alphamale

I am a unitarian with some cutomized stuff from major relegions. I found my self having to adopt some existing ideas to explain things to my children.

But I am little curious about what atheists people tell their childrens and their un educated about death and pain.

Where people go after death? what is the reward for pain and suffering?

If you think about it, suh questions were the foundation in transitioning from simple unitarian to structured relegions.

Reanimator

Death is like the winking out of a light, and the only reward for perseverence through pain and suffering is self-respect and a better appreciation for the one life we have. Why does there have to be a post-mortem reward?

Edit: Interestingly enough I was thinking about death the other night at my jiu-jitsu class. I was trying to get out of the choke my partner had put me in and, as things started to go black, before I tapped I thought to myself "Is this what death is like?" The world gets quiet and you literally fade to black.

If death comes at me like a collar choke though, you can guarantee I'll go down fighting it!

alphamale

I sure like the lies I was fed in childhood. But maybe because I can't peel them out completly.

I can tell you this is a dificult one for me.

DougP

Death isnt anything, so there is nothing to worry about. There isnt a reward for getting through pain and suffering. Seems easy enough.

-Doug

Jobar

I have no children of my own, but if I did I would tell them that they are integral parts of the world, and spring forth from it like a leaf does from a tree. That they are made of the dust of stars. That even after their consciousness and personality fades away at death, the universe which gave them being still will exist, and give birth to new and ever more amazing people and lives.

If they asked me about evil and pain, I'd explain that those things are the necessary backgrounds of goodness and joy, for we can't see something unless there's something to contrast it with. Opposites like day and night, good and evil, life and death are poles of a unity, and if not for that polarization we wouldn't be able to even tell if we existed or not.

My explanations aren't common to all atheists, mind you!

NewtonPooton

as i'm having a kid soon (july-ish) my wife and i have talked about this.

we won't bring our kids to church and don't really want my parents bringing them to church either. if, once they're older, they want to go, i'll go with them, and after, if they have any questions, i'll be there to answer them. hopefully my kid will see how stupid religion is.

it's like the bible says though, raise your child in the way they should go and they will not stray... wait. that's crap cuz i deconverted. oh well.

i think simple, blunt honesty is the best way. i'm not going to tell my kids about the easter bunny, santa, or the tooth fairy either. why should i lie about some things and try to be honest about others? i think everyone would be happier if their parents were just honest with them. that way kids wouldn't grow up thinking their parents lied to them all their lives.

rant rant rant...
okay.

David B

Just curious. When you've told your kids about Santa, what, if anything, would you tell them to say to their peers about it?

I agree with you - but I think I'd tell them that some parents tell people untruths about Santa to make them happy, and it's better if they don't argue with believers.

Dunno.

David B

NewtonPooton

I think I would tell them that some people believe in things that aren't real. Maybe even tell them that it's not good to argue with them about that kind of stuff. I don't know. When I was little and other kids told me all that crap wasn't real, i argued with them and told them it was real cuz my parents said so. I think that's what most kids would say anyways.
Yeah, I agree with you there.

I also know from experience that it's not cool to tell people that the stuff they believe in is bull crap b/c people tend to get defensive and sometimes physically abusive. Example: 10 year old Bobby tells 10 year old Billy that Santa isn't real it's just a lie parents tell little kids to make them behave. Billy tells Bobby he's full of shit and proceeds to beat the hell out of poor little Bobby. And yes, kids do talk like that in real life, not just in SouthPark.

Anat

My daughter (7) knows that death is the end, and there is nothing after it, though some people like to believe that the dead continue to exist in some special place because it makes it easier for them to accept death. She knows such beliefs are just pretending. As for suffering - we haven't discussed suffering as a general concept, but she knows of instances where people had to endure suffering or hardship in order to bring about an important change in the world - eg the civil rights movement. OTOH some forms of suffering do not achieve anything and are best eliminated or at least ameliorated.

RidingtheScree

yup