Why Even Atheists Should Teach Their Children about God | 5 Minute Video
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- čas přidán 12. 09. 2024
- As a therapist, Erica Komisar is often asked by parents, “How do I talk to my child about death if I don’t believe in God or heaven?” Her answer is always the same. Can you guess what it is?
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Script:
As a therapist, I’m often asked why depression and anxiety are so common among children and adolescents. One explanation-almost surely the most neglected-is declining interest in God and religion.
I see the consequences of this in my practice almost every day.
And this is not merely my personal observation. A 2018 Harvard study involving 5,000 people examined how being raised in a family with religious beliefs affects the mental health of children.
The study found that kids who attended a religious service at least once per week scored higher on psychological well-being measurements and had lower risks of mental illness.
Weekly attendance was also associated with higher rates of volunteerism, lower probabilities of both drug use and early sexual initiation, and a sense of purpose.
Yet, despite all the evidence that religious involvement leads to positive behaviors, Gallup reports that the U.S. has seen a 20% decrease in attendance at formal religious services in the past 20 years. In 2018, the American Family Survey revealed that nearly half of adults under 30 do not identify with any religion.
From a purely psychological point of view, this is not a good trend.
Nihilism-the belief in nothing-is a rich fertilizer for anxiety and depression. In contrast, the belief in God-a guardian figure who loves us-is an invaluable source of support and comfort.
I am often asked by parents, “How do I talk to my child about death if I don’t believe in God or heaven?”
My answer is always the same:
“Fake it.”
There are a many things you don’t tell your children the full truth about. For instance, if your children hear about a tragedy that has occurred in your community, you tell them that it will never happen to them. We don’t have a crystal ball and cannot know that bad things will not happen to our children, yet we reassure them with a hopeful narrative.
The same applies to believing in God and heaven.
Even if you believe that when your life ends, your bones turn to dust and you are gone for eternity, such beliefs don’t help children, they only scare them and create anxiety over death and dying. Belief in a benevolent God and a heaven does help children with their fear.
In our current age of broken families, distracted parents, school violence, and nightmarish global-warming predictions, imagination plays a big part in children’s ability to cope. It is far better for kids to use their imagination constructing something positive-such as a God who cares about us-than the dark, nihilistic idea that there’s no creator and protector, and no purpose to our existence.
I am also frequently asked how parents can instill gratitude and empathy in their children. Again, the best answer is involvement in an organized religion. All traditional faiths encourage gratitude and empathy as antidotes to entitlement and selfishness. These are the building blocks of strong character. They also protect against depression and anxiety.
Additionally, religion provides children a chance for community. Being with people who share their faith can act as a buffer against the emptiness and isolation of modern culture. This is more necessary than ever in a world where teens can have hundreds of virtual friends and few real ones.
And religion helps teach children mindfulness, a sense of self-control, and discipline. Your young children might not be aware they are entering a house of worship, but they do know they’re supposed to act in an appropriate manner when they are there. They have to relax their bodies and calm their minds.
It is true that if you feel ambivalent about God and religion your children will likely follow your example. However, if you practice religion or send your children to religious school knowing it is good for them, you might surprise yourself and get something meaningful out of it too. In other words, your children may bring you back to faith. It’s certainly worth an extended experiment for their sake and for yours.
For the complete script as well as FACTS & SOURCES, visit www.prageru.co...
If you lie to your kids, and they catch you at it, there's no reason they'll take your word for anything. Deliberately destroying the bond of trust with the people they are most dependent upon - how's that going to affect a child's mental health?
Why would their trust matter in a godless world where nothing matters?
I mean you could even asked why an atheist would be a parent in the first place truly an absurdity but as an atheist nothing matters.
The LIE is equal to the truth in value, Both worthless.
Out of compassion it would be better for an atheist to lie and introduce their kids to religions of various kinds.
I know if I was an atheist I would do that, it wouldn't even be a question.
Atheism isn't nihilism. Don't teach your child mysticism. Teach your children the value of reason, and logic, and consistent principles, and selfishness. And they will live to be productive self fulfilling members of society
Selflessness not selfishness right?
@@lorddevilfish5868 do you think I'm going to spout off the same morality as every dictator that has ever existed? Sacrificial animals don't get what they want in the end. Let's not give people the same moral ideals as sacrificial animals
@@johnathanvale8634 Predatory animals get what they want from the sacrificed animals you mention. I’m not saying self worth and autonomy is bad but there needs to be some degree of cooperation and empathy to keep those dictators from popping up when we don’t hold our equals accountable. (Equals as in human beings)
@@lorddevilfish5868 well, Ina. World where all humans have the compacity to reason, and use their brains accordingly, it might not be a good idea to hunt them down. Just sayin
i would say enlightened self interest over selfishness. selfishness is the short term fulfillment of urges, whereas self interest can choose to deny themselves a pleasure for a greater benefit down the road. a selfish person will eat all the apples and get fat, causing their neighbors to starve. a self interested person will gather the apples and exchange them for social credit or other services.
As a religious person, being religious didn't help me cope with the world. The idea that there was an all powerful person judging my every thought and action made it harder.
And no, you should not lie to your kid when something bad happens. You need to explain it in a way they understand. The world is a dark and dangerous place and they need to know how to be safe. If you need help doing this, look at sesame street. They were able to explain something as horrible as 9/11 in a way that kids could understand.
Sounds like you failed.
@@lysanderofsparta3708 Sounds like you don't have an argument.
@@lysanderofsparta3708 Sounds like God isn't real.
@@HuxtableK Then I guess you aren’t either. You’re just an idle figment of someone’s debased imagination and nothing more.
@@CalebBerman weird how none of what you've said is true.
From my experience. If a psychologist or a psychiatrist tries to prescribe religion as a cure to depression, or any other mental health… they shouldn’t be in that profession.
Exactly
She needs to have her license revoked!
Why not?
@@lysanderofsparta3708 Religion is not made to help your mental health, mental health professionals are.
@@heitorpedrodegodoi5646
How would you know?
1:35 NEVER lie to your children about things like this. Death is a very complicated topic that should not be lied about, and explained fully including different religions and beliefs. Lying about something like this could be very damaging in the long run.
This whole video is just an admission by PU of their willingness to say whatever they need to meet their goals. They are more than willing to lie to you if it means pushing their narrative.
I don’t know what kind of comfort it is to tell a five year old that they were born a sinner and will burn in the fires of hell when they die, unless they are “saved” by a magic being in the sky.
Why not just reassure children that we (parents) will be there for them and protect them?
So you gonna tell them they’re going to be eaten by worms?
@@ImperiumMagistrate Being eaten by worms sounds a lot better than spending an eternity in the worst possible agony in hell, or even than spending an eternity in heaven knowing that other people will be suffering with no hope literally forever.
@@Nickesponja only evil people go to hell
@@ImperiumMagistrate I wish more religious people subscribed to that
@@Nickesponja That is literally what the bible says.
Is anyone else here after watching Professor Plink basically show that Erica should have her therapist license revoked (or at least suspended until she corrects all of her horrendous practices)?
I live in Utah which has one of, if not the, highest prescription rate for depression and anxiety. It also is a highly religious and religiously involved state. This is just clearly BS.
Those prescription rate and depression numbers in Utah are more due to the number of white people vs the number of religious people. States with high numbers of African Americans are very religious yet don’t see anywhere near the depression or prescription numbers.
@@rbrinks5 Hey Ryan, that is a really good point, Utah does fit several predictive qualities for depression, high elevation, high percentage of white people, and others. However, Erica Komisar’s first point was that the lack of God was a cause of such depression that we don’t talk about. But even with what you pointed out, my point still stands, Utah is very religions and yet has high depression rates. More diverse, or specific Ku African American communities are less likely to have probably with depression even though they are more religious. Japan has very little religion has high rates of depression. Brazil is the most religious country in Latin America and yet also has high rates of depression. Thus, religion clearly has a low correlation with depression. Religion doesn’t effect depression rates very much, if at all.
