Posted: 1/15/2013 12:10:48 PM EDT
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http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-910282?hpt=hp_bn1
When my son was around 3 years old, he used to ask me a lot of questions about heaven. Where is it? How do people walk without a body? How will I find you? You know the questions that kids ask. For over a year, I lied to him and made up stories that I didn’t believe about heaven. Like most parents, I love my child so much that I didn’t want him to be scared. I wanted him to feel safe and loved and full of hope. But the trade-off was that I would have to make stuff up, and I would have to brainwash him into believing stories that didn’t make sense, stories that I didn’t believe either. One day he would know this, and he would not trust my judgment. He would know that I built an elaborate tale—not unlike the one we tell children about Santa—to explain the inconsistent and illogical legend of God. And so I thought it was only right to be honest with my children. I am a non-believer, and for years I’ve been on the fringe in my community. As a blogger, though, I’ve found that there are many other parents out there like me. We are creating the next generation of kids, and there is a wave of young agnostics, atheists, free thinkers and humanists rising up through the ranks who will, hopefully, lower our nation’s religious fever. Here are a few of the reasons why I am raising my children without God. God is a bad parent and role model. If God is our father, then he is not a good parent. Good parents don’t allow their children to inflict harm on others. Good people don’t stand by and watch horrible acts committed against innocent men, women and children. They don’t condone violence and abuse. “He has given us free will,” you say? Our children have free will, but we still step in and guide them. God is not logical. How many times have you heard, “Why did God allow this to happen?” And this: “It’s not for us to understand.” Translate: We don’t understand, so we will not think about it or deal with the issue. Take for example the senseless tragedy in Newtown. Rather than address the problem of guns in America, we defer responsibility to God. He had a reason. He wanted more angels. Only he knows why. We write poems saying that we told God to leave our schools. Now he’s making us pay the price. If there is a good, all-knowing, all-powerful God who loves his children, does it make sense that he would allow murders, child abuse, wars, brutal beatings, torture and millions of heinous acts to be committed throughout the history of mankind? Doesn’t this go against everything Christ taught us in the New Testament? The question we should be asking is this: “Why did we allow this to happen?” How can we fix this? No imaginary person is going to give us the answers or tell us why. Only we have the ability to be logical and to problem solve, and we should not abdicate these responsibilities to “God” just because a topic is tough or uncomfortable to address. God is not fair. If God is fair, then why does he answer the silly prayers of some while allowing other, serious requests, to go unanswered? I have known people who pray that they can find money to buy new furniture. (Answered.) I have known people who pray to God to help them win a soccer match. (Answered.) Why are the prayers of parents with dying children not answered? If God is fair, then why are some babies born with heart defects, autism, missing limbs or conjoined to another baby? Clearly, all men are not created equally. Why is a good man beaten senseless on the street while an evil man finds great wealth taking advantage of others? This is not fair. A game maker who allows luck to rule mankind’s existence has not created a fair game. God does not protect the innocent. He does not keep our children safe. As a society, we stand up and speak for those who cannot. We protect our little ones as much as possible. When a child is kidnapped, we work together to find the child. We do not tolerate abuse and neglect. Why can’t God, with all his powers of omnipotence, protect the innocent? God is not present. He is not here. Telling our children to love a person they cannot see, smell, touch or hear does not make sense. It means that we teach children to love an image, an image that lives only in their imaginations. What we teach them, in effect, is to love an idea that we have created, one that is based in our fears and our hopes. God Does Not Teach Children to Be Good A child should make moral choices for the right reasons. Telling him that he must behave because God is watching means that his morality will be externally focused rather than internally structured. It’s like telling a child to behave or Santa won’t bring presents. When we take God out of the picture, we place responsibility of doing the right thing onto the shoulders of our children. No, they won’t go to heaven or rule their own planets when they die, but they can sleep better at night. They will make their family proud. They will feel better about who they are. They will be decent people. God Teaches Narcissism “God has a plan for you.” Telling kids there is a big guy in the sky who has a special path for them makes children narcissistic; it makes them think the world is at their disposal and that, no matter what happens, it doesn’t really matter because God is in control. That gives kids a sense of false security and creates selfishness. “No matter what I do, God loves me and forgives me. He knows my purpose. I am special.” The irony is that, while we tell this story to our kids, other children are abused and murdered, starved and neglected. All part of God’s plan, right? When we raise kids without God, we tell them the truth—we are no more special than the next creature. We are just a very, very small part of a big, big machine–whether that machine is nature or society–the influence we have is minuscule. The realization of our insignificance gives us a true sense of humbleness. I understand why people need God. I understand why people need heaven. It is terrifying to think that we are all alone in this universe, that one day we—along with the children we love so much—will cease to exist. The idea of God and an afterlife gives many of us structure, community and hope. I do not want religion to go away. I only want religion to be kept at home or in church where it belongs. It’s a personal effect, like a toothbrush or a pair of shoes. It’s not something to be used or worn by strangers. I want my children to be free not to believe and to know that our schools and our government will make decisions based on what is logical, just and fair—not on what they believe an imaginary God wants. |
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youre basing your judgments about God on the peoples actions who say they believe in him. Just because someone says "God needed new angels so thats why kids die" doesnt mean its true. (thats not true). Or just because bad things happen to good people doesnt mean God doesnt care. You have to read the bible to see why we are in the state we are in right now and what God is going to do to restore all things (even your dead loved ones). Thats what "the good news of Gods Kingdom" is that Jesus told us to teach and pray for. He told us to pray for Gods will to be done on earth as in heaven. So Gods will is not done on earth otherwise there would be no need to pray for it. Gods will for the earth is the same as it always has been, for humans to live on it forever in perfect health and harmony.
God created Adam with a perfect life in a perfect setting. God told him that he would live forever, but if he broke one rule that it was then that he would die. This one rule was established so they would show subjection to God by obeying him. Satan told them that they dont need God and that humans are better off ruling themselves. So now the question was raised in front of all the angels and humans...basically, Are humans better off ruling themselves and do we really need God? God is answering that question for all time by letting humans rule themselves and by using every form of government imaginable, humans have shown they can not do this. It always ends in a failure. (look whats happening with our country) Satan also said that humans will only serve God under his blessings and not under persecution, just like he said with Job but God allowed it to play out to prove Satan a liar. Job was rewarded for his faith and endurance The question of why do bad things happen in the world can be answered at 1st John 5:19 "the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one" Satan. 2nd Cor4:4 says that Satan is the god of this world. |
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Also think of it like this. If you go to the dr for some ailment and he prescribes you a medication and health plan but you dont follow it and dont take the meds, then get worse or die, would you blame the Dr for all the bad things that happened to you because you didnt take his advise? God has given us the prescription for life in the bible. The time is coming. Are we going to find out for ourselves by studying it and take action or just go by what other people say that have been totally misled?
Like Jesus said of the Jewish leaders and their followers...the blind leading the blind |
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Quoted:
I do not want religion to go away. I only want religion to be kept at home or in church where it belongs. It’s a personal effect, like a toothbrush or a pair of shoes. It’s not something to be used or worn by strangers. I want my children to be free not to believe and to know that our schools and our government will make decisions based on what is logical, just and fair—not on what they believe an imaginary God wants. You really want to teach your children this -? the gov is logical -LOL the school teaches that everybody is a winner, is that fair and logical ? |