As an Atheist what do you teach kids?

I tell kids that there are some things we know for sure about death (like the 'worms will eat your dead shell' part) but the rest of it is open for interpretation.

Then I tell them that I personally believe you go absolutely nowhere, so absolutely nowhere it's as if you are sent to the alternate reality in which you were never born- because now that you are non-existent, you can not know that you had ever existed at all, therefore you might as well be in the alternate reality where you were never born.

There is a really cool plus side to my point-of-view, however- and that is: if you can not experience death (because you are dead and can not know that you are dead), then for all subjective (able to experience) purposes, you will never 'die'. You will be stuck in this life for all 'eternity' because you are incapable of experiencing anything else. Your own death is totally theoretical when looked at practically.

Experiencing dying (the transition) is another story entirely. Logic can do very little to help ease the suffering of feeling yourself approach 'the end'. Nor can it significantly help to dull the pain of the loss of a loved one. I candidly share these things with children just as I do with other people. I feel it can only help them in their own quest to come to terms with death.

If someone has already stated similar ideas in previous posts, excuse me. I didn't read them all and missed it.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide all adverts.

not baiting you into getting banned EFC as i stated before answer this question and im gone. and all im asking is to back up a statement you made and notice how it he post your referring to here i said we and was being sarcastic

you made a statement as if it was factual now im asking you where you got your information from if this is against the ULA of the forum please let me know

 

Log in or Sign up to hide all adverts.

Nice post, Detective. I like that concept of there being an eternity, just not a conscious one. I actually would not want an eternity, not without some waiver. What if it gets boring? That would be a hell in a sense.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide all adverts.

Ok then,

Which statement did i express as absolute truth with proof?


peace.

 

I have not "refused" to acknowledge the things you have claimed about the emotional side of it.

I would remind you that this is not (according to you) a thread about religion. It's apparently about lying to children.

Ah. So your personal experience trumps everything? Excellent point. Don't you think that explaining to children will equip them better for life as opposed to lying to them and later letting them find out you lied?

No. You have made claims. Not the same thing.

And back to personal attacks.

By lying?

Blah blah blah.
And blah. Do you have an actual point?
I'm still not feeling defeated. Maybe it's a fault in my personality.
Or maybe it's just that you can't produce anything rational.

 

So what happens when the kids say "but i want to see mum" or "I don't want life to be so short" or whent hey ask "whats the point in living then if we all just die and are fogotten?


How do you answer these type of questions? I have never seen any kid just accept death as easily as you make it sound. you try to put a romance into living a short life then everyone dies and nobody gets to ever live again The end.


The kids you tellt his too just accept this and are not bothered by it atall? and it makes them feel happy?

 

Ugh you don't ever add anything you just refute and deny things then ask for proof you never say anything yourself, are you afriad to talk and give your opinions incase they are wrong?




What do you think makes the child more happy being told they will go to heaven and live forever and god exists etc, or telling them they will die and rot in the grave.


Why do i not see an answer to even this one single question?

And this thread does have a religious element too it, and you have already claimed god does not exist int he thread more than once, and asked for proof he exists. you enter all of my threads and say the same shit every time do you have bad memory? I remember the people who stalk me you know i remember the same atheists asking me the same questions.


Im going to go into your post history when i have the time and dedicate a whole thread and post everything you have ever written down,. then maybe you can have a long read through it and see howmuch of a negative pessimist you are I dont thinky ou even see how you are.


Nothing you say is ever happy or nice the only things that seem to make you "laugh" or happy is when you get one over on a theist and look down on him/hher laughting at them and making fun.


I analyse you and i think i know what kind of man you are ore than you do.


And your going to break up my post and give one liners, saying im assuming things, and you deny this ansd you refute that./ your a cyborg.

 

One more time: how does it make a child "happy" to be told lies only to discover later that you did lie to them?
Don't you think that the truth equips them better for life?
If they wish to rely on fairy stories later in life that's their decision, but I'd rather be honest and true to them and myself.

Wrong. Check my earlier posts.

 

you didnt you stated in post 167 page 9 that with examples A to B as if it were a true statement. im asking you to post facts to where you came to this conclusion becaue you stated it as a fact

 

Because you can't read responses that don't say what you want them to say.

No one has said being realistic to a child in mourning is going to make them happy, nor should you go into a scientific breakdown of what will be happening to the body.

What we have said is that pretending that everything is okay IS detrimental to someone who is in pain. Certainly if you deal with children at all you know that you don't try to explain everything to them all at once, you have to let them take in what they can handle.

And you have to answer questions as well...maybe not fully, but to the best of your ability. I noticed in one of your rants that you talked about children's questions as if they were a nuisance? Why? Because they couldn't just accept your answers at face value?

That's the great thing about kids...they are full of inquiry, and they can take the real answers.

 

Can we tell kids that some dead people come back as zombies and vampires?

 

Now, we're not talking about christianity in this thread, remember?

 

I have said how many times now? that i have had to personaly comfort many crying children who are scared and don;t understand anything comming from atheist homes of drunk addicts on JSA benefits living on council estates in london.

All the youths running around shooting each other in my city most of them are dong this because they are lost and dont care about life because they think "well when i die who cares im gone" We go around trying to give dowaa tot hese lost youths and when they find god they want to change! they want to do good and they actualy SMILE.


