I go to my childrens church with them to eat dinner on wednesday nights. It is a potluck dinner, I bring food and also make a free will donation at the start of the meal. After dinner there is a service which I do not attend, the girls stay with the grandma for the service. I believe it is important for my kids to learn about all different religions in order to make an informed desicion later in life about their faith or lack there of. Do you think this makes me a fence straddler in my convictions. Or do you think that I need to be one of the rude in your face atheists in order to be a "real" atheist?
2006-08-04 03:48:22 · 16 answers · asked by ? 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
i asked this question yesterday but someone reported me for being to "chatty" about it, so i am reposting it in a more acceptable way...
2006-08-04 03:48:56 · update #1
for christs sake people, I am not saying to be an atheist your have to be rude, but all of you are perfectly aware that there are those that ARE rude and in your face, just like there are christians that are rude and in your face. I was told that I am a fence straddler in my convictions because i am concerned about offending church members by not staying for the service.
2006-08-04 03:58:05 · update #2
I understand that you want to be careful when you make the biggest and most important decision in your life but there is no guarantee of tomorrow. I recommend Jesus.
2006-08-04 03:56:27 · answer #1 · answered by Calill C 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I thought the only thing required to be an atheist was to not believe in God, or any religion, at all. If someone were to go to church, listen to everything, let others choose what they want, but they themselves don't believe in anything, then they are still an atheist. There are different kinds of atheists, some 'rude' ones and some that just sit back and don't say much. That's pretty much all there is to it, I thought.
Just because you let others choose what they want doesn't make you a 'fence straddler,' as long as you know what you believe. If you're not sure what you yourself believes, then that should make you an agnostic as opposed to an atheist.
And atheists can be considerate too, there's nothing that says atheists can't be considerate, lol.
2006-08-04 10:57:44 · answer #2 · answered by arcmdark 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
There are no tenets of athieism, as it isn't really an 'ism' at all, it's simply the rejection of such 'isms'.
The beauty of being free is that you are not bound by some arbitrary rule book of behavior. You can go to church if you want. You can go to pot lucks and fish frys if you want. You can attend religious wedding and funerals, or pray with a friend in need. It's all good if it's what you want to do, and it doesn't matter that you don't believe in it.
If you're going to get all wound up in dogmatic rules of behavior, you might as well go get baptised and do it right.
2006-08-04 11:00:28 · answer #3 · answered by lenny 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Now, that is a real shame.
As a Christian, I'd like to say that I appreciate your openess, your willingness to let Gramma take the kids to church, and let them learn about God, your willingness to participate in the fellowship, even if you don't share our faith, and I definitely appreciate your good manners, so unlike so many of the other atheists on this forum.
Please accept my apologies for the bad behavior of some of my siblings, and be assured that our Father will deal with the problem.
God bless you.
2006-08-04 10:57:10 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's not necessary to be a "rude" atheist to be an atheist.
Beside, when it comes down to it, what is more rude:
1) making smart-@ss comments on the internet?
or
2) attempting to force christianity down peoples' throats via legislation?
I think that #2 is much more rude, intolerant, and arrogant.
I'm not saying that you do this at all.
I'm just trying to put the "rudeness" of atheists into a little bit of healthy perspective. No atheist has ever attempted to make schoolchildren say that they DON'T believe in god, but the revese can't be said for christians.
2006-08-04 10:57:50 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Of course you have to be rude! Why wouldn't you be?! Those freakin Christians have been doing everything they can to keep us down ever since....
Ok, enough of that. Just had to prove I was an atheist by your standards. I think it's good that you've been exposing your kids to different religions. But what have you done besides take them to that church? If you really want to give them a choice, you'd need to take them around to many different places of worship. Otherwise you may think you're giving them a well-rounded education, but you're really just masking your influence.
Not that parents shouldn't influence their kids. That's their job. You should just be aware you're doing it.
Edit: Um, angeltress... you flamed me on one of my posts... It's not just your siblings.
2006-08-04 10:56:48 · answer #6 · answered by Phil 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
yes of course atheists can be considerate. i think it is good that you let your kids attend church. Being atheist doesn't make you bad, it just makes you lost. There are a lot of Christians that are rude and not warm hearted I am sorry to say.
2006-08-04 10:55:33 · answer #7 · answered by Grandma Susie 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Huh? What does being rude or polite have to do with not believing with God?
If you want to expose your kids to a wide variety of people and beliefs, more power to ya.
2006-08-04 10:55:03 · answer #8 · answered by mikayla_starstuff 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
In my opinion, what you are doing is right. I am an atheist too, but I don't want to force my kids into believing what I believe. It's upto them to realize what suits them the best.
2006-08-04 10:59:02 · answer #9 · answered by ☼ Ỉẩη ♫ 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
"one of the rude in your face atheists in order to be a "real" atheist?"
Since when do you have to be rude to be an atheist? There are rude people in every group.
2006-08-04 10:53:34 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