Atheist parents!

I agree with you that it is not necessary to indoctrinate children with a given religion's teachings.

IMO, if you have an alternate view of the world, that is what you should share with your kids. Explaining to them about beliefs and religion is the best thing you can do. Informing their children is the best thing parents can do.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I think he is rather suggesting that to try and force beliefs upon your kids for the rest of their life equates to brainwashing.

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I agree with this, but you'll find yourself hard pressed in the matter to not give your personal opinion about these things. Though I agree with you that if you teach them how to think, they'll be better equipped to form their own opinions regardless of yours.

However, here another problem arises. If you teach your children to be critical and form opinions for themselves on everything, isn't there the slight bit chance that they will come to not respect your authority even when it is justified?

How ya doing, buddy?

To Capo:

So in this sense, you neither believe in nor deny the existence of one or numerous gods?

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

That's a very good question. I would like to quote the Bible on this... But I know the answer isn't there!


Or anywhere else for that matter...

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Sassafrass

But "agnostic" means something different....?

Agnostic means skepticism towards the idea of god.

To JackyBoy: And precisly what is that explanation???

How ya doing, buddy?

Well, being skeptic can be held as being uncertain, and being uncertain towards the idea of god also means being uncertain about god not existing, so it amounts to that, yes.

FELIPE NO

Well, it doesn't mean that the person will necessarily try to force his beliefs onto you. It's fanatacism that's the real danger. Talking about your beliefs isn't a bad thing, doing everything possible to make sure you come to take it as the truth, no matter what the cost, is what is dangerous.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Well, I agree with your position, and I have adopted it myself quite a long time ago. I am still interested in hearing about different religions though, as I feel it to be quite educating in most instances, as religious beliefs, when taken apart from the institutions that promote them, can sometimes propose models in terms of morals that can be interesting. It also helps to understand people from all walks of life to know what it is that they believe in.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Sorry about the ambiguity.

About the children thing, it is true that certain things can be hard to grasp before a certain age, but I'm not so sure that I'd be able to give any other answer than 'I honestly don't know' to the question of god. As to the place babies come from, I don't think telling them is necessarily the end of the world.

So, how does Santa go around the world in one night???

How ya doing, buddy?

That, I honestly don't know. I can't recall having much love for the guy, but I know for a fact that my girlfriend's opinion on it is that we should definitely do it. Then again, I think we should eliminate christmas altogether, so I might be held as having an extreme view on the subject... So I probably would do it, if only for her.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Because I feel it has taken a turn for the worst in our society, and that it is a perfect example of needless consumtion. I'm not talking about the vacation aspect of it, simply the part about going out to buy stuff for people while trying to figure out what they want/need, when most of us have pretty much all we need and go buy for ourselves what we want. I'm not suggesting that all of you are rich. I am not rich either. It's just that, in my view, if you want to give something to someone because you feel they would appreciate the said thing or simply because you feel like being nice, by all means do so, and I do that all the time. Buying stuff for someone just because on that specific day you HAVE to give them something or it won't go over well socially I care less for.

How ya doing, buddy?

I agree with being a giving person. I just don't understand why people couldn't just be more considerate year round instead.

You do bring up a good point though, about celebrating the act of giving and all...

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