This is one major difference that shames religion. When I read about atheist parenting (Yes, I am preparing for logicboy Jnr in the future), the atheists hardly ever teach their children that atheism or agnosticism is the way forward. They just tell them to question their beliefs and have evidence for whatever they want to believe

My daughter is just nine months old. She just barely mastered crawling and still drools like a mastiff. She won’t be curious about the meaning of life for at least another couple of years. But when she’s older and inevitably asks, mom, what do we believe? I’ll say simply that each individual can believe whatever she wants. But it is important to treat all living things with respect and love. And if she asks me why I don’t believe in god, I’ll tell her I don’t need to. When I’m sad or scared, I have my friends and family to confide in. And the world isn’t any less beautiful and wondrous without some deity having made it—in fact, the world may be even more beautiful simply as it is.

Read more: http://www.mommyish.com/2012/08/27/atheist-parenting-457/#ixzz2KdfLc1RS

Alongside science, history, philosophy and the arts, I promise to teach you about all religions and give you the intellectual freedom to wonder, question and come to your own conclusions. And if your conclusions are different from my own, as many inevitably will be, I promise to respect them.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2012/07/30/an-atheist-parents-promises-to-her-children/

After watching the Life of Pi I was reminded of a wonderful true anecdote about parenting related to me by a friend recently. One of her married friends is an atheist and so is his wife. You would think when it came to their kids they would be raised as atheists as well. Well not with this couple.
Instead they raised their kids to be Catholic one year, Muslim another, Jewish another and so on. When I say raised it was closer to exposing their children to one religion for a protracted period of time. In this time they would come to know the religion through reading the bible, attending mass and so on. The idea was that by exposing their children to different major religions the children themselves would be in a better position to choose for themselves when the time was right.
I thought it was a wonderful way of not imposing a parental set of beliefs on children’s.

http://edwardtraversa.com/2013/01/25/atheism-and-parenting/





This is the difference between the common atheist parent and most christian parents; the atheist parent is ready to expose the child to different beliefs while giving the child the tools/freedom to choose what is right, while the christian parent will teach the child the christian belief/way.

Neat!
But I have to confess alot of the atheists on nairaland are more like antitheists, a lot of anger involved, they might end up being as paranoid as most Christians in raising up their kids.

inurmind: Neat!
But I have to confess alot of the atheists on nairaland are more like antitheists, a lot of anger involved, they might end up being as paranoid as mosteoporosis Christians in raising up their kids.

You are foolish for that confession.

How many atheists here have confided in you that they will do so? Evidence for your confession?

Logicboy03:


You are foolish for that confession.

How many atheists here have confided in you that they will do so? Evidence for your confession?

Lol, I'm sorry if I touched a soft spot. I just like criticizing everyone, from myself to people I am affiliated with. On nairaland I see too much anger and emotion being thrown by atheists, atheists are sounding very much like theists. I'm sure the atheists you highlighted are in no way like that.

inurmind:

Lol, I'm sorry if I touched a soft spot. I just like criticizing everyone, from myself to people I am affiliated with. On nairaland I see too much anger and emotion being thrown by atheists, atheists are sounding very much like theists. I'm sure the atheists you highlighted are in no way like that.

Here in the U k British parents just raise thier children devoid of religious beliefs and its not usuaslly until their children reach their teens until they begin to ask questions about life but here they have the library their school education plus they think for themselves.

inurmind:

Lol, I'm sorry if I touched a soft spot. I just like criticizing everyone, from myself to people I am affiliated with. On nairaland I see too much anger and emotion being thrown by atheists, atheists are sounding very much like theists. I'm sure the atheists you highlighted are in no way like that.

lol......raising children and dealing with peeps like Enigma and Davidylan are two different things. One set is empty minds ready to be filled with facts and knowledge while the other set is a bunch of empty minds that reject knowledge and facts.


Clearly one set has to be exposed to various things while the other have to be ridiculed everytime they spout their beliefs

manmustwac: Here in the U k British parents just raise thier children devoid of religious beliefs and its not usuaslly until their children reach their teens until they begin to ask questions about life but here they have the library their school education plus they think for themselves.

While I agree with your comment, could you kindly eff off?

manmustwac: Here in the U k British parents just raise thier children devoid of religious beliefs and its not usuaslly until their children reach their teens until they begin to ask questions about life but here they have the library their school education plus they think for themselves.

Okay but that doesn't address the aggressiveness of atheists on nairaland. I just think it's pure hypocrisy to bash a set of people for being what you are becoming: sentimental and prejudiced.

