I’m not really invested enough in the question to debate it, but I know plenty of atheists (both with and without children) who are active members of UU churches because they get more of the things they value from a social community there than they do anywhere else, and this seems entirely sensible to me. What effects on your future children are you concerned about?
I am concerned that they will treat supernatural claims as reasonable. I consider myself rational enough to be able to put up with some of the crazy stuff many UU individuals believe (beliefs not shared by the community). I am worried that my children might believe them, and even more worried that might not look at beliefs critically enough.
Yes, they will treat supernatural claims as reasonable, and expect you (and your kids) to treat them that way as well, at least in public, and condemn you (and your kids) for being rude if you (they) don’t.
If you live in the United States, the odds are high that your child’s school will do the same thing.
My suggestion would be that you teach your children how to operate sensibly in such an environment, rather than try to keep them out of such environments, but of course parenting advice from strangers on the Internet is pretty much worthless.
Yes, they will treat supernatural claims as reasonable, and expect you (and your kids) to treat them that way as well, at least in public, and condemn you (and your kids) for being rude if you (they) don’t.
I actually do not think that is true. They will treat supernatural claims as reasonable, but would not condemn me for not treating them as reasonable. They might condemn me for being avoidably rude, but I don’t even know about that.
We actually plan on homeschooling, but that is not for the purpose of keeping kids out of an insane environment as much as trying to teach them actually important stuff.
If your elementary-schooler goes around insistently informing the other little kids that Santa isn’t real, you will likely be getting an unhappy phone call from the school, never mind the religious bits that the adults actually believe.
I’m not really invested enough in the question to debate it, but I know plenty of atheists (both with and without children) who are active members of UU churches because they get more of the things they value from a social community there than they do anywhere else, and this seems entirely sensible to me. What effects on your future children are you concerned about?
I am concerned that they will treat supernatural claims as reasonable. I consider myself rational enough to be able to put up with some of the crazy stuff many UU individuals believe (beliefs not shared by the community). I am worried that my children might believe them, and even more worried that might not look at beliefs critically enough.
Yes, they will treat supernatural claims as reasonable, and expect you (and your kids) to treat them that way as well, at least in public, and condemn you (and your kids) for being rude if you (they) don’t.
If you live in the United States, the odds are high that your child’s school will do the same thing.
My suggestion would be that you teach your children how to operate sensibly in such an environment, rather than try to keep them out of such environments, but of course parenting advice from strangers on the Internet is pretty much worthless.
I actually do not think that is true. They will treat supernatural claims as reasonable, but would not condemn me for not treating them as reasonable. They might condemn me for being avoidably rude, but I don’t even know about that.
We actually plan on homeschooling, but that is not for the purpose of keeping kids out of an insane environment as much as trying to teach them actually important stuff.
I do, however, agree with your advice.
If your elementary-schooler goes around insistently informing the other little kids that Santa isn’t real, you will likely be getting an unhappy phone call from the school, never mind the religious bits that the adults actually believe.
Good thing we are homeschooling then!