And you even left out the impossible part for young kids: Meditation. That lasts for about 5 seconds. Too much like a time out.

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Where are we going? And why am I in this handbasket?

I remember mine too.. my brother and I were recreating the life of Jesus.





edit k well, he crucified a lizard and we stuck on top of an anthill.

Why do agnostics and atheists get their panties in a bunch at the mere mention of God?

Respectfully.

My Dad, God rest his soul, was 19 years old and fighting Nazis in the Ardennes Forest on Christmas Day, 1944 as a member of the 75th infantry "Always Get There Somehow."
On this day a German 88mm shell landed 4 feet in front of him. The shell did not explode because at that time the Nazis were often using armor piercing shells which required higher pressures to detonate...or maybe it was just a dud. Either way, my Dad did not dismiss that event as "luck" and appreciated the gift of Life that God had given him. He recalled that story to myself and my sister every Christmas Eve for two reasons.

To appreciate the service and sacrifice of those who wear the uniform of the United States and above all to appreciate the gift of Life, to never take it for granted because it can be taken away in an instant.

Always honor God so that your spirit is ready for death.


He attended weekly church services and instilled in me a belief in Jesus Christ as Lord.

I later abandoned this faith but upon reflection of my own life and my own mortality I returned to my roots and to my inspiration.

My Dad.

There are other paths in life, there other faiths...

but that is my story, his faith influences my own now....our parent's truly do impact our lives tremendously.

If you believe in a religion, you will fall for anything.

Your child will face an onslaught of falsehoods and ignorance as she grows older.

A foundation in reality can be the harbor's beacon of light in a sea of despair.

does that sound like the mere mention of secularism?

why do people of faith hide under the skirt of their magic man in the sky?

Respectfully.

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I only get my panties in a bundle over the suggestion that religion is a necessary foundation for morals.

Religion is *a* foundation for morals, not *the* foundation.

Push comes to shove, I find moral systems reasoned out from first principles to be more consistent and humane than most religious systems, which almost inevitably have odd quirks that are either rooted in 4,000-year-old tribal customs or are simply arbitrary expressions of a key figure's personal likes/dislikes.

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Man up.

Just because someone does not have religious faith does not mean that they don't believe in anything. My daughter and I have talked a great deal about our personal values and boundaries, for instance. We've talked about sex, alcohol, drugs, tobacco, etc. Her boundaries are both internal and external (for instance, she knows that I strongly disapprove of promiscuity, alcohol/drug/tobacco use for teens, etc.). She has chosen her own values, and is also very anti-promiscuity. Instead of believing that she has to follow external rules imposed by a deity, she follows internal rules that she has imposed for herself.

Having grown up in a highly religious home, I cannot say that growing up that way prepared me, in the slightest, to live in the real world. Unless young people internalize these values and follow them for reasons beyond "my church said no," they are unlikely to hold onto them into adulthood.

It is entirely possible to raise moral and well-behaved children WITHOUT religion and/or belief in supernatural deities.

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Job 13:5 (New International Version)
If only you would be altogether silent! For you, that would be wisdom.

So, from your own history:

Raising kids with a faith in god doesn't mean they won't fall off the wagon in their teenage/young adult years. Thus, why should you assume that raising kids with faith works any better than raising them without faith? After all, did it keep YOU on the straight and narrow for the entire journey? Hm...



Whatever shall we do!!???!!!

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Job 13:5 (New International Version)
If only you would be altogether silent! For you, that would be wisdom.

What part of

There are other paths in life, there other faiths...

but that is my story, his faith influences my own now

have I not made clear.

I have no children.

I have a niece.

What influences I've had in her life I don't know, but she is a devout Catholic and she is serving her Nation also as a Reservist, in her case the U.S. Army.

Apples don't fall far from the tree.

As I've said. God/Country/Family.

I am not telling anyone here how to raise their children. I'm giving my opinion along with very personal anecdotes what shaped my own values.

Plenty of well meaning parents still raise problem children and I've no doubt that many atheist parents raise good citizens also.

Since the agnostic and the atheist demand proof and evidence all the time, I'm giving a concrete example.

Feel free to share stories about how your children turned out after raising them "free of God".

If there is no God

there is no morals

period.

You can intellectualize and rationalize till you are blue in the face....

Society must conform to certain "man-made" rules..blah blah blah....

If there is no God

there is no morals.