I would have to say that my boys are probably agnostics. (Let's get that out of the way.)
But are they missing out on a vital part of growing up? Are they more 'evil' than they should be? Am I doing them a disservice by not getting them baptised 'on the chance there might be a god' and more importantly (in some minds) am I deliberately denying them a place in an afterlife?
Fact: My boys are fantastic. They are all extremely caring individuals. They share with each other and with their friends. They are polite and very respectful to other people even when they have not been appreciated for being so. They are quite altruistic and never expect a reward for being so. I am very proud of them all. Quite simply, if there are any gods out there who still think they deserve to go to a place of eternal damnation, then grow up.
My middle son has started to worry about what happens after you die and I think that we have given a balanced viewpoint. We have told him what some people believe: afterlives, reincarnation and let him think about that. What I say is that you remember people, and your life is changed by knowing them. They will have affected you in a variety of ways - some inspirational, some as a warning, some of them will be key factors in how you interact with the world around you.
When my father passed away, he had a humanist service. My boys all drew pictures to put on the coffin of happy things they remembered. As they have grown, I tell them about things my father did. They like sport for instance, which when my father was a younger, fitter man, loved to take part in. (It's in the blood, I tell them; although it seemed to skip a generation with me...)
And that is where a kind of real immortality emerges. My father lives on through my deeds and actions. I learned a lot about being a father from... my father. When I look at my boys, I hope that I will provide inspiration that will last for generations.
No mysticism, no religious 'comfort blanket', no wishful thinking, no lies...
I have told them the truth and I believe it to be a happy one. :-)
Sunday, 22 February 2009
3 comments:
Comments are unmoderated (free speech and all that) but I have decided to take off anonymous posting. If I can stick my head over the parapet, then common decency suggests that anyone wishing to debate should at least introduce themselves. :-)
Thanks. And feel free to comment about anything!
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Your father's worm food and your kids will be a pile of animal shit eventually. I fucking hate so-called "ethical" atheists who don't suck it up and admit they're committing murder by forcing their children to be born and bear all the shit that this fucked up planet piles on. So your kids are great, big fucking deal. If your kids get ass-raped and murdered, what did you do for them except condemn them to a fucked up death as the last thing they remember. Your little breedlings will go out with terror and pain as their last thoughts. And if they live to be really old, whoop-de-fucking do. Your little shits will either be mindless feeders needing their piss-pads changed or they'll be dying of cancer or some shit. I'd suicide but I'm too much of a pussy to. But at least I haven't left any breedlings behind to fucking suffer. And I've never had sex, I won't get a girl pregnant, so I don't have to worry about her aborting and murdering a baby before its born. Fucking retarded assholes, all of you, pathetic. Either ball up and admit you're just as grasping as xtians for something to make your pathetic lives meaningless or at least stop murdering kids by having them. Assmunch.
ReplyDeleteWow. That was certainly not the reply I expected!
ReplyDeleteYou clearly are an angry person when it comes to this topic. I don't know what has happened in your life and I don't know why you felt the need to be so insulting to my family.
You may not even read this reply, but I hope that you can see that my children have brought a lot of joy into my life. As a father I want to inspire them to be good people. As a teacher I want them to learn about the world.
When I am 'worm food' (and contributing to a cycle of life on this planet) I hope that my actions will have a lasting effect on the people I have met.
Your choice: Do YOU want to be remembered as an 'assmunch'? ;-)
Take care
I don't know what anon is all about. Is he a Christian? If so, he's seriously messed up and more in league with Satan than Jesus, talking like that to what he should *realise* is his brother.
ReplyDeleteChristian or not, we'd all do well to consider Ephesians 4:29 "Do not let unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."