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As I was driving the other day it occurred to me how freeing it would be for a child to be raised as an atheist. The child would not have to be concerned about which of the hundreds of gods is the correct one to obey. The child would not have to figure out why he/she was being held responsible for the sin of biting into an apple, by a couple they never knew or met, in an imaginary garden, thousands of years ago? If he or she happened to see a man hanging on a crucifix, they would not have to be overwhelmed by the thought they somehow caused him to be murdered. He would not believe that Alluh would provide him 70 virgins if he murdered the infidels. She would not be forced to wear clothing covering her entire body except for a slit to see through. Nor would she have to be concerned with her family murdering her if they determined she was disobeying god. The child would not have to be dunked in a river to clear the sin away they supposedly caused to get that guy murdered hanging on the crucifix.

I get it. I've been at this (developing my hopefully more mature perspective on spiritual and religious matters) for more than 30 years. It can take time for a person to make such changes.

This "wise saying" reflects the nature of story much more so than that what's in the bible is the inerrant words of a God... IMO.

Prov 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. I agree it's a wise saying and offers hope to parents, but it's not always true. And in some cases, it's even a good thing when it isn't.

Thanks for starting this thread a decade ago of which I now find relevant to my life. This post, however, is looking at the topic from the other side of the coin. My children left their Christian upbringing in their teens and now as adults, two of them are atheists and one has no interest in God. As a believing parent, I was concerned for them and over the years, I have prayed for them and made small attempts at changing their minds. The thought of them being left behind, going through the Great Tribulation and not having eternal life was distressful to say the least. Now that I am an atheist myself, that crazy way of worrying is no longer an issue for me. I am happy to discuss evolution with them, and I'm sure they're relieved that I have stopped saying "I'll pray for you" whenever they're dealing with life problems. We all see my deconversion as being "better late than never." I enjoyed reading most of the posts on this thread.

Dr. Angela Priester is a clinical psychologist who apparently sees no red flags in TWI, which to me makes her a living red flag.

I noticed earlier in the thread, you mentioned growing up Roman Catholic, and that there was a lot of guilt and condemnation served up with everything else. That's a shame, but hardly universal among Christians, let alone Roman Catholics. I do think Catholicism has lost large numbers to other Christian groups without all the condemnation- from those who actually teach the condemnation. (There's other reasons too, but going to church AND feeling bad is a senseless combination.)

This is the fear Christians must deal with every thought. Not only must a Christian be aware of physical sins they have performed, but also must be aware their God keeps track of every nasty thought they think.

Atheists make better parents because they do not have their children do things out of fear of being punished by a god. Only do things because it is the right thing to do. https://www.indy100.com/news/atheists-make-better-parents-parenting-study-research-7627036

When I was a young man raised in the Catholic Church I so much wanted to please God. But the biggest thing the church taught me was condemnation. When ever I would have a sinful thought it would send me into a tail spin of condemnation, and as a young guy you can imagine the sinful thoughts I was having minute by minute, hour by hour, etc. I would pray and pray begging God to cleanse my mind. I even sheepishly went to my priest asking him what to do. He didn’t want to talk about sex, but said he would leave some church literature hidden inside the confessional, for me to study. The promised readings never showed up. This really made be feel giulty that mymoriest forgot about me. So after high school graduation I dropped out of the church and never went back. Staying away from the church really left a hole in me spiritually for years, and felt I was hell bound, until one day a guy sat next to me in a cafe and started witnessing to me. He said if you believe Romans 10:9&10, you will go to heaven come hell or high water. Also God can work miracle through us….all we have to do is believe. I signed up for the PFAL class immediately and hurried through all the other classes so I could operate signs, miracle, and wonders. Even went WOW, WOW Ii, and signed up for the Way Corp. But along the way I didn’t see any signs, miracles, and wonders happening. Didn’t even see someone get over a cold by having hands laid on them. This really got started me doubting what TWI was all about and seriously wanting to leave. But by then they had their hooks in me saying if I leave all my rewards will be lost. Blah, blah, blah, you know the rest. Thr reason I finally got out was gecause they marked and avoided me. So stumbling about again with God going to make me a grease spot by midnight, I felt terrible. Finding GSC was a life saver and got me at least on an even keel. Then seeing all the trouble my life had been in because of God, I began thinking what good had he done for me. Slowing I began reading articles about people who were happy not believing in God. I have never been happier and more content since becoming an atheist. My daughter was born and raised in TWI, and is currently a happy Catholic. But if I were raising her today I would steer her away from any religion or God.

I'm not saying I'm raising him to be an atheist or a Christian or a Buddhist or an adherent to any ideology. He knows if he wants to talk about any of it, I'm here to talk about it. I hope I'm raising him to be curious, inquisitive, thoughtful, kind, compassionate, generous, respectful, diligent, honest, accountable. I hope. I tell him if he wants to find out about God, gods or no gods, he can find out for himself. I tell him if he wants to find out if there is that which is eternal and unnameable, he can find out about that, too.

Let's hope they got rid of the red drapes, Johnny Jumpup, Maggie Muggins, and some of the more obvious errors. No doubt they've also reworked the Orange and White books. Do they still push the collaterals, I wonder? I won't be signing up again to find out!!!!