Logicboy03:


lol......raising children and dealing with peeps like Enigma and Davidylan are two different things. One set is empty minds ready to be filled with facts and knowledge while the other set is a bunch of empty minds that reject knowledge and facts.


Clearly one set has to be exposed to various things while the other have to be ridiculed everytime they spout their beliefs

Come on man, you are ''logic''boy, I expect better.

inurmind:

Okay but that doesn't address the aggressiveness of atheists on nairaland. I just think it's pure hypocrisy to bash a set of people for being what you are becoming: sentimental and prejudiced.

Two possibilites

1)You have been paid/blackmailed by some christian to say this stuff

2)You are confusing commenting anonymously on Nairaland with parenting in real life


number 2 seems more likely

inurmind:

Come on man, you are ''logic''boy, I expect better.

You trollin'?

Logicboy03:

Two possibilites

1)You have been paid/blackmailed by some christian to say this stuff

2)You are confusing commenting anonymously on Nairaland with parenting in real life


number 2 seems more likely

Lmao, think whatever you want. I am just more concerned with progress than with pride.

inurmind:

Lmao, think whatever you want. I am just more concerned with progress than with pride.

pride?

Okay, I know I seem strange, the odd one out, the one who is always attacking you, but let me explain myself.
You see since I was a child I had been a philosopher. I know everybody was in that league but mine was a little deeper, so much that at the age of eleven I was suicidal. Everynight, and I mean everynight, I would lay on my bed begging god to take my life.
Why? Because I didn't understand humanity, infact I hated humanity. Since then I have gone through a lot of phases in my life, and I am slowly getting it. Humanity seems much more understandable now, and therefore much more pardonable. I learnt there is no such thing as black and white, there is no black and white, there are no absolutes, and we all should stop thinking like there are.
I am not going to be biased because you are my brother, I would say what I think is right because I think prejudice and fallacies would get us nowhere. And I really want to move forward.

inurmind: Neat!
But I have to confess alot of the atheists on nairaland are more like antitheists, a lot of anger involved, they might end up being as paranoid as most Christians in raising up their kids.

one bottle of stout for you.

@logicboy,what exactly would you do? Teach your children about all religions in biasness?
The way you generalize is really appalling. You pick a couple of 'good' atheist parents to represent atheists yet even without evidence, you accuse christianity(as if christianity is the only religion sef).
Such flawed logic!

There's the famous pew census of religiosity (too lazy to google) in the US. If you look at the numbers there you'll find that 50% of children from unaffiliated (not necessarily irreligious, just unaffiliated) homes go on to become affiliated, indicating freedom to choose.

Of course, not so (even remotely) for those from affiliated backgrounds. But because of the differences in overall population, the relatively small number of affiliated that become unaffiliated more then make up for the 50% of unaffiliated children that become affiliated. In fact, the converts from affiliated to unaffiliated more then double the population of the unaffiliated.

I would say the ideal balanced situation would be a 50/50, comprised of affiliated of all sorts vs the unafilliated. That's maybe just opinion though.


Edit; here's the link

http://religions.pewforum.org/reports
It seems quite a lot of catholics ship out as well

inurmind: Okay, I know I seem strange, the odd one out, the one who is always attacking you, but let me explain myself.
You see since I was a child I had been a philosopher. I know everybody was in that league but mine was a little deeper, so much that at the age of eleven I was suicidal. Everynight, and I mean everynight, I would lay on my bed begging god to take my life.
Why? Because I didn't understand humanity, infact I hated humanity. Since then I have gone through a lot of phases in my life, and I am slowly getting it. Humanity seems much more understandable now, and therefore much more pardonable. I learnt there is no such thing as black and white, there is no black and white, there are no absolutes, and we all should stop thinking like there are.
I am not going to be biased because you are my brother, I would say what I think is right because I think prejudice and fallacies would get us nowhere. And I really want to move forward.

Evidence bro. You are seriously annoying me. You have become a tone troll atheist. Where is the evidence for the things you said in bold? The prejudice, fallacies and bias in this thread.


I backed my claims with parenting stuff I found online . You just randomly came to bash atheists here as if Nigerian/nairaland atheists have a special reason not to follow a similar parenting style.

Do you know what prejudice is? Tell me what is the difference between your comment and Bella's (no regard for the op, just come blazing with baseless claims)?

