The joy of not knowing is discovery. I’d rather be told the truth that we don’t know, rather than being lied to in certainty.

In the West, people who care for people of faith as they’re dying report that they are the ones more frightened, as their time approaches. I would assume this also correlates whether you deity is vindictive or forgiving, but I really don’t know.

Maybe you grew up with so much anxiety due to religion itself? I’m the opposite, I live in an area which has almost no religious people and I feel everybody is very calm and friendly. Maybe the idea of eternal hell or heaven might be triggering that unconsciously in you

There is actually no need to talk to children about gods. Those questions you imply only religion could answers usually don’t pop up in a childrens world except when brought in from external sources.

What would I tell a kid they must adore a guy who would burn entire cities and shit? I’d rather teach the kid tolerance.

There are a lot of cases where religious people have to teach kids about uncertainty and death even having religion to help. You ease them into the concept, answer questions as needed, and let them process it.

Don’t fuck up or you’ll burn in hell forever.

If you do it right you have to sing praises to God forever.

Feel comforted now?

…the idea of being raised as child without any explanations about the world or comforts to be held, scares me.

Your understanding of atheism is uhh, questionable.

To answer this question, the world was explained through science. Carl Sagan was the shit back then. Comforts are more tangible things like family or food rather than an imaginary “after”.

Coming from a world where the word itself is not even widely know, the idea of being raised as child without any explanations about the world or comforts to be held, scares me.

I would rather teach a child the truth about the world than try and feed them some bullshit about a magic man in the sky that wants them to worship him.

I always heard on the internet of people leaving their religion as teenagers when they were raised by their parents religiously.

Raising your kids religiously is effectively child abuse

But what of a child. I am a very anxious person(as i have come to accept). Being told that there is nothing after death or that no one really knows, would have send me spiraling.

I mean, it sounds like you needed psychiatric help, not religion.

That said, logically, people have done it(even if i can’t picture it) so i am also wondering how people/parents grappled with this and struggles they faced, what solutions they come up with

My parents didnt raise me religious, they said it was way easier than trying to be religious.

When I asked questions, they either found actual data, or they told me they didnt know the answer.

When I babysit for my cousins, I give them real answers when I can, or I tell them that I don’t know the answer. Sometimes they ask really stupid questions, and that’s fine, the key is to take the question seriously. Its also ok to briefly cover things that are too complex for them, when they ask why do people need to breath, I tell them that we need oxygen, I dont try to explain how cellular respiration works.

Also, on the opposite of the spectrum, what happens when your child converts(?) to a religion.

Statistically unlikely, but hypothetically possible. Generally, I don’t really care what somebody believes privately, id be disappointed that they went for psuedoscience and hatred, but that’s their decision.

(Raised Catholic)

Interesting, raised with the idea of eternal existence was a terror to me. Obviously eternal hell was an awful idea, but even an eternity in heaven too. Thinking of never-ending subservience to a god that rained down horrors and demanded his followers do terrible things, it didn’t make me feel any better when I was told my imperfect human brain couldn’t comprehend the actions of a perfect deity. So getting to heaven, my mind would have to so fundamentally change to be happy with this god that I would no longer be Me. Thas was an existential horror to me and it was a great relief to deconstruct in my teens years.

I was raised atheist and I still am as an adult. Accepting the concept of death is just part of growing up, I guess. It’s not as big of a deal as it sounds like it would be. I think it keeps me more grounded, actually, but it really doesn’t gave a profound effect on my daily life and it never did. Believers who fuss over the idea or the difference seem kinda immature to me.

I think that if my son were to join a religion some day, my reaction would depend a lot on which religion. I think they’re all factually incorrect, but only some sects are morally wrong. If he joined the Unitarians, he could probably drag me to church occasionally, but if he joined a sect that made him condemn me for my beliefs, it would become difficult to stay close to him. That would hurt a lot.

With logic and rational thinking instead of fear and magical thinking.

As somebody who grew up without religion: I never really cared about all the metaphysical stuff. I was always interested in learning new things and wanted to understand how the world works. Yet that stuff never even brushed my mind to my knowledge. Maybe I asked my parents when I was smaller which I can’t remember anymore, but I definitely didn’t get anxiety over it. I accepted what I saw with my own eyes, that was enough for me. I don’t need something else besides this world.

And regarding their child converting: a cousins child is raised atheist and in elementary school got interested in Christianity since most of their class mates went to church. So the child asked the parents, they said: innour opinion there is nothing, but if you are interested, feel free to go to church to learn about their explanation. So that’s what they did and last I met the child, they weren’t a bible thumbed but still went to their religion class, so the result is not yet in.

Sorry for the meta, but why is everyone downvoting what appears to be a sincere question coming from someone in a culture where religion predominates?

I agree with most of the replies here, but don’t understand the downvotes to asking the question.

You can explain everything about the world to a child by reason alone. And once they become rational themselves they’ll be able to determine that since there is no evidence at all for any god ever existing they can dispense with that fairytale.