@@alexhearne2588 I hear you. Very good points. I haven’t looked at numbers recently, but it seems like affluence is a key driver of depression. The higher that is, the higher the depression is.
God gave me depression and almost oof then atheist for a lil made it better now im pagan and feelin great
If anything Mormonism should be the least depressed religion because Mormons get the best afterlife of any religion. If I could make any religion true it would be Mormonism. Just imagine having your own planet. Would be great. Religion can be a way of coping with depression. I do think poor people can go to church to deal with depression. But someone wealthy does not need comfort in religion, we have money.
Given that she is fine with parents lying to their kids, how do we know that any of the "facts" she gives us are true? She should lose any licences she has to practice.
I am totally going to teach my kids about God... in the exact same way that I'm going to teach them about Zeus, Thor, Vishnu, etc. Religions, and the stories around them, are amazingly fascinating. My kids will know all the grand _myths_ simply because they are interesting.
I will also make sure that my kids have regular access to social gatherings/interactions... you know, the positive that your study actually points to.
But I get the feeling that this is _not_ what you are wanting us to do when you want us to teach our kids about God.
Ironically, being taught benefits of following God or the battles and adventures of Allah's followers and Islamic mythology makes me happier than being told that I will burn In hell and that insects will eat me in my grave for every sin I commit
@@killme5630 but it won't build a good society. it won't give people a reason to struggle for the greater good or to not hurt others
@@007kingifrit so wouldn't teaching kids to fear God on everything more than love him
@@killme5630 i don't know what you tried to say here
@@007kingifrit??? What I said was simple. I'd rather teach kids to love God rather than fear him, treat religion with fun and interesting stuff, not as a whole essay on how you'll burn eternally for every thing.
This study only went up to the age of 14. After that is when depression really hits the fan. And after the age of 14, teens tend to start questioning what they parents are telling them is the 'gospel'.
I was raised in the belief of God, Heaven and Hell. And no matter how much I prayed as a child from before I went to kindergarten til my late teens, all I ever dreamed about was HELL. I wasn't happier cause of my belief, I was TRAUMATIZED by it. And what did I get from going to church every day? People acting like they are better than me and saying dark crap to a child.
Want to talk about DAMAGE? My father was raised a Christian and he kept those beliefs with him his entire life. But it didn't stop him from beating my mother every single day just because he felt like it. And it did not stop him from raping me when I was a toddler.
WHERE WAS GOD WHEN THAT HAPPENED? Oh he was just watching, letting evil win like he always does.
He doesn't love any of us. How does giving a child cancer teach anyone anything? Why is still birth still a thing? Yes, lets tease the mother an father by giving them a DEAD BABY, yeah sure they'll understand the LOVE that god has shown...
You're not a psychiatrist, you have just as much credentials as Dr. Phil who never got his PhD or Doctorate. Lie to children???
AND WHAT DID JESUS SAY ABOUT LIARS???? Hmmmm. THEY GO TO HELL. If hell is real, then you'll be joining me there cause you encouraged people to lie; to deceive.
“There are many things you don’t tell your children the full truth about.” It took me a moment to fully appreciate the dramatic irony there.
Oh and never teach them to inquire or question
@@gowdsake7103 It's because they are children. Their minds figure things out. When they are ready. Many believe God wants u to inquire and be inquisitive. Too many people have lost that, even scientists and journalists!
Telling your kids that bad things won't happen to them is just wrong. It is not the way to prepare them to live the real world.
I raised my kids athiest
We discussed all the gods. Big ones and small ones
They are well adjusted adults
This is how u know atheism really generates stupidity.. Its statistics, bird brain.. if 8 out of 10 atheist children turn out badly, that makes ur children part of the 2 of 10.. how about the majority who are badly affected by atheism?
@@l.j.g.tolentino9534 Show me a peer-reviewed study that shows atheist children "turn out badly" more often than those raised in religious households.
@@atraxisdarkstar CHINA
@@gutwallst6645 1). Even if I were to take your word for it, that's 1 country.
2). China is also super cooperate country under the control of an authoritarian regime. Would that not have any effect?
3). The problem is that those first 2 requires me to take you at face value, give me some statistics. I've seen many statistics that contradict you, show that the majority of prisoners are religious, that christians are more in favor of torture than atheists, etc. Give me definitive data.
@@l.j.g.tolentino9534 💅 bestie more than that turns out fine
Only bad parents tell kids that something bad won’t happen to them. Which is why I call my parents good despite their faults. They never sugarcoated reality for us, even when the reality kinda sucks. My grandpa died, we didn’t say “oh no you’ll never get old get cancer and die” to our youngest sister. People will die, and people will want to hurt you. As a woman, people will want to have your body and feel as though they are entitled to it when they aren’t. The best thing you can do is make sure you can prevent the most harm to you.
Maybe the reason why young people are so depressed is because the society we live in pushes them to meet impossible standards via things like social media and advertising
I disagree with the idea of mollifying a child's fear of death by getting them to believe in a supernatural protector. Even Prager wouldn't proport this idea. Instead educate them on probabilities and the truth that most likely they will live a full and long life. Having the fantasy that you are protected and safe may lead to more danger, instead one should teach what dangers exist and how best to avoid them.
Your stupid strawman caricature of God is laughable. Gnu atheists are defined by two things: 1. their hysterical bigoted loathing of Christianity and all Christian people 2. their abject fear of death and extinction.
except Prager most definitely proports this idea, the fact there is a video on it suggessts he does.
Ah yes, the potential of eternal, excruciating hell is more comforting than just eternal sleep without dreaming.
their is not eternal sleep when your dead their is no sleep , you have to be alive to sleep.
Dertech was being ironic.
@dertechl6628
Much more!
Is that really how nihilistic you really are? No wonder most of those twisted anti Natalists are atheists.
Depends on the individual. I never understand why anyone would doubt their salvation if they believe in religion. I don't even believe in religion but if God exist I will stand before my creator and he will let me in.
I guess that can be a comforting thought for you in those dark hours of the night. As for me, I am currently deconstructing from being a Christian. I want to find the actual Truth. Heck, maybe we are in a simulation, and AI is the REAL God out there. If that's the case, I doubt there is anywhere that I would be 'let in'. Maybe just deleted, or reused.
As a child psychotherapist myself, I'm genuinely disturbed to hear an apparently reputable therapist advocating lying to children as a sound parenting technique, as well as claimning that "involvement in an organised religion" is "the best way to instill gratitude and empathy". Even on a practical level, parental lying is a great technique for undermining trust; and it is a widely accepted principle of child therapy that modelling desired behaviour by an attachment figure is the most powerful way of helping a child develop those behaviours. And this is to leave aside the tendentious characterisation of alternatives to a theistic worldview, as well as the heavily documented dangers of child abuse at the hands of the religious. In summary, this is truly terrible advice.
I think you’re missing the forest from the trees. We get it...you’re mad at God. You hate Trump. We know. 👎🏽💩🤡
🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
@@thaneoflions975 I like Trump and I agree with them.
She is absolutely advocating for teaching children ideas that can change their lives which the parents don't even believe in. It's frankly reprehensible.
@@thaneoflions975 Who cares? He's right! Got an actual valid argument or just a childish ad hominem attack? Go feed yourself to the lions!
@@thaneoflions975 Of course you have no actual argument! This is exactly how religion causes harm, lie to children so you can get them early while they are evolutionally programmed to trust authority figures. Got to get them young to indoctrinate them before critical thinking kicks in. OH, and not mad at god cause god not doing a real and Trump not doing a relevant...
