Comment by Walter Maki on April 8, 2011 at 1:05am

Cool :)

Just be careful with that sword of logic you wield young one.

Comment by Jake W. Andrews on April 8, 2011 at 1:16am

What kind of seeds are these? I have always been looking for subtle ways to bring people to doubt/question this sort of thing.

Comment by Albert Bakker on April 8, 2011 at 2:30pm

"Soon, I will be able to succesfully control their minds."

Could it be perchance that you might be tiny bit too ambitious in this respect?

 

Comment by Ava Wilson on April 8, 2011 at 2:59pm

Can't say I approve. That's not a good way to teach a younger child about Atheism. Allowing him to do it for sake of copying is no better than Christians teaching children to be Christian because of their tendency to mimic their ideas and making them go to church really young. I mean, yeah, reason is always better, but you need to enforce it with why reason is superior to faith and teach him to be a mature Atheist, not one that sits and ridicules Christianity for the sake of doing it; those Atheists are pretty intolerable in society and you don't really want him growing up to be one of them. It's annoying, sort of like 'HAR HAR HAR CHRISTIANITY SUCKZ FOR SURE YOUR GOD IS RELLY STOOPID'. Instead, teach him the scientific method and how it's the only viable way to look at the world-- through what we observe, rather than what we don't observe-- and use examples that enforce that idea such as, 'If I said you had a tiny pink unicorn on the tip of your finger, would you believe me?' 'No', 'Why?', 'Because it isn't there. I can't see it.' 'Same with God. If you can't observe it in any capacity whatsoever, why give credence to its existence?'. I find those examples are typically easiest for kids to understand.

 

Anyway, I wouldn't consider him a convert or deconvert until he's 18 anyway. There's no such thing as a Christian child or Muslim child or Hindu child because children can't understand religion to say they're a part of it; that's all their parents. But you can start teaching him reason now, so that when he's old enough to say what he believes, he can identify as an Atheist in full maturity.

Comment by Ryan Murillo on April 8, 2011 at 7:47pm

To borrow the idea from Ava's comment this is indeed no better than Christians, Muslims, Hindus, etc. teaching their children to be theists. You've said it yourself that he's just copying what you do. I doubt he can take that information and apply it directly to where he believes his position is in reality. He probably can't intellectualize that concept at all. How can he fully grasp what it means to live in a world without superstition while he's likely still in a stage of life where fantasy and reality might not always be that distinguishable, and there is nothing wrong with that. What you should be doing in instilling values that will allow him to make his own educated decisions about who he will be and what he will believe when he gets older. At this point he has no real experience to base his beliefs on, which will only lead him to question those beliefs when he wants to start making up his own mind.

Comment by Ethan Levy on April 8, 2011 at 8:21pm

i agree with most above me, you should let them decide until they are older enough to choose, i have a little sister the same age, my mother MAKES her go to church but i see that she hates it most kids do but my sister hates if for another reason she loves science i teach her about what i know evolution, planets answer any questions she may have, i was her age when i started to question religious stories & the whole institution as she does now, i didn't know at the time what non-believes were called atheist but i was 12, the part i love the most is her questions what would happen if two stars were to collide, will humans evolve again, why do people want pluto to be a planet again, We go to the local museum a lot, i see her picking up rocks measuring them weighting them & i let her, she tells me she wants to study rocks & dinosaurs.

 

I say teach him science & math it is their future the work you are doing now in your grade your brother will probably be learning in a years time, & when he's ready he'll know.

Comment by Ida Claire on April 9, 2011 at 2:31am

I didnt try to talk him into anything, he just started doing it.  Hes more mature than the average 11 year old.  Its weird, because I'm not even encouraging it.  I definetly see your points though.  All parents should give their kids all the info they can, and let them come to their own conclusions.

Comment by Albert Bakker on April 9, 2011 at 2:46am

Don't worry Ida, you really don't control his mind, he probably just thinks his sister is cool, following her own mind. There'll come a day he's going to experience some ambivalence in that regard and then later yet he'll change his mind back again. But he is his own person. Your influence is benign but limited. Don't sweat it, enjoy.

Comment by Chris Jackson on April 9, 2011 at 12:17pm

I have to say, I agree with Ava. Teach critical thinking and the rest will follow

Comment by Ida Claire on April 9, 2011 at 4:41pm

@Ava-

Don't act like you know me.  I don't shove my ideas down his throat.  I AM teaching him to be respectful of other's beleifs.  Also, I can't control the fact that he copies me, and if you have ever had a little kid that looked up to you you know what I mean.  And, I wasn't even LOOKING to be taken seriously with this blog post because I dont want to control peoples minds or take over the world. It's called sarcasm.

 

@Jake-

I usually just ask questions that I know they can't answer, but just let them think about it. I actually have no idea if it's working or not :)

 

@Katie-

I am young-15-, but that doesnt make me an idiot. And I was joking.

 

Anyways, thank you all for your lovely and thoughtful advice (or insults, depending on who you are).  I didn't intend for anyone to feel the need to jump down my throat, and I offer my apologies for making you feel this way.... ok not really.

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