man, that is some awesome shit. Heddle is a freak!
30 June 2009, on 2:56 pm
David J:
Yup. Mr. heddle is a piece of work. He pretty much ignores me these days, as I don’t play his game and just say whatever I think will get him pissed off. He is intellectually dishonest and nasty to folks who are genuinely polite but–understandably–a bit puzzled by his demeanor and lack of logic.
1 July 2009, on 6:06 pm
Yeah, I was over there a bit and the dude CANNOT READ! I don’t think he actually reads people’s sentences in order to glean meaning, I think he reads them in order to find something he can twist or turn so that he has the advantage. In every conversation, we filter what we hear and it seems to me that the dude has very, very selective filters for what he hears or wants to hear. I’m sympathetic to believers like him, but when they turn asshole, as he does, my respect and sympathy give way to pity. I tried pointing that out to him, and that his methods of “building up the kingdom of god” are counter-productive, but all I got was a WOOSH sound as it whizzed by his head unnoticed. Oh well. Douche bags will be douche bags I suppose.
2 July 2009, on 7:58 am
David J:
Well, as you may have noticed, I don’t engage him at the level of “angels dancing on pinheads”. He IS an asshole and his arguments which morph as one or another commenters question him on one of his assertions, are based solely on his personal beliefs and his interpretation of the writings of others. I find it strange that someone whose professional life is supposedly based on empiricism (he is an astrophysicist) can so blithely ignore the paradox between using the rigors of science at his teaching gig and then abandoning them when it come to his “faith”.
As you say, douchebags will be douchebags.