Yes, really.

I gotta write this article.

It’s a response to some nit-wittery I encountered.

The post itself is a standard rant about the awfulness of Christianity.

I have the annoying habit of asking questions in the comments.

I read stuff like this:

It’s a tragedy in the first degree that children are exposed to this kind of religious battering. And the saddest part? This type of guilt association often sticks with them for a lifetime. What a horrible way to live!

I can’t imagine how religion would be useful for battering things.

Battering is best done with clubs or cudgels or stampeding cattle.

Setting that aside, I asked a question:

Is guilt always inappropriate?

That’s the crux of the argument.

Telling kids they are sinners makes them feel guilty.

Making kids feel guilty is child abuse.

And child abuse is always inappropriate.

Right?

Well, nobody was willing to answer my question.

Which puzzled me at first.

Then I remembered…

…atheism is stupid.

And everything started to make sense.

Godless people believe with all their hearts that “religion” is responsible for all evil.

Godless people also believe with all their hearts that “evil” doesn’t exist.

Therefore, sin doesn’t exist either.

So godless people claim that teaching children to confess their sins is abusive.

And abuse is evil even though evil isn’t real.

Understand?

That’s why nobody answered my question.

Atheism doesn’t HAVE answers.

Well, it turns out that disciplining children is also abusive, which is evil, which doesn’t exist.

I know this because I asked if it is wrong to discipline children and was told:

Children imitate adults and view their parents as role models. Act in the same manner you’d like them to act and they will pick up your behavior naturally.

Exactly the response I would expect from someone who has never met an actual child.

It is NOT child abuse to make children feel guilty for misbehaving.

Child abuse is letting kids grow up to become atheists.

You gonna keep lurking forever or are you gonna join this exclusive clique?
Stop procrastinating. Click This.

Leave a comment

24 Responses

  1. For centuries you burn those that disagree with you about your invisible friend. Now you can’t. I think that’s great. Your last power is over your children, but they will out live and out think you. Religion is nothing but establishing subservience to a hierarchy by instillation of fear & deception. I have Love, Wonder, Spirit in abundance. No Bearded Deity necessary.

      1. Children will outlive and out think Robert–eventually realizing how kooky it was for him to say “I have Love, Wonder, Spirit in abundance.” 🙂

        1. I’m always encouraged when people who don’t believe in spirits assure me they have a satisfying spirituality.

  2. I sadly have an online “friend” who is a staunch atheist and one day, after a couple years of senseless debating on his part about how evil God is and religion is abuse… he offhandedly confessed that he had been abused by a Catholic Priest as a boy.

    He hates God because of something a man (obviously not acting in a very Christian manner) did to him… real abuse.

    I would wager that a majority of angry atheists believe what they believe, for similar reasons. I believe this so strongly, that I tend to default to sympathy mode when discussing morality with angry atheists.

    When they can’t provide a rational reason for their atheism, and their anger towards God and God’s people are insufferable… abuse in the past is all but a foregone conclusion.

    Pray accordingly.

    1. Real abuse is tragic. But being assaulted by a priest is NOT the same as being taught about sin and morality. In fact, assault is something that children should be taught is a sin!

      1. Right.
        Potty training must be taught too.
        Are we abusing children when we teach them to use the toilet?

        1. Yes. That’s a great anaolgy. Potty training teaches children how to eliminate the crap, while religious indoctrination forces them to swallow it.

  3. Hey, thanks for writing this. I grew up under atheism, and dysfunction,and the guilt, the shame we dump on kids is still there, you just have no where to put it, no context in which to understand it, and no grace and mercy either. It is a bit like carrying sin around with no chance of redemption,no hope. A bit quirky for sure, but discovering sin and hearing it named for what it is was one of the best days of my life. Suddenly life made sense, and there is a cure for sin, Jesus Christ. To deprive your kids of knowledge of the cure for what ails them is, at the very least, not very nice.

    1. Totally agree.
      I don’t throw around the term “child abuse” as much as some. But to groom a child into a worldview that can’t even begin to tackle their deepest questions? It’s not exactly GOOD.

      I can’t imagine guiding a child in a worldview that won’t even let them say, “My words contain meaning and order.” It seems pretty irresponsible to bring another person into such a hopeless, purposeless, answer-less reality. :/

  4. It is very unnerving for a child to be told they are born as a sinner and then told they have to redeem themselves through worshipping God for the rest of their lives until they die.

    This sort of guilt trip for a young mind is definitely inappropriate, and you have to be fucking joking if you do not think it is.

    Get a bloody life, it is not all just a comedy.

    1. Greetings Sklyjd, and happy New year!
      I think, implied in your question, is the assumption that salvation is earned through some kind of religious acts. When you say “they have to redeem themselves through worshipping God for the rest of their lives” are you not assuming the same works based salvation which all religions demand but Christianity itself rejects? It seems you are here criticizing Christianity for the one thing which separates it from every other religion- including atheism- and the one thing which is true of every faith BUT Christianity. But the Bible is VERY CLEAR (even though many Christians are not) that salvation is though the works CHRIST DID and not through any WE can do.

      More accurate would be “They have to be saved by allowing the fireman to carry them out of the burning building.” But then your criticism must be whittled down to “It is very unnerving for a child to be told the house is on fire.” Which is true, but far more loving than allowing them to remain ignorant of the flames and smoke which are right outside of their bedroom door. When you love someone, you tell them, “WAKE UP! The House is on fire! Let the Fireman carry you to safety!” You don’t encourage them to pretend it’s safe to play with matches.
      #JesusLovesYou

      1. The problem with your analogy is that there is no empirical evidence to substantiate claims for the existence of God, Heaven, Hell, Satan, angels or demons.

        In essence, you’re instilling fear by telling children to believe they are in grave danger despite the visible absence of smoke or flames or rescue workers.

    2. Steve, Bryan actually already captured the essence of the complete lack of understanding of Christianity. You said:

      “and then told they have to redeem themselves through worshipping God for the rest of their lives until they die”

      The problem is, we DON’T redeem ourselves this way.

      To expand on what Bryan said, if you were drowning and I offered you a life preserver, would you get ticked off because I was insinuating you could not swim?

      At any rate, I will sit back and listen to see if you bring something to the table here besides the F bomb. Although, that almost did make me renounce my faith…NOT.

  5. Guarantee the only thing they will read and understand is that last line.

    Poor things.

    If they weren’t so abused by Atheist propaganda and bullying, they might have better reading comprehension. 🙂 Maybe they’d be able to think critically! I wonder if it’s too late…

Leave a Reply to BryanCancel reply

Archives
Subscribe to Blog via Email

Get my blog in your inbox!

Follow

Get the latest posts delivered to your mailbox:

Your Cart