PragerU doesn't get reputable experts. They get apologists.
So here's PragerU arguing that you should be a liar. The "T" in PragerU stands for truth.
"But random CZcams commenter, there is no "T" in PragerU"
@austinhernadez2716
And the S in atheist stands for smart. If you want lies, try the mouth of an atheist. It’s riddled with them.
@@HuxtableKexactly😂
@@HuxtableK Is the "T" in PragerU a metaphor about God being in the firmament?
@@badouplus1304 Ah right, the T is for transitioning. Dennis Prager is transitioning.
"Kids who attended religious service at least once a week scored higher on psychological well-being measurements". That says very little about religion, and a whole lot about dysfunctional families. I grew up in a dysfunctional family that didn't go to church every week because we weren't functional enough to go consistently. My mental health struggles (depression and ptsd) were a factor of my trauma, not of my church attendance. The kids who don't regularly tend to church are still mostly raised religious, but they are also the kids that tend to have the most trauma.
just because someone is not religious doesn't mean they don't believe in a higher power. they just don't believe in organized religion
AMEN!
God is the higher (highest) power.
I hear atheist say crap like they believe in a higher power all the time and I think to myself, ooooookaaay!...
So what exactly is their higher power and where did it come from?
@Matej Brezničan ik that i never said atheists believe in god but not all non religious people are atheists. there are a lot of people who believe in god n many who are agnostic. the woman in the video made it seem like only religious people believe in god
@@LM-dl3yx nobody knows wt exactly the higher power is but usually people imagine it to be some sort of energy n not a bearded white guy (who's actually brown)
@@kushal4956 🤣😂🤣👌 you clearly haven't read the bible.
"A bearded white guy (who's actually brown)"
🤣😂😭🤣😂😭🤣😂😭😭🤣🤣👌👌 thank you so much for the laughs...
PRICELESS. 🤣👍🌝
“Everyone's an atheist until they clog a toilet at someone else's house”
@Xeno The Strange Yup and then you’re an Atheist with a lot of newfound faith in a plunger and begin praying to every god that will listen as the water starts to over flow reaching the rim of the bowl 🙏🏻😅🚽
@@s.picone Yes, all of them at once and not any in particular, it’s called the shotgun approach.
There are quotation marks but no attribution. That;s just mean.
@@ferulebezel Can’t remember which excerpt of the Bible I read that from 🤦🏻♂️😂
@Xeno The Strange not me, I'm a full on Christian and a new supporter.
When 95% of what she says is a lie to convince you... that says everything.
What am I supposed to say when they grow? “Oh no you found out I’m an atheist yeah I was just lying the entire time”
"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?"
-Epicurus
She is on a religious media site that pretends to be a university, referencing a paper by the Templeton foundation, another religious organization that pretends to be a scientific institute, funding research trying to get the conclusion it wants, which found correlation, not causation.
If this woman is an actual therapist, this is stomach-churningly unethical.
Given Prager-U's history of flagrant dishohesty, My guess is that this woman is not an unethical therapist, but an actress with no morals that she'll take a paycheck to give fraudulent health advice about children.
well the church of the flying spaghetti monster looks like a great choice, thanks pragerU
Why is it a great choice? Explain yourself.
Ahhh pastafaranism... Ramen
@@lysanderofsparta3708 because the subject of this video is in general religion, not any specific god. I believe his holy noodliness is a much better role model than a certain predominant religion in the western hemisphere.
@@bryanrx337 You’re not wrong…
RAMEN!!!!!!!
Overtime the population becomes less religious. It's almost like we're learning new things about the world every day and not subjugating our lives to what was written thousands of years ago.
exactly. Once we didn't understand alot of things and feared much and we invented gods to explain away our ignorance and give us comfort, then we discard those gods one by one as we learn more and hopefully some day all of them will reside only in history books and mankind will look back and laugh at our infancy as a species.
What if what was written thousands of years ago is still correct? If someone wrote about virtues like love,kindness ,peace, compassion and self-control and rebuked envy,malice, murder, and hatred , is that not wrong even though it was written thousands of years ago? Even their astronomy thousands of years ago was astonishingly accurate.
@@stanza77 of course some things written long ago are correct, religions are not one of them and even if you find some shred of truth in those supposed "holy" books does not lend any credence to a god or gods existing. Those things like love, kindness, peace, compassion and self control are not owned by religions but are human attributes and are most often displayed despite of religions. Religions have in many cases just hijacked those words and twisted their meanings and in the religious minds they mean the exact opposite of what they really mean.
And yes some civilisations had working and accurate maps, were excellent in math and astronomy as well as many other things and nobody is saying that everything people did back in the day was wrong, we have built all of our knowledge on the back of previous generations and there again many of those things have been done despite of religions which have tried to stand in humanities way ever since they were invented.
@@stanza77 I think this is a great point and perspective to think about. I do agree with what @Sæmundsson said as well. These virtues in which you speak of are not owned by religion. As somebody who has never been religious, I embody all of these virtues and live my life with love and compassion to the best of my ability. While religion and these virtues may be connected, these virtues are older than religion itself.
then why does it appear the world is collapsing around us?...
Believe in something for a false sense of security. Conservative politics.
So you want us to lie to our children instead of giving them the truth? It may seem cold but it helps kids to understand the world around them.
PragerU essentially telling adults to lie to their kids in a video where they’re also shocked that younger people are becoming less religious. 🤦 🤦♂️ 🤦♀️
Is it such a foreign concept to demonstrate love toward your children as opposed to lying to them allegedly for their own good.
When kids realized that you lied to them, that’s going to be an awful realization of betrayal.
If adults insisted that atheism was true, then they would be lying to kids. Atheism is mental disorder based on the principle that misery loves company.
Every believer should teach their kids about atheism ✨
so their kids can try out atheism & have freedom of choice to chose if they want to be religious or not ?
@@erikako1030 what no of course not it's so they're more susceptible to the gay agenda
So.... nothing?
@@erikako1030 but then they won’t be easily indoctrinated! Think about the big religions! They would die out!
Oh, I do. It's not hard, they can see the affects of atheism all around them, and it's not hard to point out the differences between the lives of true followers of God, and those who aren't.
The only alternative to belief in a god is Nihilism? Really?
"One path leads home, a thousand into the wilderness." - C.S. Lewis
U right, that’s why we should teach them that the Greek pantheon of gods were the only true ones
Praise be the spaghetti monster
@Adwig25 W wise guy
Amen!
@Adwig25 W Your point is moot. You changed the scenario to 2 paths. That was your situation. It's irrelevant to the statement. Please, let's put the straw down and listen.
Erica Komisar: "Teaching your kids about death and accidents can cause anxiety and depression!"
Also Erica Komisar: "Here, expose them to a mythology that invokes eternal punishment instead."
suffering is necessary to have a happy life. but its about what kinds of suffering we expose kids to and what they can build with that suffering. christianity offers the incentives to live a good life. just telling them raw ugly truths creates loneliness and nihilism
@@007kingifrit >> Christianity offers incentives to live a good life.
... by threatening people with eternal punishment.
Sorry, I'm not wowed by your advocacy. This isn't an incentive to live a good life. This is nothing more than a mob boss-style threat of the sort people would rightly label monstrous if a person did it.
@@DuetJay threats are incentives. humans are all naturally evil creatures they need to be threatened sometimes
@@007kingifrit That is an assertion, and it's a highly debatable one. I strongly disagree that humans are naturally evil creatures, and your religion's insistence that they are is in itself evil - and possibly one of the greatest evils ever perpetrated against a society.
