This article was first presented to me as evidence of the intolerance of evangelical Christians. It is based on a letter written by an atheist to an advice columnist about dealing with his daughter's fears that he was going to HellWhen I try to explain my beliefs (that I don't believe in God or a higher power), she cries. I am certainly not trying to deny her mother the right to take her to church, but I don't want to cut my two weekends a month with her short to take her back to her mother's to attend church. Nor do I want her mother telling her that I am going to hell.
But the advice columnist's response was excellent and balanced.What I am trying to say is, the way to help your daughter grow is not to debate the existence of God. It is to go to church with your daughter and experience what she is experiencing.
Read on through the article. It is a good read and provides insight into both sides of the religious divide.
You can argue about who is winning and who is losing. But at least watch the game.
Friday, October 05, 2007
When your child's faith is not your own
Posted by Nomad at 6:34 AM
Labels: atheism, evangelicals, unequallyyoked
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1 comment:
Good article Nomad!
I've often wondered why it is that Christians, and evangelicals specifically, are considered so close-minded. I know the simple answer is that we believe in a single route to salvation, which closes off all the other routes that people like. But more broadly, most Christians I know would be willing to engage in discussing another person's faith or lack there of with them - and not necessarily in a derogatory tone. It has seemed to me, for some time at least, that is the people that don't believe in a deity that are the most closed minded. The ones that I have met and heard of through friends don't want to even discuss the possibility of any sort of divine being. It is then that they accuse us of being closed minded. Am I missing something because this makes no sense to me.
I think the person that answered the question did so correctly. You can't truly argue for or against anything unless you know the facts on both sides. Plus the suggestion is pointed more at alleviating the girls fears rather than evangelizing the father, which in the long run may result in his actual evangelizing. Good all around.
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