Kids Reject Parents' Beliefs

When Kids Reject Their Parents’ Cherished Beliefs

Religion

I brought my kids to church, taught Sunday school, talked about my personal beliefs, and said prayers together. Now, I’m faced with one kid who thinks a relationship with God is the brain’s unreal hard-wired response to certain psychological needs and considers himself an atheist. My other kid is on the fence at the moment, so I thought I should look into it.

Atheism

Typical human nature—there are as many schools of thought regarding atheism and levels of passion in practicing it as there are in most religions. Beliefs range from the simple thought that gods don’t exist to a fanatical belief that all religions should be abolished and fought wherever they raise their heads.

According to Wikipedia, Sociologist Phil Zuckerman says that atheists and secular people (worldly rather than religious) are less nationalistic (which presumably means less prone to territorial fighting), prejudiced, anti-Semitic, racist, dogmatic, ethnocentric, close-minded, and authoritarian. He also reports that US states with higher populations of atheists have lower murder rates than most religious states.

Fanaticism

Many prominent atheist philosophers believed that humans invented religion to fulfill psychological and emotional wants or needs, but adhering to a religion negates human liberty and ends in enslavement to authority figures. Considering the damage done by groups of people in the name of whatever religion they espoused throughout the centuries, one can see their point.

Anytime people take their beliefs to the point where they can’t or won’t listen to common sense or reason, disaster occurs. Many would not consider themselves fanatics but do think there are certain things to which believers should be closed-minded—abortion, homosexuality, etc. Younger people tend not to share these prejudices to the same degree as their parents, so a rebellion against the religion that teaches them is inevitable.

Monday—more on this and other ways kids stray from their parents’ teachings. Friday—The Point of the Gospel and Jesus’ teachings on our good deeds and what we consider treasures.