Are atheists against religion or against Christianity?

[Born_again]

No prob's, zzontar.
The wilful indoctrination/brainwashing of our children during their formative years is mental abuse. I don't have a problem with santa, easter bunny and the tooth fairy, as kids are generally allowed to grow out of those myths over time and there is no residual damage. The only reason why gods myths are allowed to persist in the youngsters minds is for fear, control and group-delusion purposes. The really sad thing about this is that for the rest of their lives they will be clinging to infantile notions that were hard-wired into them as children, and their brain will likely never function fully as nature intended it to.
Please, accept indoctrination/brainwashing for what it is. There is no cuddly-fuzzy form of indoctrination that is universally acceptable, so why continue with this barbaric act on the ones we love the most? It just doesn't make sense.

Hell ya I indoctrinate/brainwash my children to what I believe. I do it all the time. ie. share with your sister, tell the truth, eat your veggies, etc.

If you were to explain the reasoning behind your demands/orders in a rational manner, you'd be on the road to a positive neurological development environment for your children. The bonus for you is that with natural wiring in their brains, they will soon be making informed choices ....... all on their own! Sentience ain't new, but it has been artificially smothered for too long now.

Big ned, there really is no need to try and soften the implications of indoctrination/brainwashing to socially acceptable levels, to somehow maintain its righteousness . Accepting the soft sell does not negate the fact that religious indoctrination is just plain wrong.
tr.v. in·doc·tri·nat·ed, in·doc·tri·nat·ing, in·doc·tri·nates
1. To instruct in a body of doctrine or principles.
2. To imbue with a partisan or ideological point of view: a generation of children who had been indoctrinated against the values of their parents.
brain·wash·ing (brnwshng, -wôshng)
n.
1. Intensive, forcible indoctrination, usually political or religious, aimed at destroying a person's basic convictions and attitudes and replacing them with an alternative set of fixed beliefs.
2. The application of a concentrated means of persuasion, such as an advertising campaign or repeated suggestion, in order to develop a specific belief or motivation.

[JLives]

That is teaching your children to be responsible contributing members of society with solid characters and is totally seperate from teaching religion. This athiest parent teaches the exact same things but without the god part.

[zzontar]

So with no proof of how everything started, is it also brainwashing or indoctrinating to tell your child there is no God?

[JLives]

Not any different from telling them there is no flying spaghetti monster.

[zzontar]

Not any different from telling them there is no flying spaghetti monster.

I'm thinking there's a big difference seeing as there are probably millions of people who've has a religious experience and I'm guessing none with the FSM. Is this because of indoctrination? Try to raise a kid to believe in the FSM and I'm betting they'd believe it just a little longer than they believe in Santa, don't you think?

[Mr Danksworth]

Not any different from telling them there is no flying spaghetti monster.

Try to raise a kid to believe in the FSM and I'm betting they'd believe it just a little longer than they believe in Santa, don't you think?

If they had a million person machine keeping it alive they will...for them most part. There's always the defectives who won't believe.

[Mr Danksworth]

So with no proof of how everything started, is it also brainwashing or indoctrinating to tell your child there is no God?

No, you let them come to their own conclusions.

[zzontar]

There's more than a million person machine telling kids there's Santa Claus... besides you telling your kids Santa's not real from day one, I don't know of anyone who never figured he wasn't real on their own.

[zzontar]

So with no proof of how everything started, is it also brainwashing or indoctrinating to tell your child there is no God?

No, you let them come to their own conclusions.

If you tell them there's no God, how is that letting them come to their own conclusions?

[JLives]

Well in our house it's not a point of saying there's no god. I have made my position clear and explained how other's view it but I have made a point of saying they get to believe whatever they would like but please do your research.

[Mr Danksworth]

There's more than a million person machine telling kids there's Santa Claus... besides you telling your kids Santa's not real from day one, I don't know of anyone who never figured he wasn't real on their own.

How long will a parent accept a belief in santa? 13? 19? I'm pretty sure someone would step in and either correct or medicate the individual. But if the parents and their entire community also believe then I think the outcome would be a bit different.

[Mr Danksworth]

So with no proof of how everything started, is it also brainwashing or indoctrinating to tell your child there is no God?

No, you let them come to their own conclusions.

If you tell them there's no God, how is that letting them come to their own conclusions?

Have I ever said that I did? No. Critical thinking, logic, reason....these are the things that I teach my children.

[zzontar]

There's more than a million person machine telling kids there's Santa Claus... besides you telling your kids Santa's not real from day one, I don't know of anyone who never figured he wasn't real on their own.

How long will a parent accept a belief in santa? 13? 19? I'm pretty sure someone would step in and either correct or medicate the individual. But if the parents and their entire community also believe then I think the outcome would be a bit different.

If you haven't noticed, for the 2 months prior to Christmas the whole community is nothing BUT Santa Claus... on wrapping paper and cards and store windows, they can actually sit on Santa's knee and talk to him! Adults are always asking kids what Santa brought them, was Santa good to them... how is that not a whole community trying to indoctrinate a child?

[Mr Danksworth]

You are getting semantic and missing the point. Don't obfuscate. I'm pretty sure you know what I am getting at.

[Born_again]

So with no proof of how everything started, is it also brainwashing or indoctrinating to tell your child there is no God?

I really don't think you are in tune with how atheists go about their daily lives, especially with matters concerning their children's mental welfare. I would NEVER tell my children that there are no gods! If asked by my children if I believed in god, of course my answer would be, no. If pressed I would ask them to 'guess' why I don't believe in gods, thereby giving them a bit of a mental workout. There is a huge difference between telling them that there are no gods, and telling them that I don't believe in gods.

...besides you telling your kids Santa's not real from day one, I don't know of anyone who never figured he wasn't real on their own.

That's funny you should say that, as I don't recall any of my childhood peers not working it out for themselves. As the eldest sibling, I still remember the 'talk' that my mother had with me, practically begging me not to spoil the delusion for my younger brothers and sisters.
Kids can be blummin' pesky when they have inquiring minds.

I'm thinking there's a big difference seeing as there are probably millions of people who've has a religious experience and I'm guessing none with the FSM. Is this because of indoctrination?

I can't think of any other plausible explanation, can you?

There are many gods in peoples minds across the globe that claim to be the only god, and are capable of giving their owners a 'religious experience'; yet people with rival gods in their minds are also claiming to have had 'religious experiences'. Which ones are lying?