Posted on 11/27/2007 11:53:56 AM PST by Between the Lines
Christian kids are typically sent to Sunday school for lessons on the Bible and morals. For nonbelievers, there's atheist Sunday school.
With an estimated 14 percent of Americans professing to have no religion, according to the Institute for Humanist Studies, some are choosing to send their children to classes that teach ethics without religious belief.
Bri Kneisley sent her 10-year-old son, Damian, to Camp Quest Ohio this past summer after a neighbor had shown him the Bible.
"Damian was quite certain this guy was right and was telling him this amazing truth that I had never shared," said Kneisley, who realized her son needed to learn about secularism, according to Time magazine.
Camp Quest, also dubbed "The Secular Summer Camp," is offered for children of atheists, freethinkers, humanists and other nonbelievers who hold to a "naturalistic, not supernatural world view," the camp website states.
The summer camp, offered across North America and supported by the Institute for Humanist Studies, is designed to teach rational inquiry, critical thinking, scientific method, ethics, free speech, and the separation of religion and government.
Kneisley welcomes the sense of community the camp offers her son.
"He's a child of atheist parents, and he's not the only one in the world," she said, according to Time.
Atheist and humanist programs are expected to pop up in such cities as Phoenix, Albuquerque, N.M., and Portland, Ore., and adult nonbelievers are leaning on such secular Sunday schools to help teach their kids values and how to respond to the Christian majority in the United States.
Outspoken atheist Richard Dawkins argues that teaching faith to children can be dangerous, noting the possibility of extremism.
"The point about teaching children that faith is a virtue is that you're teaching them that you don't have to justify what you do, you can simply shelter behind the statement 'that's my faith and you're not to question that,'" he argued in a debate with Christian apologist John Lennox last month.
A recent study by Ellison Research, however, found that most Americans who attended church as a child say their past worship attendance has had a positive impact on them. The majority, including those who no longer currently attend religious services, said their attendance at church as a child gave them a good moral foundation and that they are glad they attended.
Yet today, nonbelievers want their children to participate in Sunday school the secular way.
"I'm a person that doesn't believe in myths," says Hana, 11, who attends the Humanist Community Center in Palo Alto, Calif., according to Time. "I'd rather stick to the evidence."
I think the 7th circuit has made a ruling along those lines.
“So why shouldn’t I steal?” asked the boy at athiest Sunday school.
“Because you may be punished if you are caught,” answered the athiest teacher.
“And if I am sure that I won’t be caught?”
“Then you don’t steal because you will hurt someone else.”
“And if I don’t feel bad about that?”
Suffer little children to come unto Me....Luke 18:16
On the Last Day she can share this story with Saint Peter about how she did her level best to prevent her own son from saving his soul. This is the feel-good story of the week.
She started by naming him Damian. ;)
While growing up, had a plaque with that verse hanging on my bedroom wall & always wondered why God wanted me to suffer.
Any belief for or against God, is a religion?
LOL. I wondered the same thing. I won’t tell you how old I was before I finally figured out what it meant. ;)
Me too...that's how I ended up being a Christian.
Teaching Atheism can be dangerous, as evidenced by the most murderous regimes ever to be on planet Earth. 100 million victims in the 20th century alone of governments that had Atheism as their state religion.
Only if you can convince the court that YOUR definition of religion is correct.
And how is it any different in the typical evangelical Sunday School? There you shouldn’t steal because God says it is wrong because it hurts other people. Still those who don’t care about hurting others won’t be dissuaded, so Christian Sunday School is no different. Maybe you could threaten divine punishment, but you can’t threaten people with hell for stealing because either they don’t believe in God, are going to hell by default, and don’t care that you think they’re going to hell, or they believe in God, are once-saved-always-saved, and will go to heaven regardless of whether they steal or not. Maybe you could tell them, “If you steal, God will kill your dog.” Then they might avoid stealing because they are afraid of getting caught, once again making Christian Sunday school no different than your example.
Correlation doesn't prove causality. You might as well say that teaching Russian or Chinese was the cause.
Slow learner, like me, eh? Even knowing what it means made it somewhat disturbing, since my mother put it on my bedroom wall instead of my brother's. You know how kids are, they always think one of their siblings is more favored? My mother slipped & confirmed it. Course, I gave her plenty to suffer me for, so can't say that I blame her. LOL
As you note . . . “because God says it is wrong” IS what is different. Without God there is no rational basis for altruism.
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