I think you have just demonstrated my point.
Discussing Religion with Kids
- Thread starter Goaters
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Trevor Morley's Tache
Well-Known Member
How?
I taught my kids the basic principles of the scientific method and I let them decide if they wanted to step away from that and take it on 'faith' that God is real, based on a collection of stories that were written before the scientific method of understanding existed.
mexico1970
Well-Known Member
It's easy to prove that religion exists but by any metric known scientifically or otherwise proving God (Yes the God that writes books and tells people what to do) exists is absolutely ridiculous.
Faith : There must be something else.
Religion: There is definitely something else and we are here to tell you how to live your life.
Trevor Morley's Tache
Well-Known Member
If someone is telling you that your own way of life is wrong because they believe in something which is completely unprovable, that person is not worth listening to. If that same person is using hate and fear to try and force their religious views upon you, then that person probably belongs on a terrorist watch list.It's easy to prove that religion exists but by any metric known scientifically or otherwise proving God (Yes the God that writes books and tells people what to do) exists is absolutely ridiculous.
Faith : There must be something else.
Religion: There is definitely something else and we are here to tell you how to live your life.
My non-religious outlook on life is simple enough - Try not to be a dick. Alright, it doesn't always work, but it's not let me down too often.
Trevor Morley's Tache
Well-Known Member
Jim Jefferies observations on US gun culture is pretty much spot on also.
mexico1970
Well-Known Member
Religion is just a protector of cultures now, your dad was an (Insert cult here) so I will be an adherent of (Insert cult here) the thought that opposing challenging that concept is quite simply ridiculous.
Legalised brainwashing.
Blue Maverick
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If all the old religions were invented now they would be called cults and banned for preaching shite, I remember registering as a Jedi in the census in 2000 just for the laugh, since then they say that’s illegal, why I should be allowed to believe on whatever the fuck I want, I just wouldn’t go around using mind tricks on anyone though like these herberts do.
I'm struggling to find a reason to discuss religion with your kids.
Mine went to a state school so no forced religious teaching.
We did not attend church and I did not send them to Sunday School.
I had absolutely no reason, even at Christmas, to mention religion to them. It might be Christ Mas but they just saw it as a time they got presents.
N.B. Easter was a time to fill your face with chocolate
Mine went to a state school so no forced religious teaching.
We did not attend church and I did not send them to Sunday School.
I had absolutely no reason, even at Christmas, to mention religion to them. It might be Christ Mas but they just saw it as a time they got presents.
N.B. Easter was a time to fill your face with chocolate
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I would say that your schematic breaks down at the 'Test with an Experiment' stage. I don't believe that an experiment exists that proves, or disproves, the existence of a creative entity behind the creation of the cosmos.
But if were to switch your original premise around:
[I just told mine that there was no way to prove the existence of God, but if they wanted to believe in the invisible Sky Fairy, then it's up to them.] Would become:-
-I just told mine that there was no way to disprove the existence of God, and if they wanted to believe that all of this vast universe around us produced itself out of nothing and for no purpose, then that's up to them.-
Then I would be brainwashing my kids?
I can't prove whether God exists or not nor what form that God might take so it comes down to faith. There are intelligent folk who believe in a creative being and intelligent folk who don't.
For me the evidence for a creator is all around me, but others disagree and I can respect their point of view and don't see any reason to try and belittle their views.
Just for the record I have a reasonable scientific background and have no issues with science, indeed I think science and religion go hand in hand, science describes mechanisms and is relatively objective whilst religion deals with 'why' and is more abstract but both can learn from each other.
Finally neither of my children are churchgoers, my daughter has a basic belief in God but has fallen out with the church (a view I can certainly sympathise with), my son operates with basically Christian values but without any real indication of a belief in God. I don't try to 'convert' either of them but they know my views and they know I love them unconditionally.
Trevor Morley's Tache
Well-Known Member
I don't disavow your beliefs; they are personal to you, and I respect that. All I'm saying is you or anyone else for that matter can't prove the existence of a god.
There is no empirical evidence that proves the existence of a god, and by virtue you can't definitively say there must be a god because you can't prove there isn't one. It just doesn't wash. If someone decides that a faith in the existence of a higher being is good enough for them, then fair play. That is not for me.
Finally, What are 'Christian values' these days anyway? As far as I can see, people pick and choose the passages of the Bible to suit their narrative and ignore the ones that don't, interpreting them by using such guff as "well, it's not meant to be taken literally", or "What Jesus (or whoever) meant was...". If you take some of the passages of the Bible at face value, there are some pretty abhorrent beliefs in there which are soundly ignored.
Common human decency should be the minimum standard we live our lives by, not the teaching and contradictions of some dusty old story book.