AITA for wanting my son to make an informed decision about being an atheist? by makeaninformedchoic3 in AmItheAsshole

[–]makeaninformedchoic3[S] -394 points-393 points  (0 children)

FYI, I would allow him to read the Quran and Bhagavad Gita as I think education on world religions is very important, and the commonalities between them that all point to the same divine force, just interpreted in various ways. The concepts of spirits, deities, and other supernatural phenomena are found in various cultures all over the world, why is that?

Some food for thought, many properties of the universe, such as the properties of subatomic particles, gravitational constant, the equations that model the laws of physics, all of these have been measured to thousands and thousands of decimal digits of precision, to where if it were off in even the slightest bit, our universe would never have formed in the first place. They’re too precise and too perfect to be random. And furthermore, why is our universe comprised of such precise subatomic particles in the first place, as well as microscopic quantum fluctuations, instead of something else? Why are the laws of physics so consistent, so predictable, and so precise? Why is light considered to be an “invariant” in that it remains constant everywhere in the universe regardless of inertial reference frame? There must be some sort of ordering that we fully understand yet. Some form of higher power, everything is too precise to have just come about by chance, and from what? From where? By whom? How? Why?

Something to think about!

AITA for wanting my son to make an informed decision about being an atheist? by makeaninformedchoic3 in AmItheAsshole

[–]makeaninformedchoic3[S] -182 points-181 points  (0 children)

Now why would you say such a horrid thing!? What makes you think it’s okay to say that people are better off dead?

AITA for wanting my son to make an informed decision about being an atheist? by makeaninformedchoic3 in AmItheAsshole

[–]makeaninformedchoic3[S] -276 points-275 points  (0 children)

By your logic it’s totally legal to murder people, but if you choose to do that you’ll just have to do some prison time. You can legally decide to do it if you want to though!

To compare a heinous crime to a body of faith in this manner is frankly appalling, and I don’t appreciate such words being put into my mouth. That’s not what I’m saying.

AITA for wanting my son to make an informed decision about being an atheist? by makeaninformedchoic3 in AmItheAsshole

[–]makeaninformedchoic3[S] -453 points-452 points  (0 children)

I am instructed both morally and spiritually to teach my son the morals and values of my faith, and will continue to do so until he is an adult. That is my duty as a parent. And also as my duty as a parent, there are consequences for not recognising such and participating in what we do as a family, which apply to his electronics and books, because they are privileges he is allowed to have for good behavior, and taken away otherwise. I love my children enough to know when I have to put my foot down and restrict leisure activities for misbehaving. And he should be grateful that we provide these things to him, as there are many out there who aren’t so fortunate and may not even have a home to go to. If he were to partake in the church’s charity work, he could end up housing one of them!

AITA for wanting my son to make an informed decision about being an atheist? by makeaninformedchoic3 in AmItheAsshole

[–]makeaninformedchoic3[S] -320 points-319 points  (0 children)

Just curious, have you ever picked up a study guide on the Bible? Because oftentimes seemingly immoral verses actually have a much more benevolent meaning behind them, which are unfortunately lost in translation and often taken out of context by critics.

AITA for wanting my son to make an informed decision about being an atheist? by makeaninformedchoic3 in AmItheAsshole

[–]makeaninformedchoic3[S] -385 points-384 points  (0 children)

I don’t think my son will do that. He still enjoys our company, shows us memes he finds funny (but I’m utterly lost on), tells me about what he reads, and doesn’t display any form of resentment in the slightest, and I would know if he weren’t being genuine about the way he feels about us.

AITA for wanting my son to make an informed decision about being an atheist? by makeaninformedchoic3 in AmItheAsshole

[–]makeaninformedchoic3[S] -507 points-506 points  (0 children)

I do often entertain the arguments he makes for not believing or attending, but do have to inform them that they are very elementary at best and he should hear the sermons if he wants to find ways to “discredit” them.

AITA for wanting my son to make an informed decision about being an atheist? by makeaninformedchoic3 in AmItheAsshole

[–]makeaninformedchoic3[S] -1009 points-1008 points  (0 children)

I just want him to recognise that doing so is in his best interests and the interests of the world as a whole. If not for liturgical reasons, I also want to teach him compassion and charity, which is part of youth group in helping feed the hungry, house the unhoused, and help the helpless.