1st atheist parents don't teach their children the right religion to believe in simply because they don't have/know one.
parents (Christians, Islams, Hindi, Buddhists, Jewish, Indigenous etc) HAVE a religion to bestow on their kids, not only because it's the only one they know but because it's the only one they believe in.
that doesn't make them hypocrites, less worthy of parenting or what so ever.
for example a country like Italy, would it be seen as bad if a parent taught their son about Catholicism??
or in a country like India how would it feel if a parent taught his child Jainism
every parent bestow on to their child the knowledge they have gained and calling that oppressive just shows how u are lacking in your so-called philosophy.
one great rule about PHILOSOPHY is to question not to doubt.. not to believe in an absolute because there are no absolutes.
so what a parent decide to teach his off spring depends only on that parent.
@OP u should make sure of ur sources and ur believes before speaking.

Bélla3: one bottle of stout for you.

@logicboy,what exactly would you do? Teach your children about all religions in biasness?
The way you generalize is really appalling. You pick a couple of 'good' atheist parents to represent atheists yet even without evidence, you accuse christianity(as if christianity is the only religion sef).
Such flawed logic!

Another foolish comment. .

1) What did I accuse christianity of that is baseless? What do most chrstians do? Teach their children christianity or teach them other religions like islam or paganism? They are even instructed to teach their children in the christian way in the bible! so as a christian, for you to complain about what I said about christians is to be ignorant of the bible.

2) I pick a couple of good atheists? You are free to do research and you will find that most atheist parenting advice on the internet is to teach your children to be critical and reason based on evidence. So, when you say "a few good atheists parents", I would like to know how you come to the conclusion that is not representative of majority of atheists.

3) As for you brother called Inurmind, I dont know what is really biting him to say the nonsense that he is saying here. We are talking about parenting here and he is talking about atheists on Nairaland being prejudiced? Is he suffering from low esteem? Did NL atheists tell him that they will raise their children to hate religion?

3ndy: 1st atheist parents don't teach their children the right religion to believe in simply because they don't have/know one.
parents (Christians, Islams, Hindi, Buddhists, Jewish, Indigenous etc) HAVE a religion to bestow on their kids, not only because it's the only one they know but because it's the only one they believe in.
that doesn't make them hypocrites, less worthy of parenting or what so ever.
for example a country like Italy, would it be seen as bad if a parent taught their son about Catholicism??
or in a country like India how would it feel if a parent taught his child Jainism
every parent bestow on to their child the knowledge they have gained and calling that oppressive just shows how u are lacking in your so-called philosophy.
one great rule about PHILOSOPHY is to question not to doubt.. not to believe in an absolute because there are no absolutes.
so what a parent decide to teach his off spring depends only on that parent.
@OP u should make sure of ur sources and ur believes before speaking.

Hmph!

Where are the absolutes in what you read in the op?

Where did you see me claim that religious parents are oppressive in the op?

What a poor philosophy you have claiming that a parent has the freedom to teach their children whatever he or she likes. I wonder how you would have been if your parents taught you that all non-Nigerians are fools

Logicboy03:


Hmph!

Where are the absolutes in what you read in the op?

Where did you see me claim that religious parents are oppressive in the op?

What a poor philosophy you have claiming that a parent has the freedom to teach their children whatever he or she likes. I wonder how you would have been if your parents taught you that all non-Nigerians are fools

an absolute?? first u claimed this This is the difference between the common atheist parent and most christian parents; the atheist parent is ready to expose the child to different beliefs while giving the child the tools/freedom to choose what is right, while the christian parent will teach the child the christian belief/way.
then u said this This is one major difference that shames religion. When I read about atheist parenting (Yes, I am preparing for logicboy Jnr in the future), the atheists hardly ever teach their children that atheism or agnosticism is the way forward. They just tell them to question their beliefs and have evidence for whatever they want to believe

these my boy are absolutes in English language.
second question of yours have this answer "mind u i'm still quoting your post" while the christian parent will teach the child the christian belief/way that my dear the way u put it compared to the phrase before shows u believe christian parents are oppressive and use lots of authority.. u really should start reading between d line of what u said.
3rd question of yours.. would it be any different if the parent taught the child about botanic or etymology or even how to read and write?? would u feel the parent has no right or what so ever to teach their child?? it just a hatred from ur part because IT IS RELIGION.
actually i would have been exactly where i am now if my parent taught me that. because the JOB of a parent is teaching and the WORK (mind u i used work) of a child is learn, understand and see things their own way.. through their eys and making their mistakes.. so even if my parent had taught me that all non-nigerians are fools i would have still experience it my self either their fool or not.

