Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Killingtonskier on February 23, 2012 at 4:06pm

Yes it appears that everything has an intelligent design--like a "Blind Watchmaker"----The problem is that when we {the intelligent ones) create something, the product, when mass produced all work alike and are rarely defective. Take a look at Nature and you will not see precise replication -- we see lots of errors, some see better than others, some are not as smart as others, nor as good looking, or as functional etc etc.

An intelligent design is us who has evolved carrying a lot of miscues.  And God is us--we made him (it) up in order to explain the unexplainable.  

And what trouble is one stirring up when teaching evolution? I think I know--someone may ask why did Jesus not tell us about atoms, our universe, or even why cleaning prevents infections--would he not have known this?

If  you think -- "thinking and questioning is stirring up trouble" you are in trouble. 

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Permalink Reply by Killingtonskier on February 23, 2012 at 4:48pm

AMEN

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Permalink Reply by Giovanni Ceron on February 23, 2012 at 4:21pm

Just don't lie man. I am a teacher too and I have been asked the same question but I answer that I would prefer not to discuss my beliefs in class. When they are in higher grades, they tend to keep asking because they are looking for deeper answers and then things get interesting. In a case like that, I talk about the situation in an impersonal way keeping a great deal of respect for people's beliefs no matter how crazy they are. We just cant be jerks about it. 

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Permalink Reply by Steff on February 28, 2012 at 5:01am

Can you really be fired for sharing the fact you are an atheist? They wouldn't fire you for being a christian or muslim though?

This is ... sick.

I am glad to have met a few teachers that were open about who they were and authentic, for good or for worse, but it made them "real" and they left an impression. 

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Permalink Reply by Killingtonskier on February 28, 2012 at 2:52pm

It is a sick world out there. Just try to acknowledge you are an Atheist among the masses.Sit in a local diner "Other than in Woodstock, VT or Yachats, OR with people you know. let me know how you fare.

I must admit though that as a health care provider, I have never had a problem when asked what my religious preference was in the event of a Medical emergency. 

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Permalink Reply by Yahweh on March 6, 2012 at 9:03am

Lying is what priests do. The child here was asking if you believed, not whether there was a God.If the child was asking about the latter, then there may be some things to consider.

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Permalink Reply by Killingtonskier on March 8, 2012 at 7:55pm

I just had the same experience from a fellow volunteer following a conversation about something that lead to her saying "God Looks after us" I politely disagreed with her pointing out that God has looked over a lot of terrible things without doing a thing. She was a very sincere person and we had an adult conversation that culminated in a warm good night and understanding. This would not work with a child.

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Permalink Reply by Tantan on March 11, 2012 at 10:25am

That is really tough for me because I am only one in the family who is an atheist, telling my nieces not to pray would spell trouble.

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Permalink Reply by Helen Pluckrose on March 28, 2012 at 4:58am

I would tell the truth but then i am in the UK. My 7 year old daughter's teacher is an atheist and has to teach religious education which has to be mostly Christian. I had spoken to her about RE as I always do. She told me that she is always very careful to say 'This is what Christians believe' and then she mentions other religions and the fact that some people do not believe in any of it.

Having seen questions on Yahoo Answers where American parents have been concerned that their child's teacher was an atheist andwere thinking about moving their child I understand your reticence. Could you not be evasive and say that your opinion is less relevant than her own? You could say that your own standpoint is best kept to yourself because children are encouraged to believe that their teachers know everything and you want to encourage them to come to their own conclusions? A get out without endangering your relationships with parents or feeling that you are contributing to the indoctrination of children?

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Permalink Reply by Jessica Roods on April 2, 2012 at 8:27pm

I am a young person, i guess, and i have asked a similar question to my global teacher in 9th grade. I have noticed her fascination for culture and religion which got me to wonder what she really believed in, if anything at all. I was also fascinated by a coffee mug she had that said "coexist" on it. Where i come from, NO ONE is coexistent. Her response was that being a teacher she tends not to go into the topic of personal life and she says she would be happy to share with me what she believed in when i was no longer in her class and i got to know her better as a friend, not a teacher, which she also says is merely impossible because i will never communicate with her outside of school, and to be a friend with a teacher can be very strange at times.

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Permalink Reply by Tom on April 4, 2012 at 9:25pm

Keep in mind that the way she phrased the question "do you believe" implies she is aware of the dispute. If she recognises that there are sides and that all the adults in her life might have been wrong or lying, you should have told the truth. Perhaps, more importantly, if all the adults have thus far been lying, it would be good to have one in her life willing to provide real knowledge. In my opinion you should be honest.

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Permalink Reply by William C. Walker on April 5, 2012 at 8:14pm

I would have answered that little girl with : Which one ?

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