So… nothing a child thinks is valid until they’re past the age of 14? Would you say the same thing if statistics said this is also the age most children become atheist? I agree we should teach options, but kids do have beliefs of their own.

Children are born atheists.

But you’re right. Kids have beliefs of their own.

My daughter liked the idea of heaven a lot after her pet frog died, for example. She said it made death less scary for her. My partner and I have talked with her about it—what she thinks, what we think, and what other people think. We talked about evidence and feelings and good and bad reasons for believing things. Sylvia said she still wants to believe in heaven for now, and we reassured her that she gets to decide what she believes—because she does, and I expect her “beliefs” to change over and over again before she settles on a worldview that will last longer than a few weeks while she mourns her dead frog. 

That’s how we roll. Maybe that’s even how some Christian families roll. I’ve just never seen that being the case.

You can’t threaten children with eternal damnation from the time they start to talk, take them to church, and deprive them of exposure to other beliefs (or reality), and then say “well, kids have their own beliefs.”

Sure, they do, but when 85% of Christians report making a lifelong decision about religious beliefs before they even reached high school, I find that worrisome because I suspect that they are making that decision without the context needed to make an informed decision.

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   I find it difficult to believe that you know much about what exactly happens in Christian families. I know some...

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