3ndy:
an absolute?? first u claimed this This is the difference between the common atheist parent and most christian parents; the atheist parent is ready to expose the child to different beliefs while giving the child the tools/freedom to choose what is right, while the christian parent will teach the child the christian belief/way.
then u said this This is one major difference that shames religion. When I read about atheist parenting (Yes, I am preparing for logicboy Jnr in the future), the atheists hardly ever teach their children that atheism or agnosticism is the way forward. They just tell them to question their beliefs and have evidence for whatever they want to believe

these my boy are absolutes in English language.
second question of yours have this answer "mind u i'm still quoting your post" while the christian parent will teach the child the christian belief/way that my dear the way u put it compared to the phrase before shows u believe christian parents are oppressive and use lots of authority.. u really should start reading between d line of what u said.
3rd question of yours.. would it be any different if the parent taught the child about botanic or etymology or even how to read and write?? would u feel the parent has no right or what so ever to teach their child?? it just a hatred from ur part because IT IS RELIGION.
actually i would have been exactly where i am now if my parent taught me that. because the JOB of a parent is teaching and the WORK (mind u i used work) of a child is learn, understand and see things their own way.. through their eys and making their mistakes.. so even if my parent had taught me that all non-nigerians are fools i would have still experience it my self either their fool or not.

1) Absolutes? Did you notice that I used to the words "most" and "common" to imply that it doesnt apply to everyone in each category? You are making baseless claims about absolutes in the op.

2) So saying that most christians will teach their children the christian way implies that christian parents are oppressive?

3) You are making no point. A parent should try as much as possible not to teach children fallacies. You see no problem in a parent teaching xenophobia to a child to hate non-Nigerians. However, when you meet someone that is xenophobic to Africans/Nigerians you will complain. You will find out that most racists and xeophobe have been indoctrinated one way or the other to believe their nonsense

Logicboy03:


Another foolish comment. .

1) What did I accuse christianity of that is baseless? What do most chrstians do? Teach their children christianity or teach them other religions like islam or paganism? They are even instructed to teach their children in the christian way in the bible! so as a christian, for you to complain about what I said about christians is to be ignorant of the bible.

2) I pick a couple of good atheists? You are free to do research and you will find that most atheist parenting advice on the internet is to teach your children to be critical and reason based on evidence. So, when you say "a few good atheists parents", I would like to know how you come to the conclusion that is not representative of majority of atheists.

3) As for you brother called Inurmind, I dont know what is really biting him to say the nonsense that he is saying here. We are talking about parenting here and he is talking about atheists on Nairaland being prejudiced? Is he suffering from low esteem? Did NL atheists tell him that they will raise their children to hate religion?

oops! Butthurt.
1. Kindly check my first post, this time read slowly, i knw you're 'hurting' bt cool temper.
2. The response of 5 or 6 atheist parents certainly doesnt represent the atheist population.
3. Am guessing he was only judging from your behaviours on NL. And i agree he isnt far from the truth.

You didnt answer my question. Are you going to tell your children there is God or not? Are you going to teach you children all religions? Is christianity the only religion to you?

while the christian parent will teach the child the christian belief/way
This is one major difference that shames religion
the atheists hardly ever teach

listen i don't want it to become a discussion about English language but i suggest u take a dictionary with u next time..
2) saying it the way YOU said it YES that it is what it implies.
3) You see no problem in a parent teaching xenophobia to a child to hate non-Nigerians. However, when you meet someone that is xenophobic to Africans/Nigerians you will complain. You will find out that most racists and xeophobe have been indoctrinated one way or the other to believe their nonsense

- you don't know me so i would ask u not to insult neither my intelligence nor me.
- like i said parents DO teach their children what their believes are.. regardless of what my opinions are it is has always been so and it will continue to be so.
- everyone complains when put to a state of discrimination when it is not based on who u are but based on what u represent
- of course that is the main fault of an ignorant (someone who doesn't know) but mister man.. i guess u still get enraged and don't read what people are writing.
i wrote previously because the JOB of a parent is teaching and the WORK of a child is learn, understand and see things their own way.. through their eyes and making their mistakes.. so even if my parent had taught me that all non-nigerians are fools i would have still experience it my self either their fools or not.

