# Athiest Dopers would you be mad if your kid found God? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 8, 2004, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athiest-dopers-would-you-be-mad-if-your-kid-found-god/249361 "2004-06-08T23:33:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athiest-dopers-would-you-be-mad-if-your-kid-found-god/249361/221 "2004-06-15T12:32:41Z")
> [@kelly5078](#): > > I don’t presume to own my children (though I’m not sure the reciprocal is true). Sadly, presumption is true…not only _do_ they own you, but will actually _TAKE UP RESIDENCE_ on you. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![START](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@START](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/START)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athiest-dopers-would-you-be-mad-if-your-kid-found-god/249361/222 "2004-06-16T16:56:53Z")
I have been away for a few days…I did not expect 5 pages worth of responses, I have read 2 of them and plan on going through all 5 so I can respond if I need to…thank you all for responding. PEACE ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2004, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athiest-dopers-would-you-be-mad-if-your-kid-found-god/249361/223 "2004-06-16T17:16:09Z")
Well, I’d be the least upset if my hypothetical kids decided they wanted to go to church with my mom or my sisters. They’re all active in the Mormon church still, and while I decided the scene’s not for me, I also really enjoyed my time at Sunday School and Young Women’s, and even the sacrement meeting. I probably wouldn’t care too much. Though, if they started acting like my sister, I’d be annoyed…all self-righteous and naive. If they somehow found other churches (either Protestant or Catholic), I’d probably be more annoyed and less encouraging, but I wouldn’t be angry. I know that church can provide a wonderful community and support system, and I know that not all religous people are bigoted/closed-minded/a pain in my ass. However, if my child is still a minor when they “find god”, I’d reserve the right to attend the services with them and make sure that what’s going on at the pulpit and in the community itself is something I’d approve of (that is, no gay-bashing, no telling girls their place is at a man’s feet, etc etc), and if it’s not, I’d reserve the right to forbid attending again. Just because they want to welcome Jesus to their heart doesn’t mean I have to tolerate them being indoctrinated and brainwashed with values/ethics/morals that I think are abhorant. Once they’re of age, I can’t do anything about that, of course. However, if Hypothetical Child came to me and told me they believed in psychics, astrology, communicating with the dead, faith healers, Loch Ness, ghosts, telepathy, etc, I’d hit the fucking roof. I would be absolutely, mind-numbingly furious. I’d accept religion if necessary, but I would not tolerate Hypothetical Child getting duped into believing such utter horeshit, and I would be extremely disappointed in myself and HC, as well as confused about how/when things could go so wrong. (And I mean when they’re holder…all kids believe in ghosts–I was fascinated by stories–so if my 8 year old went through a supernatural/paranormal phase, no problem. But they should really outgrow that by puberty, and certainly should know better by the time they’re adults.) ---
**Author:** ![START](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@START](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/START)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2004, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athiest-dopers-would-you-be-mad-if-your-kid-found-god/249361/224 "2004-06-20T20:31:15Z")
> [@scule](#): > > Two important questions that have surprisingly been ignored so far and are directed at the OP (where’d he/she go?): > > [ol] > [li]Define religion (big 5 - Christianity, Jeudaism, Islam, Hindu, Buddhist; or only the first 3; or any belief system without a scientific foundation that asks people to accept things on faith without proof or reason?)[/li][li]How old is the child/children concerned?[/li][/ol] > > With those in mind, I can say without hesitation that I would be extremely disappointed if one of my children accepted anything on faith alone. However, their age and maturity level would mitigate my reaction. A young child would likely have it explained to them why things need to be questioned and how religions fail to answer all the skeptics, and would be outright forbidden to participate anymore. An older child (mid or late teens) would be questioned on why they accepted things without questioning properly, and how they could accept things without legitimate answers, but might be allowed to continue attending so long as they were willing to listen to reason. > > Personally, I was raised Catholic, had absolutely no bad experiences with it other than boredom, and gave it up at a young age because I realized that I could never accept anything on faith alone. I hope and pray that when I have children that will grow up the same way, and will be sorely disappointed if they don’t (which has nothing to do with loving them, that is unconditional). Question 1= Pentecostal Type church Question 2= 16 years old I’m late with those answers I know, but I finally got around to reading the posts. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athiest-dopers-would-you-be-mad-if-your-kid-found-god/249361.md?page=11)