upstarter Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 I've been a non-believer for about 20 years (give or take). But those early messages are hard to shake sometimes. Recently I was slapped in the face with the real reason for religion. My 5 year old daughter woke up from a nightmare screaming, "I don't want to die!" And I so wanted to be able to say, "don't worry you won't die, you can live forever". But of course I couldn't say that. I have to admit, I sometimes miss having the easy answers for the big questions in life. It's much harder to teach kids that morality is about what is right because of what it means to be human and part of a civilized society etc. than it is to just say, "here are the rules, follow them blindly". Being a non-believer really requires a lot of thinking. In fact it was my inability to stop thinking and questioning that made me a bad candidate for xtianity in the first place. But man! Sometimes I wish I had a rule book or a book of instructions I could just pull the answers from sometimes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monk Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 Christianity harps so much about becoming like a little child that it's easy to miss how child-like one has to be to subscribe to it to begin with. Being a lifelong christian makes one a child in some respects, keeping a person in some twisted stage of pre-adolescent development. We all want someone to tell us what to do and how to do it so that we have to do as little as we possibly can in life...just kick back and be lazy and let someone else do the work. Americans seem particularly prone to this sort of mental (and physical) laziness. Christianity would seem to offer this and more. You have these pre-set rules and regulations that it doesn't require any effort to follow, because even if you screw up, all you have to do is say "sorry" and it's all better. Then, when you die, you go to paradise forever. All you have to do is be lazy and say you believe. So simple. So little work and personal responsibility involved. So tragic...so much of the good things in life are glossed over or missed completely because a person walks around like a veritable zombie. Good post! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWIM Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 I know what you mean. Sometimes though a mystery is better then having the answer. You could share some of your warmer theories of life the universe and everything, or you could ponder them together. Surely you don't feel being an ex that you have NO answers do you? Most of us have lots of answers, the difference being we don't have faith or proof, just lots of interesting ideas and theories. Those can be very fun if approached with imagination. Kids of *any* faith or lack of tend to fear death when they first learn about it. Kids are smart and intuitive, more so sometimes then adults. I wonder how many kids with the same fear are actually *less* consoled by the christian parents response as opposed to an atheist or agnostic's? Give yourself some credit, there never really was an easy out for those questions, even with faith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPillAddict Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 This reminds me of what a priest was saying in "Angels and Demons" by Dan Brown. He was going on and on about how science has taken the mystery out of everything and how we have the answers to everything through all the different branches of science. The whole time I was reading that I was thinking "Bullshit, religion takes the mystery out of everything- Science always leads to more questions". I think religion shrinks our universe down into a tiny little box and slaps a list of rules on it. When you realize that religion is BS, you open so many doors and can start over again, looking for answers. Wouldn't it be easier to explain to your daughter that dying is a part of life, but something she need not worry about for a LONG time, then to lie and pretend to know what happens after death - based on a book? Honestly I can't say, because I don't have children yet...but I am glad that when I do, I can be 100% honest with them and teach them to think for themselves. I think following a religion makes you look less like a parent to your children in a way. It's more like you are sitting in class next to your kids, worshiping the ultimate father-figure. Without religion, you get to be the real parental figure, and teach your kids what you know to be true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
upstarter Posted October 19, 2007 Author Share Posted October 19, 2007 Wouldn't it be easier to explain to your daughter that dying is a part of life, but something she need not worry about for a LONG time, then to lie and pretend to know what happens after death - based on a book? Oh I agree with you in theory. And I did just that. I tell my children all the time that everything that is living eventually dies. But when you have kids you'll realize that kids don't reason quite as well as we do. So far all my daughter has heard is "everything dies", and she's clinging to that. I do believe that I've told my children the right thing and I'll keep on saying it. But I so understand why people invented religion. And I so get why even non-religious folk fall back on the heaven myth when faced with spectre of death. So, no, it's not easier to tell a 5 year old that dying is part of life. But it is the right thing to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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