@@DuetJay all humans are born violent. they will all steal until taught otherwise. we need to teach children to share. not to keep for themselves.
and whenever authority slips from the world violence is very quick to set in. yea humans are observably evil
I’d rather that I was never forced into a religion when I was a child, it didn’t do anything except expose me to several homophobic and transphobic attacks and make me even more depressed about what was happening in the world as a supposed ‘loving god’ cared about us, and loved us yet let horrible things happen.
I'm so sorry about your attacks, I get attacked and constantly argued to just because I'm atheist. Can't even imagine what you experience. Please, stay strong.
It sounds like religion is the least of your problems. Get over yourself.
as an atheist, there are 2 genders, though. and you cant swap to the other. accept it
I see. So, you have replaced God with current leftist ideology.
@@LavaCreeperPeople there is biologically more than two genders you know
_"How do I talk to my child about death if I don’t believe in God or heaven?"_ Your god has nothing to do with death (or life). It will be a simple story.
It's pretty easy just say that eventually everyone will die so make the most of the time you can get with the people you choice to let into your life.
@@aaronrumph3291 great way to promote a life of hedonism.
this is proof right here that civilizations need christianity
@@007kingifrit
*LYING* religiots, and their *CREEPY* little MANMADE gods!
I was having a crisis of faith and have been doing a lot of searching online recently. I thank you for this video.
Your instruction to lie to my children has helped me see reality in a way even Hitchens's videos could not.
Thank you for freeing me from this
It depends on what you find preferable: a beautiful lie, or an ugly truth. I'll stick to reality, thanks, even if it is depressing.
I agree!
Watch Don patton on CZcams for scientific evidence of the flood and creation.
An ideal to strive for will accomplish much more good for an individual and their society than a limited view that discourages and demotivates.
Or put another way, "better to reach for the stars and only make it to the moon than to reach for neither and achieve nothing" (something like that)
@@christianlassen1577 and what makes your ideals better than the next chaps?
….nothing.
@@nightrunner3701 there isn't any. Every field from meteorology, to geology, to biology, etc, disproves the flood.
@@Aging_Casually_Late_Gamer honestly, if anybody from this century still believes that the world is 6000 years old, then they're just blissfully ignorant at that point.
Fake it? I find it weird that people lie to their kids. First isn’t lying against the rules in your book?
everyone lies to their kids. its essential to society functioning
@@007kingifrit sure believe that if you will. I didn’t not because I’m Christian but I believe truth is better then lies
If they didn’t understand life showed it eventually. I would say you’ll understand eventually. Where do babies come from honest, drugs honest, sex honest, why you don’t lie, didn’t feel the need to say birds and bees or storks for example. We assume kids can’t understand how you treat them is what they grow up to be.
@@christopherconkright1317 then why are religious people happier in the aggregate than non religious people
humans are animals. they are not rational they need myths and legends to keep them happy. to reproduce and strive for things
this is why, from the point of evolution, christianity is a superior religion to atheism
@@007kingifritone atheism is not a religion second know what areas have the highest teen pregnancy? And 2 kids as a teen? Highest murder and crime rates? “Bible Belt” know which countries have the happiest populations, best health outcomes? Secular nations? Look it up if you don’t believe. Once we establish a community like church, we don’t fear loosing our jobs, we don’t get chased from our homes, threaten with death, on and on and on the happiness will change. I would rather not be very happy then follow a lie. Plus what you lost the argument so pivoted off the subject about how you break the Ten Commandments? None of you follow your book. You all fit it into your wants. You tell others they are immoral, your all better since you believe in if you read cover to cover and don’t say you have. By what you say you only watch CZcams and listen at church if if you go. Read what Jesus really thought. Read it yourself every word.
“Why Even Atheists Should Lie to Their Children”
Calling it lying doesn't make it so.
@@christianlassen1577 If I tell my children something that I do not believe is true, am I not lying to them?
@RickySTT
they already lie to their children. Although I’m not sure something that nihilistic and depressing should be around children in the first place.
@@chancehendrix7139 Spoken like someone who knows absolutely nothing about atheism.
No, just no.
*At best,* this is a gross over-simplification of a *highly* complicated topic whos approaches are person-specific, and at worst this is incredibly harmful 'advice' about how to treat your children in a blatant attempt to support your faltering system of faith.
christianity is a scientifically and evolutionarily superior religion to atheism.....its also on the rise
people need a mythos to push values on them. and parents need to teach their kids a meaning to life
@@007kingifrit "christianity is a scientifically and evolutionarily superior religion to atheism"
Categorically incorrect.
There is no scientific basis for Christianity, and it in no way explains Evolution, instead just saying 'God did it' and assuming that actually works.
Atheism isn't a religion. Never has been, never will be, because there is no doctrine you need to accept in order to be an Atheist. Atheism is a lack of belief in a God or Gods, period. Any Theist who attempts to tack additional things onto Atheism is simply trying to build a straw man.
"its also on the rise"
In regards to religion in general, it actually isn't. Recent figures actually point to Islam being on track to become a dominant religion in the world.
However, we also have data which shows that Atheism is growing in many countries who actually have free access to information, almost like having real information discredits many of the fundamentalist claims made by religion.
"people need a mythos to push values on them"
And your mythos is a *terrible* choice for this. Or are you unaware that your religion treats women like property, endorses torturous methods of execution for things people cannot help, and contains instructions for obtaining and treating slaves?
"and parents need to teach their kids a meaning to life"
No, parents need to teach their children valuable critical thinking skills so they aren't easily fooled by shit like what Prager U puts out.
@@007kingifrit
*LYING* religiots!
@@007kingifrit no. Actually it's not. The most recent polls show religous nons are growing. And up to 25% of the population. Islam is actually growing faster than Christianity.
@@palladin1337 the scientific basis for the practice of christianity is evolution. religious people have more kids. its natural selection
this quickly escalated from teaching your children about god (specifically Christian god) even if you dont believe your self is a good thing that allows them to have a base to pull their morals and ethics from to you should lie to your kids so they don't become isolated psychopaths with no empathy.
I was on board till they said lie to your children, I understand that the goal of a parent is to protect their children from the evils of the world so they have space to grow but if you need to lie to your children to protect them then that I feel is a lack of understanding for how that is going to effect them long term its going to teach them that you as a parent cannot be trusted when they realize you have been lying to them I can understand sugar coating an issue so that it doesnt see as bad as it actually is and eventually moving away from that but straight up lying is wrong imo.
Also if you didnt read the source paper this vid is based on you should because its confusing where this person is making the connection of that paper to what is being said.
this creates dysfunctional adults
Good thing it's not a lie.
If a parent has never been to Disneyland and your kids are nervous about their first time going, should the parent say, "yeah, I'm not so sure this is a good idea either, is probably dumb"? Or would it be better to tell you kids what you've learned from other trustworthy friends and family: "don't worry, it's going to be awesome, just wait!"
From the way I understood it they’re comparing a parent giving their child hope based on things the parent believes could actually happen (reality) to giving them hope based on things they don’t believe is true (in other words just lying to your children).
There are many ways you can be moral without being religious also. I grew up never believing in a higher power, and I like to think I’m a pretty moral person. I have many flaws, as most humans do, but I don’t think religion affects that.
@@aidanlutz8106 Depends what you mean by "moral", according to what standards.
Religious indoctrination has billions of victims and it’s been going on for centuries, I’m going to teach my kids about common sense aka atheism.
I'm calling bs. A sense of community is the most helpful for children.
Communities don't exist without a unifying interest or value. Any value or interest short of " an ultimate source of all that is good for humanity's progress" will end up going astray and missing the goal and going off the deep end.
Sure, small groups and communities around other interests are fun and all, but they have very small boundaries they have to work inside and from
@@christianlassen1577 Any value or interest short off religion will end up going astray? This is false and delusional. Are you a communist?
