# Advice on dealing with teenager's professed religious belief **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 4, 2010, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-dealing-with-teenagers-professed-religious-belief/556048 "2010-10-04T20:41:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-dealing-with-teenagers-professed-religious-belief/556048/41 "2010-10-06T00:54:32Z")
> [@Tahssa](#): > > > [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > > > Any advice would be greatly appreciated. > > Shoot and kill the poor kid now for it’ll be better he’s dead than to grow up to be a raging asshole like you are. Hey, Merry Fucking Christmas, dude! [sub]a reference to one of my all-time favourite threads[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-dealing-with-teenagers-professed-religious-belief/556048/42 "2010-10-06T01:00:26Z")
> [@The\_King\_of\_Soup](#): > > [ > > Ridiculing a opposing view this way _is_ an attempt to persuade, **prr** , and so is the clumsy parody essayed in the OP. Nope. I’m perfectly happy if everyone but me believes in silly sky pixies. Don’t care, never have. Good luck with your beliefs, and have a nice day. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-dealing-with-teenagers-professed-religious-belief/556048/43 "2010-10-06T03:26:14Z")
> [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > This OP gives atheists a bad rep. Not just atheists, but also college professors, posters to the SDMB, and people who know the Latinate name for a salamander. In fact, I’m hard pressed to think of any group that would not be diminished by **prr** ’s membership. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-dealing-with-teenagers-professed-religious-belief/556048/44 "2010-10-06T03:54:38Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > My 13-year old son announced this weekend that he is fairly sure that he “believes in God.” > > I am an atheist, and am appalled. What can I do to compell this teenaged smart-aleck to abandon his religious beliefs and be an atheist like his mom and me? > My son is essentially completely ignorant of any scientific thought. > > Any advice would be greatly appreciated. > This is a parody of the IMHO thread about the opposite problem–the point, if you need it spelled out, is that advising the OP here to STFU and MYOB would be just about unanimous advice on the SD, even from atheists, agnostics, and Pastafarians. I actually no longer have teenaged children, thank Whoever. Thank you very much for your support. The most persuasive approach is always, “If there were a benevolent God, would he let me do this to you?!” (Ensuing details are left as an exercise for the student.) ---
**Author:** ![adhay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@adhay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhay)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-dealing-with-teenagers-professed-religious-belief/556048/45 "2010-10-06T13:41:49Z")
So what exactly is the difference between atheism and other religions? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Weird\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@The\_Weird\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Weird_One)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-dealing-with-teenagers-professed-religious-belief/556048/46 "2010-10-06T14:08:55Z")
Wow, PRR, that was one of the least-obnoxious religious posts I’ve ever seen on this board, and I was pleased to see other posters discuss the topic with politeness and respect for each other. The only obnoxious, officious nutball I’m seeing is you. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-dealing-with-teenagers-professed-religious-belief/556048/47 "2010-10-06T15:40:19Z")
> [@adhay](#): > > So what exactly is the difference between atheism and other religions? Whats the difference between religion and no religion? What is the difference from having cancer and not having cancer? Everything. Atheists don’t have religious beliefs. They do not have meetings. they don’t donate and recruit. If my son had told me he believed in god, I would not have cared. That would be his business and his decision. If he got comfort from it, and needed it, that would be fine. Religion does not work for me at all. It is destructive and based on falsehoods . It is a creation of man. But some people feel it helps them get by. Good for them. My son went to Catholic institutions from grade school through college. I believe he is an atheist. I do not know for sure because it does not matter to me and I never asked. ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-dealing-with-teenagers-professed-religious-belief/556048/48 "2010-10-06T15:58:28Z")
Basically you’re bitching that people on the board weren’t being more of an asshole to someone. Take that big fucking chip off your shoulder and get over it. For what it’s worth, I think you’re wrong about the response this thread would have gotten if posted in good faith, and without striking a combative tone with the word choices **Bosstone** points out above. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-dealing-with-teenagers-professed-religious-belief/556048/49 "2010-10-06T16:09:31Z")
> [@adhay](#): > > So what exactly is the difference between atheism and other religions? Well, what’s the difference between your post and something that makes sense? ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-dealing-with-teenagers-professed-religious-belief/556048/50 "2010-10-06T16:23:58Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > I simply maintain that if I had opened up this exact thread, a few months before or after the IMHO thread, I would have gotten a much harsher reception than the OP I’m parodying has gotten. And deserved it. Well, when you put it that way, I think you would have too. But, **robby** doesn’t have a long-term reputation as an abrasive argumentative poster, and had he posted your OP (in the style of his actual OP) I think he would have gotten the same kinds of responses as his current thread is getting. It’s not the atheism vs religion thing, it’s the individual reputation thing. Many’s the time I’ve read the first few nasty replies to a reasonable question, thought “whoa, that’s a bit harsh!” and gone back to see the OP’s name was a known asshat. The default around here generally is to treat people matter-of-factly until given a good reason to do otherwise. (Sometimes that reason is given in the poster’s first post.) You seem to be arguing that the default should be scorn and ridicule, like everyone gives you, when it’s more a matter of you having already made your bed and now you are lying in it. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-dealing-with-teenagers-professed-religious-belief/556048/51 "2010-10-06T16:24:08Z")
Make him kneel on a set of encyclopedias and think really hard about whether there isn’t a god, and if so, why isn’t god going to prevent you from making him stay there until you’re good and ready. And then send him to a liberal elite psychoanalyst who keep shouting that “You’ll never go to heaven! Because it doesn’t exist!” Then get a public school teacher to lay hands on him until he sees the light. ---