Bélla3: oops! Butthurt.
1. Kindly check my first post, this time read slowly, i knw you're 'hurting' bt cool temper.
2. The response of 5 or 6 atheist parents certainly doesnt represent the atheist population.
3. Am guessing he was only judging from your behaviours on NL. And i agree he isnt far from the truth.

You didnt answer my question. Are you going to tell your children there is God or not? Are you going to teach you children all religions? Is christianity the only religion to you?

1) Wow, so you have nothing to say......keep claiming butthurt when you were clearly debunked
2)How did you arrive at the number of 5 or 6 atheists? Did I tell you that is how much I read? I have read countless websites on parenting both atheist and religious. Furthermore, many websites even have comments. There are even discussions on parenting on reddit. Look at my previous comments
3) Behaviours? What behaviours? Who is more militant here on Nairaland? Do atheists say all christians are fools or do christians say all atheists are fools?
Ahtiests here are on the defensive, mind you. You must be totally ignorant of the threats of hell and insults+curses from your christian brethren to even try to complain about atheists.


As for your question, the op is clear, the atheist parent should not tell the child what to believe but to teach him to look for evidence and base his beliefs on facts. So, why would I tell my child not to believe in god? All I have to do is to question everything and follow the evidence. If he or she finds islam or christianity or paganism, goodluck to him or her.


We havent even mentioned the christians that kick teenage children to the streets for leaving christianity. You are one to talk

3ndy: while the christian parent will teach the child the christian belief/way
This is one major difference that shames religion
the atheists hardly ever teach

listen i don't want it to become a discussion about English language but i suggest u take a dictionary with u next time..
2) saying it the way YOU said it YES that it is what it implies.
3) You see no problem in a parent teaching xenophobia to a child to hate non-Nigerians. However, when you meet someone that is xenophobic to Africans/Nigerians you will complain. You will find out that most racists and xeophobe have been indoctrinated one way or the other to believe their nonsense

- you don't know me so i would ask u not to insult neither my intelligence nor me.
- like i said parents DO teach their children what their believes are.. regardless of what my opinions are it is has always been so and it will continue to be so.
- everyone complains when put to a state of discrimination when it is not based on who u are but based on what u represent
- of course that is the main fault of an ignorant (someone who doesn't know) but mister man.. i guess u still get enraged and don't read what people are writing.
i wrote previously because the JOB of a parent is teaching and the WORK of a child is learn, understand and see things their own way.. through their eyes and making their mistakes.. so even if my parent had taught me that all non-nigerians are fools i would have still experience it my self either their fools or not.

You are not making a whole lot of sense- you project your own misinterpretation of what I wrote unto me. How you got from my comments to "christian parents are oppressive" is magical.

Anyways enjoy your butthurt. Next time, you wouldnt rush into threads with guns blazing

Logicboy03:



1) Wow, so you have nothing to say......keep claiming butthurt when you were clearly debunked
2)How did you arrive at the number of 5 or 6 atheists? Did I tell you that is how much I read? I have read countless websites on parenting both atheist and religious. Furthermore, many websites even have comments. There are even discussions on parenting on reddit. Look at my previous comments
3) Behaviours? What behaviours? Who is more militant here on Nairaland? Do atheists say all christians are fools or do christians say all atheists are fools?
Ahtiests here are on the defensive, mind you. You must be totally ignorant of the threats of hell and insults+curses from your christian brethren to even try to complain about atheists.


As for your question, the op is clear, the atheist parent should not tell the child what to believe but to teach him to look for evidence and base his beliefs on facts. So, why would I tell my child not to believe in god? All I have to do is to question everything and follow the evidence. If he or she finds islam or christianity or paganism, goodluck to him or her.


We havent even mentioned the christians that kick teenage children to the streets for leaving christianity. You are one to talk

Eyaaa... I no get time.

Bélla3: Eyaaa... I no get time.

Logicboy03:

You no vex again?

Bélla3: You no vex again?

Blasting people doesnt always mean vexing.....

Logicboy03:

Blasting people doesnt always mean vexing.....

blasting ke?

Logicboy03:


Evidence bro. You are seriously annoying me. You have become a tone troll atheist. Where is the evidence for the things you said in bold? The prejudice, fallacies and bias in this thread.


I backed my claims with parenting stuff I found online . You just randomly came to bash atheists here as if Nigerian/nairaland atheists have a special reason not to follow a similar parenting style.

Do you know what prejudice is? Tell me what is the difference between your comment and Bella's (no regard for the op, just come blazing with baseless claims)?

Bélla3: blasting ke?

Sharaap


Why are you intent on exposing me?