@@christianlassen1577 ok so a unifying interest in horror movies, anime, philosophy, etc is enough to fulfill that value so what point your trying to make? what difference does a few hundred people with an interest in the Bible coming together have over a few hundred with an interest in Studio Ghibli coming together they both a love they can talk about and connect with
It’s not belief in a god that’s responsible for mental well being; it’s the sense of community. Note that the study distinguished people _who went to church_ vs. people who didn’t, not believers vs. non-believers. And most of the “nones” have not found a community comparable to churches.
The answer is not to lie to our children; it’s to build new communities.
Build a community Around what? A love of a hobby? Patriotism? Food? Caring for the poor at the expense if everyone else? Caring for the environment at the expense if the poor (environmentalism hurts the poorest more than anyone else)??
Any community built on anything else besides a Supernatural standard and source is Goodness and Love will end up careening off the cliff at full speed
And it's not a lie if it's true, even if you don't know it for certain yourself. Think all the things you've taught someone else, not because you know it for yourself, but because you trusted the source.
I've met the source. He is real. One day you will meet him when he's ready for you to meet him.
@@christianlassen1577 Lack of environmentalism hurts _everybody, especially_ the poor.
Supernatural standards have given us the Taliban, 9/11, the Inquisition, the crusades, the holy wars that devastated Europe, and the shit show that is Florida. Oh yeah, and Hitler too. (Yes, I went there, because I know you're going to bring up Stalin.) Hitler believed he was doing Jesus' work, in the context of a culture of European anti-Semitism that was ramped up by Martin Luther.
If I don't know something, how the hell do I know that it's true? Take your word for it? how I know that you know it is true? How do I know that ISIS doesn't have the truth?
I searched for Jesus for 42 years because everyone else told me he was there. In all that time I got zero, zilch, *nada.* It took me 42 years to figure out that I wasn't going to get an answer. If your god is out there, tell him not to wait too long to get ready for me. He may have infinite patience, but we mortal beings don't have that luxury. Meanwhile, all I have is what I know.
@@RickySTT I would like to introduce you to our lord and saviour the Flying Spaghetti Monster
@@sandy_dandy_cotton_candy1221 Mmmmm. Much tastier than the Christian lord and savior.
@@RickySTT Indeed. The Flying Spaghetti Monster boiled for our sins
The goal of parents is not to protect children from the worlds evil but to empower them to recognize and fight evil wherever they see it.
Courage and fortitude is the true antidote to evil not a belief in a mythical god.
Where or why should a person even bother to have courage and fortitude without a belief in an extra natural source of Goodness?
There's no lasting reason to be good if you don't even think there is such a thing as Good.
These studies are pretty stupid as they are only done in US and in very religious environments. So of course it makes sense that those who go with the norm of the society feel better mentally, and those who go against it and are stigmatised feel mentally worse. I mean that makes sense and this kind of study doesn't even take things like that in consideration at all. Very bias studies in very bias environments.
You do understand that if something is stigmatised, daunted and isolated because not believing, it will cause mental stress to people. It's kind of stupid to make these studies the way you do them.
So you should lie about what death is? and tell children to live in imaginary world and not in reality? How good parenting would that be?
Advises like that are the reason why religious people in US seem so violent and intolerant towards those who don't believe like they do or don't believe at all.
Or why people deny the science their religions doesn't fit in.
It's always better to teach children to live in reality and face the harsh times as the good times when they come and get over them with their own strength and not just trying to image them all away.
Your comment is completely ridiculous. Lie about what death is? How would you know? Have you ever been dead?
@@lysanderofsparta3708 Ridiculous because you don't understand anything or just because you believe supernatural?
Dead? No I haven't been dead and no one who has been dead has come back to tell us with evidence if there is something after death. So your point is what?
Religions use peoples fear of death to lie to them and claim they know something that they can't possible know at all. Same with claims about supernatural and gods.
So I go with evidence shows us and they show there is nothing after death. When you die you are like you were before you were tiny baby in mother's womb. You were nothing, knew nothing, felt nothing, experienced nothing etc.
Please provide some evidence for your beliefs. All you have is faith and beliefs because you for some reason you afraid of death and being dead.
@@lysanderofsparta3708
*DOPEY* theists!
Imagine not just the moral bankruptcy of this entire idea, but the sheer arrogance of telling people they should raise their children to still believe in what you believe in, even if they don't think it's true or accurate at all.
Nihilism is not the "belief in nothing" it's the belief in destroying life-serving values. That's completely different to an atheist who doesn't believe in a supernatural being. Nihilists and atheists are not the same, just like communists and atheists are not the same. Some atheists are nihilistic, others like myself are not. It all depends on what positive values, if any, the atheist holds.
Good points. I have this question and please excuse my possibly offensive nickname. It's mostly for satirical purposes lol. Do you as an atheist hold to an objective foundation for your values such as the covenant between Jesus Christ and His church or is the foundation of what you believe to be good values subjective, which progresses through time?
There is also positive nihilism
@@workingproleinc.676 that would be like saying that there’s “positive rape”. All forms of Nihilism are negative, just like all forms of rape or all forms of theft or all forms of murder.
@@Ajsirb24 I’m an objectivist, that is I believe that there is an objective basis for morality and I believe that Ayn Rand has shown and proven the case for an objective morality. I’m not going to try to explain it here in this forum, all I will say is if you want to challenge your own preconceptions and hear the best case for a secular objective moral theory then read Ayn Rands essay “the objectivist ethics” which is available online.
@@workingproleinc.676 Honestly it all depends on how you define nihilism if nihilism is that life is meaningless then what makes you value the morals of a society or others life in general. If you say nihilism is just that universal is general is meaningless but individual life has value then your at a place where you can have a positive nihilism.
I like most PragerU videos. But I think this video is crap. Being an Atheist doesn't mean I can't explain death to a child. Saying "fake it" or "lie to them" is ridiculous. When my children inevitably ask about god and religion, I will gladly help them research whatever they want to know about any faith. Even though I don't believe it doesn't mean I'm going to try and strong arm them to follow my beliefs. Everyone is free to believe what makes sense to them. I get that being conservative typically means Christian in some form, but there are plenty of conservative atheists as well. We should teach our kids how to think, not what to think.
What about the people with mental illnesses and trauma because of organized religion?
No one cares, you still have to teach children about religion, facts don't care about your feeling, reeeeeeeee
@@naira.carissa
Are you being ironic? I genuinely can’t tell
@@rosebud6116 I AM A CRAZY TRIGGERED CONSERVATIVE!!! REEEEEEE!!!
@@naira.carissa
Haha ok
Jk of course it was a joke
“..we live in a selfish, materialistic world” exclaims the oblivious capitalist.
The Conservatards are just simply, hypocrites who seeking domination and power while framing the other people for their mistakes
@@theasianboy315 How are we doing that?
@@austinthesan-antonian3932 the conservative agenda is literally blaming foreigners, minorities, women, liberals for all societal ills instead of acknowledging actual root causes of social issues. The sky is falling, let's look for a scapegoat.
@@TESkyrimizer root causes for societal ills include ingratitude, laziness, selfishness, greed, uncontrolled lust, materialism, etc. All things that all major organized religions teach to help adherents avoid.
You calling her oblivious is like me calling you stupid. There's absolutely no basis for that attack.
And capitalism has lifted more people out of poverty and illness then socialism or communism could ever dream. Communism has killed more people and condemned more people to lives off extreme poverty than all wars combined. Shoot, even the crusades don't match the death count of one of the smallest communist government takeovers we saw last century (Campbodia).
Capitalism is the natural system where people are free to cooperate with each other as they want to, and it turns out, humans like to cooperate with each other when given a good framework for doing it.
