A major argument atheists make is that its absurd to teach young children who can barely count to 5, about God. Do the atheists have a point here? Should young children be taught about God when they probably can't even understand anything in the bible? Also can't this lead to the child eventually rebelling once they leave home for college, and ending up an atheist?
I personally kind of feel uneasy about the whole thing, because it leaves children with way more questions than their parents can answer. And causes children a lot of distress, why should a 5 year old be afraid of going to hell? I think there needs to be a minimum age where a child can consent to learning about the bible and God. Because at such a young age I think it does more harm than good personally, especially from my experience, especially with older siblings or parents who threaten you with hell if you don't clean your room or something.
I've taught my children about most of the things that are important to me in my life, partly through example, and partly through words. They see me read books and prepare class notes, so they see that learning and education are important to me. They see me recycling and composting, and they see that caring for the environment is important to me. I hope they see me being kind to people, and learn that kindness is important. They see in my life the things that are important to me. The worship of God is central to my life, and so of course I'm going to share that religious faith with them too.
In my church tradition, there's a belief that for many aspects of Christian life, we experience it first, and then explain it afterwards. We welcome young children in the worship service, to sing and pray and stand and kneel and read, and then as questions arise, we answer them: Why do we pray? Why do we kneel? What do those words mean? Why is there bread and wine? During the week, we include our children when we serve meals to low-income families, then talk afterwards about why it was important to do that. Sometimes there have been larger events, like deaths in the family, and we talked about that too.
So I didn't start by dropping a systematic theology on the heads of my toddlers. I started by inviting them to practice the Christian life alongside me, and then I answered their questions as they arose.
I can see the atheists' point, I think. But religion is an important part of life, and it's hard to really understand a religion from the outside, just by reading a book or two. By immersing my children in the Christian life, I hope that they come to understand Christian faith deeply and intimately. As they come into adulthood, they'll make their own choices. But even if they decide to become atheists, they'll be well informed atheists. They won't just drift into atheism because they didn't get around to thinking about God.
I certainly hope my children have more questions than I can answer. I think they do. I've tried to raise them to be people who explore and question and are curious about the world. Religion explores the deepest mysteries of life: Who am I? Why am I here? What is the good way to live? Is there a God, and if so, what is God like? What is the relationship between God and the world? and so on. One of my goals as a parent has been to invite my children into exploring these depths, to ask these important questions.
Religion done badly can do more harm than good, yes. I've tried not to do religion badly.
