Atheist what would you do if your child grew up to believe in God?

Question

would you force them to be an Atheist?

Allot of you said you would laugh. Why would you laugh at your own children? I would never!

Answer 1

Of course not. I'd respect my child's decision to know what is best for themselves.

Answer 2

My former husband was an atheist. We divorced because I
could no longer respect him( being so short-sighted of other views). Other than that he became violent. I'm sure that would I have stayed my boy would've been beaten and psychologically mistreated. He would have been forced in denying Gods. I'm spiritual rather than a true believer, and never believed in mono-theism or some man above us judging us all while he's being a (pervert?) voyeur. I try to raise him with an open mind, and let him choose to believe or not when he's an adult.
But I tell him; we all believe in something. Whether it be science, logic, God(s), Nature, energy-flows, right or wrong, law or what else. If you don't believe in anything, you should pick something. And stick to it.

Answer 3

My wife and I never spoke for or against religion in our household. Our son grew up, and remains, an Atheist, but our daughter decided to attend Catholic school because of the education benefits at age 12, and subsequently converted to Catholicism, was baptized and confirmed.

She's still the light of my day, I don't care if she believes in God. She's my one and only daughter and I love her.

Answer 4

I hope that I am able to teach my daughter enough about science and the natural wonders of the world so that she does not ever need to turn to religion. But if she does, I will of course always support her choices, as long as they are well-informed. I don't believe that all christians are hypocrites, just 97 percent of them. If my daughter chooses to be an intelligent, non-hypocritical christian, muslim or buddhist then I will accept that.

Answer 5

Of course not ! We atheists are, first of all, free thinkers. We are not monsters who force anyone to believe anything - unlike religionists who try to do that very thing. If my child grew up to believe in God I would ask him/her to read the book, " god is not Great" by Christopher Hitchens - which I encourage you to read too. I would encourage him/her to pursue intelligent enquiry into science and modern philosophy, and reject all dogma. I would also instruct him in correct grammar and proper syntax.

Answer 6

You cannot force someone to believe what they do not believe. ACTIONS don't constitute BELIEFS.

If my adult child still believed in fairy tales, I would feel that I had failed as a parent to teach my child common sense and that my child would be at a disadvantage for the rest of his/her life.

Answer 7

I would let my kid believe whatever seems reasonable to him.

But I would teach him the importance of respecting the beliefs of others. Just as I gave him the freedom to believe as he likes, I would try to teach him to give others that same freedom, and not to congratulate himself on having the only 'right' beliefs, or to think that others are going to hell, or that his beliefs entitle him to any special privileges, etc.

Answer 8

We're really not into forcing anyone to believe anything.

If my kids decided that they needed to believe in some higher power, that's what they would do. I would wonder how they couldn't see through the nonsense, but I wouldn't try to force them to think differently.

Answer 9

I would certainly let my kid know my opinions, but it's against my beliefs to force one's set of opinions upon another. I would encourage him/her to figure out life's answers with an open but critical mind.

Answer 10

I wouldn't force him/her to believe anything they don't want. Though naturally I would be a bit disappointed.