I am also a therapist, so take this from me. The reason why statistics show religious people as having fewer mental illnesses, is because many are discouraged for seeking mental health help, leading to fewer being diagnosed. We made a new statistic, counting in statistics of the "dark number" of religious people. We did this by looking at religious communities that encouraged seeking mental help, and then applied the same numbers to closed off communities. It showed a small correlation og 0.2 , showing that non-religious people are slightly more depressed than religious, but by such a small margin that saying that religion makes for good mental health is misleading at best
can i find these results anywhere?? i’d like to cite this.
If someone tells me it's best to lie to my children, how do I know I can trust that person?
She's an ill informed and malicious manipulator disguised as a benevolent therapist.
My dad taught me about god and I still became an atheist. I’m depressed because I have no friends not because I don’t waste an hour surrounded by old white people talking about a fictional white person once a week
for me black old and young men
"Why Even Atheists Should Teach Their Children about God
Which god should that be, the disproved god of the Bible or perhaps the disproved god of the Quran?
Declining interest in willful ignorance is a good thing. Which is why Prager NOT A U, want people to stay ignorant.
Those are both the same god you know.
@@Colddirector
Not really, they are supposed to be the same god of Abraham but they are both quite different from each other. This is due to the effort to shoehorn Jesus into Jehovah and since 3 is magic number most Christians cram in a state of mind to make it even less like the god of Abraham.
The main similarity is both are based on the disproved Bible.
disproved? peer reviewed sources god doesn't exist? i think not
@@007kingifrit
I never made any such claim. Learn how to read what is actually there. I the gods of 2 specific books are disproved. Further than what really wrote, as far as I can tell. ALL testable gods fail testing. There was no great flood so the God of the Bible does not exist. The Quran is bit trickier to pin down but it too makes testable claims about the actions of its god that fail testing.
@@ethelredhardrede1838 god can't be disproved you ninny
I'm guessing you are a "therapist" like how this channel is a "university". You should not be giving anyone advice since you don't know what you are talking about.
Well, you can always change the channel and remove yourself from the cause of your dire distress.
@@lysanderofsparta3708 So can you.
@@lysanderofsparta3708
Agreed. It really SUCKS to be a *LYING* christ-stain!
@@CNCmachiningisfun You sound upset.
We don’t believe things because they are good for us. We believe them because we think they are true. Truth doesn’t care about your feelings as is often said on this channel.
Look at what the humans have created, we're the creator of our things... very complex things. Earth/humans are very complex, who is the creator of Earth/humans?
How can you prove that Abraham Lincoln was assassinated? Through historical accounts because we cannot time travel back to the event. Same goes for the Bible, historical accounts / other events support the Bible.
Regardless of whether you feel like there is a religious God, the truth is that living a religious life and being apart of a religious community is a better than Atheism/Nihilism.
@@gofishfl9878 first of all, atheism is not even remotely similar to nihilism. That's a huge fallacy in the arguments presented by pragerU here. Not believing in a god does not imply that one feels purposeless. Oftentimes it actually strengthens the spirit in coming to search for and decide upon what is truely meaningful to yourself rather than just taking the easy way out by saying your God preordained you with purpose. Not a very satisfying or fulfilling answer.
Second of all, the plausibility of all historical events aren't all equal. Moses parting the Red sea is not as likely to be true as Abe being shot. One requires supernatural intervention never otherwise witnessed in all human history, the other requires an action witnessed daily. Trying to say we can't be certain of either event as a way to validate the Bible is idiotic.
Lastly, this whole video is just laughably weak but nonetheless disgusting conservative propaganda to convince parents to indoctrinate their children in to believing in a hateful religion. God is dead, as a nihilist once told me. Get with the times.
@@sockpastarock7082 Living a religious life is better because
1.) morality is objective
2.) The comfort as mentioned in this video
3.) a greater purpose/meaning
3.) The community aspect of the religion
as examples
and you're narrow minded by cherry picking one event stating "the super natural makes no sense," instead of understanding the bigger picture.
I don't neccesarily care about the video, my statement was that living a religious life is better than atheism/nihilism.
God is not dead and never will be and that thought process will kill the United States of America because it was founded on a greater being (God) that gave us unalienable rights.
The only indoctrination is coming from you people that are changing our truths that we have agreed upon.
@@gofishfl9878
1) Why does this make religion better? If anything this means your God is useless, your God doesn't dictate Morales and therefore isn't required. And if, instead, you believe morals are not objective; still, how does this make religion better? Many philosophies subscribe to either of these ideas.
2) There is great comfort, just the same, in knowing your true place in nature without requiring a fictional man in the sky. Once again, philosophy covers this ground. God is not required.
3) Greater purpose than what? Every other philosophy ever? How is it more purposeful to just accept that some supernatural power has all the answers so you don't have to think about it? Countless philosophies treat the idea of purpose with far more respect than this.
3 (again?) ) Every philosophy has communities and cultures built around it. None of this is exclusive to your religion.
Isn't it a bit ironic to talk about cherry picking when you only follow the parts of the Bible that align with your own personal preconceived ideas of morality which are born of participation in a secular society? Constantly moving goal posts around the old testament because it's too brutal for today's world. Accept your scriptures or don't. If it's the word of your God, there is no inbetween.
@@sockpastarock7082 you're very narrow minded... apparently you don't even understand that religion makes morals objective while atheism makes it chaotically subjective.
"It's far better for kids to use their imagination..."
this has to be the best self-own i've seen on this channel.
Good catch
its not a self own at all. you are making the underlying assumption that truth is important....its not
if the outcome of religious people is superior to atheism.....then religion is automatically true even if its not true
@@007kingifrit do you read your own comments?
@@007kingifrit "it's true even if it's not"
Not only do you know what truth means then, you just self owned harder than pragerU did. And yet you claim to have "wisdom". Lol
@@Aging_Casually_Late_Gamer its only a "self own" if i accept your premise that truth matters....i don't
On the flipside, would you allow your kid the chance to not believe in your god? What about a chance to believe in a different god?
I enjoyed your video with one exception. The idea that parents who don't believe in God should "fake it" when their kids ask tough questions is troubling. Children have a way of detecting whether a parent is telling the truth or lying to them, and since it is generally thought wrong to lie, when their parents fake it they also lose respect in their child's eyes. You went on to try to patch this up by saying you can't teach your children that God is important if you don't view Him as important. So basically you can't fake it, or at best you would have to be saying, "They tell me God is good and will take care of that. Let's attend church and iind out." Now you are not faking it but offering hope, one that must be examined, one the parent must be willing to check out WITH their child.
Definitely. Faking it is lying. But presenting the marketplace of ideas is good. Truth prevails for his elect.
Yeah, I agreed with most of the video, but this part I was kinda if-y on. I mean, there are times you need to give an answer even when you don't know the right one, and make a firm choice. But, you also need to not dig yourself into a hole while doing it. A tricky balance...
the worst thing to do is lie. In fact, it might drive them to atheism faster.
@@122Delta I agree. If someone asks you a question and you don't know the answer the best answer you can give them is "I don't know." At least they'll know you're being straight with them.
@@jessedphillips We must always learn to speak the truth. The world is so tired of hearing lies coming at them from all angles. Truth will be welcome.
What constitutes "religious beliefs" regarding the 2018 harvard study? Did it include Muslims, Buddhists and other religions? And if so, then how can Christianity claim to be superior in any sense?
“We don’t acknowledge other religions outside of straw men and demonizations”-Christianity since it’s inception
that study did indeed consider other religions. it even included meditation.
The real question you have to ask is what was the reason that "religious beliefs" was better is it from going to church or is it the stress the child will get from their parents from them not wanting to go to church
The study was based on levels of delusion.
Any path used is irrelevant.
Please stop promoting religious obscurantism
What does that mean? Taoism?