**Author:** ![adhay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@adhay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhay)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-dealing-with-teenagers-professed-religious-belief/556048/52 "2010-10-06T17:04:28Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > > [@adhay](#): > > > > So what exactly is the difference between atheism and other religions? > > Whats the difference between religion and no religion? What is the difference from having cancer and not having cancer? Everything. > Atheists don’t have religious beliefs. They do not have meetings. they don’t donate and recruit. … Oh, come on. There are 6+ billions of religions walking the planet. Each one of us has his own. “Formal” or institutionalized religion is simply superstition organized around a particular interpretation of some edition of a particular “scripture” purported to represent G\*'s final word and a “rational” explanation of who/what we are. > [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Well, what’s the difference between your post and something that makes sense? I wouldn’t expect _you_ to know the difference. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-dealing-with-teenagers-professed-religious-belief/556048/53 "2010-10-06T17:09:31Z")
> [@Jenaroph](#): > > > [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > > > I simply maintain that if I had opened up this exact thread, a few months before or after the IMHO thread, I would have gotten a much harsher reception than the OP I’m parodying has gotten. And deserved it. > > Well, when you put it that way, I think you would have too. But, **robby** doesn’t have a long-term reputation as an abrasive argumentative poster, and had he posted your OP (in the style of his actual OP) I think he would have gotten the same kinds of responses as his current thread is getting. It’s not the atheism vs religion thing, it’s the individual reputation thing. Many’s the time I’ve read the first few nasty replies to a reasonable question, thought “whoa, that’s a bit harsh!” and gone back to see the OP’s name was a known asshat. The default around here generally is to treat people matter-of-factly until given a good reason to do otherwise. (Sometimes that reason is given in the poster’s first post.) You seem to be arguing that the default should be scorn and ridicule, like everyone gives you, when it’s more a matter of you having already made your bed and now you are lying in it. I still maintain it was the actual way the OP was written, not **prr** ’s rep. I do remember the brouhaha with **Liberal** , but ever since **prr** returned I’ve found him to be pretty reasonable up until he landed this stinker. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-dealing-with-teenagers-professed-religious-belief/556048/54 "2010-10-06T17:21:19Z")
> [@adhay](#): > > > [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > > > Well, what’s the difference between your post and something that makes sense? > > I wouldn’t expect _you_ to know the difference. I’m glad to see you admit there _is_ a difference between your post and one that makes sense. I submit this difference is quite a significant one. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-dealing-with-teenagers-professed-religious-belief/556048/55 "2010-10-06T17:41:17Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > but ever since **prr** returned I’ve found him to be pretty reasonable up until he landed this stinker. Well, thanks. I think. ---
**Author:** ![adhay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@adhay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhay)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-dealing-with-teenagers-professed-religious-belief/556048/56 "2010-10-06T17:58:38Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > > [@adhay](#): > > > > I wouldn’t expect _you_ to know the difference. > > I’m glad to see you admit there _is_ a difference between your post and one that makes sense. > > I submit this difference is quite a significant one. Given your consistent low wattage, I should have added “between your ass and your elbow”. Clear now? ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-dealing-with-teenagers-professed-religious-belief/556048/57 "2010-10-06T18:00:44Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > I still maintain it was the actual way the OP was written, not **prr** ’s rep. I do remember the brouhaha with **Liberal** , but ever since **prr** returned I’ve found him to be pretty reasonable up until he landed this stinker. I agree with you. I can’t remember if **prr** is generally a jerk or not (honestly, most of the posters on here kind of blur together for me except for a few people I think are incredibly awesome and a few I think are complete a-holes) so if I was influenced by his reputation it was at best subconscious. But I thought the OP read as pretty jerky. (Can’t say I was influenced by the post he was parodying either, since I hadn’t seen it.) I’m a sample of one, but still. Strike the words “appalled”, “compell”, “smart-aleck”, and “ignorant”, and I think it would go over a lot better. That said, the main reason it seems jerky to me is not what he posted in the parody portion, but the very fact that he’s apparently annoyed that people weren’t being meaner to another poster. WTF? ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-dealing-with-teenagers-professed-religious-belief/556048/58 "2010-10-06T18:08:15Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > My 13-year old son announced this weekend that he is fairly sure that he “believes in God.” > > I am an atheist, and am appalled. What can I do to compell this teenaged smart-aleck to abandon his religious beliefs and be an atheist like his mom and me? > My son is essentially completely ignorant of any scientific thought. > > Any advice would be greatly appreciated. > > … I’m wondering if your son heard you and your wife praying “Oh god, Oh God, OH GOD, YES, YES, YES?” It’s pretty hard to not to believe after hearing those prayers from behind closed doors. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-dealing-with-teenagers-professed-religious-belief/556048/59 "2010-10-06T18:31:37Z")
> [@adhay](#): > > > [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > > > I’m glad to see you admit there _is_ a difference between your post and one that makes sense. > > > > I submit this difference is quite a significant one. > > Given your consistent low wattage, I should have added “between your ass and your elbow”. > > Clear now? What’s clear is that you’re trying to insult people who are smarter than you, with the expected result. I’ll cheerfully match my “wattage” against yours any day of the week, by any agreeable standard. In any case, atheism isn’t a religion. Your original loaded question doesn’t deserve a deeper analysis than that. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-dealing-with-teenagers-professed-religious-belief/556048/60 "2010-10-06T19:41:06Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > I simply maintain that if I had opened up this exact thread, a few months before or after the IMHO thread, I would have gotten a much harsher reception than the OP I’m parodying has gotten. And deserved it. I submit that you would’ve gotten a harsher reaction than most, due to your general assholish behavior with regards to the subject. I also agree that you would’ve deserved it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-dealing-with-teenagers-professed-religious-belief/556048.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-dealing-with-teenagers-professed-religious-belief/556048.md?page=4)