Saturday, October 18, 2014

Passive-Aggressive Atheism.

Claiming to raise your children with no religion "so they can make up their own minds" is just a passive-aggressive way to teach atheism.

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4 comments:

John said...

Did you have a particular example in mind? Are you referring to the problem of developing a moral framework out of nothing?

3:23 PM, October 18, 2014
Gruntled said...

I don't have a particular example in mind. I have met parents, though, who are themselves religiously ambivalent. They lack the conviction to raise their children as atheists, but also lack the conviction to pick a religious community to help them raise their children. Their claim that offering their children nothing is really a way of respecting their children's freedom has always struck me as disingenuous.

The "passive-aggressive" construction is what struck me today as the right name for my criticism.

3:38 PM, October 18, 2014
Anonymous said...

It must be a poor sort of religion that requires inculcating children with its tenets before they can work it out for themselves.

" They lack the conviction to raise their children as atheists, but also lack the conviction to pick a religious community to help them raise their children. "

A supportive community is a boon to any parent, and religion has no monopoly on that.

" Claiming to raise your children with no religion 'so they can make up their own minds' is just a passive-aggressive way to teach atheism. "

Is it a lack of conviction (and therefore a neglect of parenting) or is it a way of teaching atheism? Of course it can't be both, but for some reason you think parents must have a conviction to force some belief on their children rather than giving them the freedom to explore their beliefs and spirituality on their own terms.

10:56 PM, October 20, 2014
Gruntled said...

"It must be a poor sort of religion that requires inculcating children with its tenets before they can work it out for themselves."

Ever sort of culture must be taught to children before they can work it out for themselves.

7:09 AM, October 21, 2014

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