Your acting like you have never had to explain death to a child. I will ask you again What have your children said when you taught them about death, what have the children you have had to explain death to said about it after you told them? when was the last time you had to comfort a youth who was crying because they didnt want to die and vanish forever?


Do you even interact with kids? or are you one of those grumpy guys who frowns at them and hasnt got tiome to teach the kid on the block?

I bet i can come to your area and get all the kids outside ont he green together and i can get them all singing songs and smiling and playing nice games and teach them about god and they will love it just like all the kids i teahc, and the only ones that don't listen are the ones who say F god is dumb there is no god fuck religion" and these are the youths who are out commiting crimes and selling grugs and fighting and breaking the law. and don't tell me they are not I work with Roadside2Islam and we are out int he streets all the time and i know this is true.


You can say whatever you want with your computer screen and your google search and your "show me proofs" why don't you come out with us on a trip around London then and you can try interacting with these Gang bangers and lost kids and see how much they listen to your atheist values, they will tell you to go fuck yourself and gtfo their "Endz" or probably rob you because they don't give a damn about nothing. but when they accept islam you see them change.

 

Blah blah. Once again we're back to personal testimony.

And a pointless diversion. Are you contending there no drunk theists on JSA in council estates?

More inane crap.

Wrong.

Assumption.

Yes.

Inane crap again.

More inane crap. Stick to the topic.

Still not feeling defeated. I'm trying hard but it isn't working.
Maybe you could increase your effort for me. I'm quite looking forward to the novel experience of you "beating me".

 

I said i perosnaly don't want to talk about chritianity because I would then feel inclined to correct the false teachings of the books and correct them witht he Quran, and you know full well i would get banned for preaching.

Or do you expect me to just spout teachings that i don't believe in? and turn my back on islam?

Either way im not doing it and why do you even want to discuss "Chritianity" as some form of sepcific thing? are you more accustom to refuting christians and their dogma? where as you don't actualy know about islam so you are not comfortable debating islam.

And as you guys are also asking me querstions about heaven why would I(being a muslim) teach about christian heaven that doenst make sense. it;s like asking a hindu to speak about seikism and buddhism to explain his hindy self.

 

See what I mean your such a Cyborg arent you, who put the battery in your back shaytan?


You disgust me your such a diss-honest debator. always one word answers you never change, i gave you a last chance any more drivel from you and i wont reply.


You guys have put up a terrible debate to be honest i am ddissapointedm and the funny thing is you guys probably think you have some kind of upper hand. maybe one of your groupies or fanboys can answer for you?


I wish some othe rposters who actualy want to say something compelling came in instea dof you clowns. I actualy had a few decent questions but actualy most of them were from agnostics, and after they realized i have no problem with the agnostic stance most of them concluded somethign and went on their way.


You atheist are the worst of people tou really are the most heartless. your the ones who don't care about abortion. dont care about emotions, dont care about animal rights.



What scum, you wont even openly admit to your own convictiosn, i asked you palinly about the comparison witht he ugly elephant girl face and you didnt aner that either. and you know full well why you didnt answer.


Scum

 

It's dishonest to ignore irrelevant and off-topic nonsense?

Utter nonsense. You have failed to give one single rational point in favour of your argument.

And back to generalisations and insults again. Is this the best you can manage in a "debate"?

Really? Please list my "convictions". I'm interested. Or maybe you're assuming again.

As I pointed out: that is nothing to do with the topic at hand.

Moron.

 

What does any of that have to do with lack of belief in a god? I guess it's easier to argue against and insult atheists if you're able to group them into a big strawman of generalization.

 

To, "I want to see mum": I say, "I know, me too." And I hug them.

To, "I don't want life to be so short": I say, "It is so, so much longer than you realize. You are young and it looks scary now, but by the time you are older you will have done thousands of things you hadn't imagined."

To, "What's the point in living then if we all just die and are forgotten?": I say, "People make their own points, and you will find yours."

Kids need time to deal with death just like everyone else. That's no problem worse than all the other ones we face as people.

If my description of death sounded romantic to you, I am surprised. I do not want to give a falsely positive face to anything, but what I said is what I truly believe, romantic or not. In fact, your response just makes me think that maybe the truth is not as bleak as it is commonly viewed.

As for, 'and nobody gets to ever live again The end', I don't believe there is anything wrong with that.

Of course I don't tell them to not be bothered by it. I addressed this is my original post when I said that logic can do very little to help ease the suffering of dying or the loss of a loved one. Suffering is real. I believe that people are better served by preparing them for this reality than lying to them about it.

What makes someone (kids included) 'happy' in the face of death is only the time to get over it, which can be accelerated by the support of loved ones.

However, there is always the possibility that no such support exists, or that there is no time to recover, or that they may still not ever fully recover. These are also real things that I think it is better to accept than deny. It is a very big world. In real life, there are many, many 'unhappy' endings.

 

Hmm thanks for expressing yourself in a detailed and nice manner.


Upon reading everything you wrote only a couple of questions remain in my mind.


1 is do you see sadness or Joy when you teach this?, dotyou see hope or dispair deep down? regardless of what they say to put on a brave face deep down how do you think they are in general happy about death or sad about death?


Also Do they actualy believe god and heaven are not real because of you or have you contrinuted to them not believing?


peace