The absence of a belief in god does not cause depression - that's ridiculous. Depression is an emotional response when you feel like you cannot achieve your values, or you're uncertain about what values you should pursue. That's not unique to atheists. I know many religious people who are, or have been depressed.
What happens when children discover they have been lied to ?
By their parents ?
Really ?
This is why you don't belief things just because they make you feel things
That seems pretty obvious to me: they stop believing the liars and what they taught, which in this case would be Christianity.
I teach my children about people. Not about invisible creatures.
I find it incredible that a trained professional advocates lying to children and encourages belief in supernatural beings.
How Do you KNOW it is a lie, and you prefer anxiety and depression? Some people may call that sadistic.
So glad that:
1) I don't have a need for therapy
2) If I did have a need for therapy that this lady isn't my therapist
as an athiest:
i would still want religions taught in school. why? simply because it exists. nothing to do with the concept of death
religion affects people, it shapes and destroys civilizations. I would want my children to understand what people with religion think instead of being ignorant to their beliefs. To not teach about religion is to equate to censoring history, thus repeating it.
However if it is the case of teaching my child about the concept of death, I would still tell them how there is nothing after dying. People assume just because you have no religion or no purpose in life the person becomes bitter and destructive. The people who think like this are terrible. When there is no grand purpose in life, you MAKE a purpose. I know that there is no meaning to my life and that when i die i will never pay for the fruits of my labor or lack thereof. However what I want is success in my work and family and help make the world a better place, that is my purpose because i want it so, and the results make me happy. I want to be a good person and help the people of the future because i care even if i will never see it.
So, don't teach your kids to be narrow minded when it comes to religion.
@@misterauctor7353 bingo
as a Latter-day Saint i feel that schools should teach the many stances toward religion (including the religions of no God and the religion of no supernatural entities). But when it comes to what parents teach their children about religion; unless they are engaging in physical or sexual abuse/exploitation, then it is not the business of any other mortals to say what parents should teach their kids about religion.
God will condemn parents who do not teach their children what they know to be true, and whether that has happened is between them and God, not society, and certainly not the Government. If you want to teach your children about even the flying spaghetti monster and anti-christ satire, i would still say no mortal should try to intervene. Crusader zealots who say "we can't expect God to do all the work" (or things like it)to justify overreach, are heretics against the Bible (both old and new testament). Especially the passage in Revelation 13: 9-10 explicitly warns about the consequences of overreach, and Luke 9: 51-56 says that zeal to destroy unbelievers is of the devil.
God will not be lightly mocked by perversion of his truths. Any self-proclaimed believer "B" of the God of Abraham; who goes on to force unbelievers "U" to teach the faith preferred by "B" to the children of "U". That believer, is under greater condemnation from their God than even savages that perpetuate abusive traditions, and certainly far worse condemnations than an atheist who honestly refuses to teach their child what they honestly do not believe.
You can't... when you kicked god out of the equation, you'll put yourself as one. You are your god, whatever you think good is good, whatever you sees as success is success, totally arbitrary. Without an external objective standard, everything is game.
@@dutamulia this is stupid and a total misrepresentation of how any atheist believes
The one thing I learned from this is that you should never, ever be giving parenting advice. Every time you called something the best answer it was incredibly destructive... Your sources do not support yupur claims, and this is nothing but a guide on how to brainwash kids in to believing absolute nonsense. This should be removed as abusive content...
In psychology we are taught correlation is not causation. So, I wonder if you could create the same community atmosphere and positive outcomes due to spending time in the same ways as going to a religious activity without the religion part. For instance, I wonder if you had a family with a kid/kids who went to some other community activity once a week, like church but not religion based, if that would not have the same effect. Like if you all came together to learn about values, some sort of educational activity, or even participate in a sport together where good values were taught through team work, etc. if you would see the same results.
If I was to take a guess, I think if you could find a way to teach the strong values in a similar communal atmosphere that the religion part itself would actually unnecessary.
Food for thought.
Nationalism is one option that goes well if you don't believe in religion, the whole point of being part of a religion is being part of something greater than you, back in the industrial revolution many people stopped believing in god slowly and became depressed and sad, the biggest fix to that was nationalism, giving people a purpose, leave a mark on this world by making the place they lived in safer, stronger and what not, I'm not a nationalist or religious.
I don't live in a country I support thanks to the stupid army we have that neglects it's soldiers' health so I'm unhealthy and depressed (I'm a soldier, at least for the time being)
@@ryderwilson7955
No, people didn't become depressed, because they were less religious, they became depressed, because they were in a city among strangers. And most people weren't worried about "leaving a mark" ever.
Ironically my mental health suffered due to overly religious parents that tried to control my life and didn’t let me go out much… also they were unreasonable. No way in hell am I teaching my kids a a false belief
Well, at least she admits religion is about your imagination.
why do these people TRY to make themselves look stupid 💀
They're religious conservatives they don't need to try it comes naturally.
@WokeandProud
Could be worse they could be atheists.
Also with a username like that, talk about a lost cause.
@aidanfoley3263
I know right. Atheists!
@@chancehendrix7139 religious nuts is what i meant. it's idiotic and to teach your kids something that lowers their critical thinking is useless
As someone who values truth, I could not stomach the idea of teaching my children a comforting fiction to cope with life. I am thankful that, as a Christian, I do not need to. 💜
I was thinking the same thing. I'm a believer as well. My son asked me if God would really allow a person to be in Hell for all eternity and I told him Yes. (Of course I told him that he didnt have to worry about it because he has Jesus) I'm not going to lie to him. There are some truths that we have to accept as Christians that don't always paint a pretty picture. I couldn't see myself expecting a parent to teach their child something that they believed was false. I wouldn't want them to tell me to teach my child something false just because statistics somewhere say that child will get better grades, etc. What happens when they find out their parent lied to them? They may never believe another word their parent says.
So still fiction
But you are teaching them fiction the vast majority of the bible is fiction it may have a moral or a purpose within in it but at the end of the day it’s still fiction
Not gonna lie, you had me in the first half
What do you mean, doesn't your christian religion basically force you to indoctrinate your child into the christian religion?
"Religion Poisons Everything" - Christopher Hitchen
I don’t think the absence of a God in particular affects mental state, it’s the absence of simply an inspiration, something to live for, or somebody to rely on / look up to. Having more present parental figures and being given more opportunities / an enriched life would also greatly help solve this issue. Whilst ‘Believing in nothing’ is sure to give you depression, as long as you set yourself life goals and make sure there’s something in the future to look forward to, as well as making your current life enjoyable, it’s unlikely that you will fall into a cycle of depressing behaviour.
"I don’t think the absence of a God in particular affects mental state, it’s the absence of simply an inspiration, something to live for, or somebody to rely on / look up to" Damd felt that
This is the best response that I have seen so far to this video!
Thank you 😊 I agree with you 100%
But we are talking about children!!! This what you just said is right for Adults but never sufficent for the child's brain
But the Thing is that, since God is all powerful and all benevolent, there’s no Risk, in following his Path. Even if you have a clear physical yet symbolic Goal to focus on, it won’t matter, without God. And/or at least that’s just how I interpret that Question of Meaning.
4:30 right...and that's why believers expose their kids in trial to the hundreds of different religions around the world in an effort to help them come to their own choice... Yeah
PragerU misinterprets the Harvard study they reference and ignores pertinent parts of the study. The study says nothing to support the PragerU claim that "even atheists should teach their children about God". And PragerU's claim is further undermined where the authors state: "Contrary to our expectation, our results suggest that frequent prayer or meditation may be associated with more physical health problems." The study concludes "our results suggest associations of frequent religious participation in adolescence with greater subsequent psychological well-being, character strengths, and lower risks of mental illness and several health behaviors." But nowhere do the authors suggest that a belief in God is the reason for this, in fact they postulate many other factors that make it reasonable to expect membership in many non-religious groups could also be of equivalent benefit.
