Ab_Normal

I've done the experiment once (i.e. raised one child). We did not mention religion or participate in religious ceremonies. While I never asked her, "Hey, kiddo, you got a god meme in there?" the topic did not come up in conversation until she spent a week at her grandma's house, with she and grandma reading Bible stories together - she was seven at the time. (Which is another rant entirely. )

edited to add: and no, I'm not going to repeat the experiment to see if we get the same result - at least, not until my husband can give birth.

DarkBronzePlant

People are born knowing nothing outside of instinctual behavior. People are not born knowing, for example, that a war called World War II was fought in the middle of the 20th century; they need to be taught that. And there is compelling reason to believe that is true. People are not born knowing that mixing water and flour together can make glue; they must either be taught that, or discover that, and either way there is compelling reason to believe that is true. People are not born knowing about little green men from Mars; they must be taught that as well, and some people find the evidence compelling enough to believe. Same with god. People are not born knowing about the concept of a god; they must be taught that, and then decide of the evidence is compelling enough to believe.

JubalsCall

I'm not so sure that someone has to be taught to believe in God. Even people here have said that "god" is a pyscological thing and that people have a psycological need for a "god."

May be there is no way of knowing? May be we only think that god is either taught or already known by what we personal believe in the first place?

The seven year old daughter thing is a good example, but may be she just wasn't old enough yet to even think about such things.

May be "god" is an instintual concept just like surviving? May be we are all born wanting to know there is something more out there than what we can see?

If this is true, does it even really pose a problem for atheist?

Tibbs

(Man we've gotten way off topic on this thread. lol)

Ensign Steve

Yes, I am another case of this. My atheist parents raised me without any idea of God. I did get the Santa Claus bit, but I grew out of that as I realized the Santa myth did not jive with what I was learning about the observable world. I was first introduced to the idea of God and Jesus by my Christian neighbors. I thought they were wacky! Even at the tender age of 9, I knew there was something wrong with what they were saying. It also didn't jive with what I already knew about the observable world. I asked my mom about it, and she helped me to understand that God is like Santa, except that grown-ups believe in him, too.

Jen

Ensign Steve

A need doesn't make the thing happen. I need a beer. That doesn't mean I have one, unfortunately.

Quote:

May be there is no way of knowing? May be we only think that god is either taught or already known by what we personal believe in the first place?

To say "there is no way of knowing" is a very weak attempt to dodge having to put forth any valid argument.

Quote:

The seven year old daughter thing is a good example, but may be she just wasn't old enough yet to even think about such things.

Isn't 7 the "age of reason"? j/k. Seriously, read my reply to that same question and let me know what you think. That was at age 9.

Quote:

May be "god" is an instintual concept just like surviving? May be we are all born wanting to know there is something more out there than what we can see?

Well, if we want to change the definition of god, then we can say whatever we want. You can assert that god is a chair, and since there is hard evidence that a chair exists, I should then believe in god? No, thanks, I'll just keep believing in chairs.

As far as wanting to know more than what we see, I want to know what happened before the Big Bang. I want to know what quarks are made of. I want to know if there are more than four dimensions. I want to know the nature of black holes. I want to know where all the left socks go. None of those mysteries requires the invention of an invisible, sentient sky daddy with 10 rules he wants me to follow.

Quote:

If this is true, does it even really pose a problem for atheist?

If what is true? You lost me. Whatever it is, it probably does not pose a problem for me, because I'm easy.

Quote:

(Man we've gotten way off topic on this thread. lol)

In a quite mind-boggling attempt to deflect the burden of proof back onto the atheists. Well, I'm not having it!

- I am sure my dry sense of humor is not coming through in my "tone" so before I hurt your feelings, Tibbs, please know that this post was supposed to be relatively tongue-in-cheek.

Jen

Biff the unclean

Both my kids (now adults) were raised without any mention of God. Niether of them heard about it untill they were in school. I remember my daughter came home and she couldn't stop laughing over how stupid the girl who sat next to her was because she thought "there was a magic man who lives in the sky."

Lobstrosity

You wrote in response to my statement "Where I draw the line is when you start telling me how this subjective "God" of yours affects me":
I'd like to assure you that my statement was not directed at you. I was addressing a non-specific set of people who might choose to do that, not implying that this is what you have done. I should be more careful with my words for I see how that could easily be misconstrued.

SecularFuture

Because all of the supernatural god concepts are all without evidence and reason!

1) There is no realistic, testable, evidence for the existence of a god.

2) When you consider the ancient, pre-scientific, source for theistic thought, you realize that there are also no realistic reasons to support a belief in a god.

3) In a naturalistic universe, why should the supernatural exist? Because we want it to? Wishful thinking will not make a wish into a reality.

MollyMac

Hi Tibbs

Sorry I should have explained that earlier in the day I'd been reading an essay by Richard Dawkins where he says he can't believe anyone would designedly create the Ichneumonidae with the express intention of their feeding within the living body of caterpillars. Ichneumonidae sting their prey not to kill, but to paralyse, so their larvae can feed on live meat.

For me, Dawkins sums up the feeling I got at age 13 when I suddenly really started thinking about nature and the world that God is supposed to have created. I'd spent my childhood singing hymns like "all things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small, all things wise and wonderful, the Lord God made them all".
Never any mention of the cruelty, the callousness, the utter grossness of nature.

So that became my first reason for not believing in the Christian God I had been brought up to worship. I wouldn't necessarily say that it is the main reason nowadays. I think that is down to lack of evidence and this equally applies to any other god. But that has all been covered already in this thread.

Molly

DMB

Hear, Hear, Molly!

All things dull and ugly.