Atheists should teach their children about religion because it is a major influence on society and it never hurts to develop empathy for other people's cultures and ways of life so you don't go into society ignorant.
Lying to your kids about what you believe for happy feels is not a good reason.
I saw this on another channel and it got me wondering. Why can't religious people leave others people's children alone? Is it not enough to raise your children in the way you see fit reading scripture and attending church yourself. Why must religious individuals seemingly persist in making everything all about them? It's incredibly tedious
You convinced me. I'm going to teach my child that Allah IS the one true god.
islam is inferior to christianity as it is more violent, anti science to the extreme, and encourages backwards social structures
from an evolutionary standpoint christians are a better choice
@@007kingifrit LOL!
You: "Ignore atheism! Atheism sucks and doesn't matter because they aren't having enough children!"
Also you: "I know that Islam is the fastest growing and breeding religion in the world, but ignore it because it is way more extreme than Christianity. At least Christians don't our god so seriously like the Muslims do."
I see where you're coming from, but children shouldn't believe in god because it's better for them. They should believe in god because they actually believe that god exists.
Agreed. The reason it helps kids is because it’s true and explains reality the best and gives them proper meaning.
@@jordandthornburg does it better explain reality? since when is the explanation "God intended it to be" better than science on the fruits of which our entire civilization is built?
@@Konstantin3208 I don’t get your question. Those things are not in conflict. Science cannot explain morality, logic, beauty or many other things. Science cannot explain ultimate reality, which is what I’m taking about. Science is just discovering how the world God made functions and how he did it (as far as we can know that). All the first major scientists of the modern fields of science were basically Christians. PragerU actually did a video on that.
@@jordandthornburg The Big Bang theory was from a Catholic Priest I think.
@@jameskearney4100 yes it was.
Just because someone is not religious and a theist doesn't mean we don't teach children about morality and history and knowledge by experience.
All right, great idea, maybe athiests should teach kids about religions. I'll teach them about Islam, Buddhism, Aboriginal Dream time, Greek mythology, Native American creation stories, and Christianity.
Wait, that's not what you're advocating.
You're saying that, even if it's not true, we should lie to children about there being a God, even though there are equally effective and equally untrue statements like, "it won't happen to you".
Furthermore, you strongly imply that athiesm inherently leads to nihilism and depression. Life not having meaning might terrify people who've grown up religious, but I, and many millions of other athiests, find it truly liberating. Yes, we will all die a meaningless death, but that gives us the ability to shape our own meaning, do what makes us happy, and help others. After all, this world is all we have, so we'd better take care of it.
@@yezsir715 Look up 'Bertrand Russel's Teapot'
@Sami Sulaiman Um, the big bang is an explanation accepted by most scientists. What do you mean by 'other than'?
@Sami Sulaiman Ahem. _Which_ God, exactly?
@Sami Sulaiman If you think the scientific theories about the origins of the universe imply it came about by accident, I humbly suggest you don't understand the science. There are certain facts about the universe that we cannot test. It is entirely likely the universe must exist as it does and no "accident" or "force" was required in its formation.
@Sami Sulaiman just because you're convinced by this, doesn't mean it's true nor does it mean you have evidence for it.
The big bang is the best working scientific theory we have for the begging of the universe. Anything outside of that at most can be a hypnotists, but not a theory, because we have no way to prove it. And athiests, as well as the scientifically literate are OK with that. We have no problem saying, "I don't know".
So, in order to let your children make a free choice about religion, shouldn't you then have to expose them to all religions, and all gods?
Also pargaru saying religious is just a “hopeful narrative.” Most accurate definition for religion prageru have ever given.
Damn it ain’t every day someone admits the placebo effect is one of the best reasons to believe in god
What if I teach my non-existent kids about paganism. That would make them feel better
I mean some pagan religions are really good at teaching self love
@@slushydude901 that is true...I am a pagan
Teach them about the almighty Flying Spaghetti Monster
@@sandy_dandy_cotton_candy1221 oh i think PragerU would flip tf out after that shitshow went down
Don’t teach them Cthulhu
The graphs, holy shit. Prager U doesnt even take it self seriously, why should I.
It takes itself seriously. It somehow thinks what it says makes sense. It is correct in thinking people belief their trash
I do not tell my grandson he will not suffer tragedy. I use a local house fire to explain, (even if I don't know how it happened) that we use safty precautions to try to prevent fire and incase there is a fire, we have smoke detectors and a plan to get out of the house or building. We dont leave the oven, iron, flat iron, on when we leave the house, no candles burning unattended. Safety first is taught, prevention, a tiny awareness for a tiny developing mind. I talk about it as much as he wants to talk about it, I answer all of his questions. He is 4 years old, treat them with dignity and they will not be terrified at every local or personal disaster. Not just the facts about the situation, but that neighbors that do suffer these things, are offer us a special opportunity to serve them, and that is showing God's love through us, and that is what God wants from us, besides the very special feeling of being there and providing whatever comfort we can in those type of situations. That is community.
I like that, Dawn. I'm an atheist, myself, but if all religious people were like you, the world would be a lot better place! You have my respect.
@@Bill_Garthright He's basically doing Pascal's wager.
This is the worst take I have ever seen.
Just because society it doesn't mean that religion is any better.
Religion isn't the only to raise good self-disciplined kids, you do realise that Asian immigrants that come from Asian countries are usually not religious, and still able to manage to discipline their kids right?
Another thing that you make an assumption about is that atheism means nihilism.
Those two are not mutually inclusive, and someone who becomes a nihilist because they're not religious usually has other reasons for why they're nihilistic rather than because they're Atheists, and most Atheists are not actually nihilistic, and if they're depressed, it's because they have some sort of life issue that they are dealing with rather than because of lack of religion.
As your point about not teaching children about death, and lying to them is pretty disrespectful to religion.
You want parents to treat Christianity as being on the same level of literal actual myths like Santa Claus, or the Tooth Fairy just as a scapegoat like those mythological figures just as a lie to keep Children from being traumatized from the truth.
What you don't address in this video is that kids eventually have to learn the truth about life, and won't and are not expected to believe in Santa Claus, or the Tooth Fairy all their life, so what about when it comes to religion, what if they grow up, and accidently still believe in religion, and find out that their own parents don't even believe in it?
Do you not understand the complication that comes from that?
Also, no creater and protector, and no purpose to our existence is only nihilist if you make it out to be.
You can teach children they don't need a meaning or purpose, or a "creator" to enjoy life, or maybe not teach it at all so that they don't feel conflicted about it.
This is a false dichotemy, just because I don't teach my children about religion, it doesn't mean they have to be materialist, honestly it seems you're just social problems as an excuse to convince non-religious parents into teaching their children about your religion even if they don't believe in.
I doubt that if you have any children, you're teaching them to be atheist despite you being Christian, so I don't see any good reason to teach my children to be Christian if I were an atheist/agnostic.
I don't see how the belief about "going to heaven" solves anything. What if you go to heaven, and then you rebel against God?
the idea that we need belief in god as an emotional teddybear is belittling, and the implication that we can't invent something more effective than it is damning. if humanity needs god as a crutch then humanity is not worth much at all.
"such beliefs don't help children" but telling them they could go to hell for eternity does, makes total sense
I see your point. Certainly wouldn't want to teach kids about consequences for bad behavior, right?
As she stated in the video, you don't tell children everything and if you do, not in the way you would explain it to an adult.
I'm so glad the comment section is overrun by rational, peaceful, nonreligious people tactfully pointing out the absolute hypocrisy of this video.