We live in a world that, in ways you and I can’t even discern, goes out of its way to discourage serious thinking.
That’s why even though I’m a man of faith, I admire many atheists; I know most of them have gone against our culture and actually thought, long and hard, about their beliefs.
That’s also why I was so interested in a July 2012 National Post interview with Justin Trottier. At the time, he was with the Centre for Inquiry, Canada’s most organized atheist group.
Trottier is a crusader against blind religious faith. And I’m 100 per cent with him. Only one example is needed to explain our shared position: blind religious faith was among the major reasons for the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
That said, beyond our obvious and dramatic differences, I want to highlight Trottier’s opposition to teaching religion to children. He told interviewer Charles Lewis that “robbing kids of critical faculties is a bad thing”.
From my vantage point, Trottier’s opinion sounds a lot like a characteristic of blind religious faith – in this case, believing there is no creator and teaching anyone otherwise is simply indoctrinating impressionable young minds.
In reading up on today’s best-known atheists (Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, the late Christopher Hitchens and Victor Stenger) I notice this militant absolutism is a common denominator.
Teaching faith to children simply gives them the opportunity to make up their own minds about what they do and don’t believe. How can I write this? Because I know that as soon as they are old enough to explore issues and weigh options, these young minds will be assaulted with an unending tsunami of images, events and opinions that are dead-set against faith.
Without any faith knowledge, the “fight” is over before it even begins. And if Trottier seeks to be a thoughtful and fair person, then I hope he will consider this incredible imbalance and change his stance.
What about you – are you a parent who’s unsure if there’s a God? Do you not know where you stand on the idea that not only is there a creator, but that He sent Jesus of Nazareth (who many people believe is His Son) to live, die and be resurrected for you and me?
Then set that aside for the sake of your offspring. Take them to church, let them hear about Jesus and allow them to make up their own minds. It’s a gift they deserve; a gift you won’t regret giving.
Frank's Cottage 
It’s always bothered me how atheists assume that by not teaching something it somehow gives people more options for informed decision making. The BBC did a documentary with Dawkins and he spent several minutes looking into religious education. Sadly, he picked some conservative ultra right-wing school to go into and had his opinions instantly validated.
Sadly, critical thinking is not valued in most conservative circles; they value the logic of their faith, but not learning how to critically examine it. There’s definite fault on both sides. I think there’s fault anytime someone’s militant about faith or stopping it.
Thanks for your insights, David. I agree that critical thinking is always a good thing; people of faith should know WHY they believe. In fact, the Bible tells followers of Jesus to “always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks us why we have the hope that we have”.
Right on! Children should have as much information as possible before they enter their teenage years and are encouraged to go along with whatever society is dictating.
So, Lori and David….
How many other religions have you taught your children? Have you given them the opportunity to accept or reject Judaism? Hinduism? Islam? Buddhism? What about the ancient Greek gods? How many of them can your children name?
Lori is my wife and I can tell you that our children, all grown, can find out about any faith they like. They can reject their Christian faith and take on another faith – or become hopeless atheists – anytime they want. And they can name all the major faiths, too.
I cannot assume to know Trottier or his reasonings, but I do believe that teaching faith
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/faith –
a (1) : belief and trust in and loyalty to God (2) : belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion
b (1) : firm belief in something for which there is no proof (2) : complete trust
breaks down critical thinking skills. If you are taught to just believe without proof or evidence and then base your life-decisions and life philosophies off this made up system, it is a travesty to later life.
I sit on a very spiky fence on this one and see the validity on both sides. I teach both of my sons that I want them to explore religion, go to church with in-laws, get a feel for the real questions religion tries to tackle and explain.
This sounds a lot like the theist side, right? The difference is that I don’t teach my boys to believe in atheism or science or give undue authority to the institution of science. I am sure some will see very little difference, but I see it as a Grand Canyon-esque gap.
Some good points here, Jody. But I have no trouble in writing that no one gets taught faith without reason, science, etc. They all work together. So “critical thinking skills” are not broken down at all.
sqlblindman, “hypocrisy” is a term that opponents of Christianity toss around so much that it has zero effect on me.
And what we did with our children is absolutely good enough for us (and them, as it turns out), no matter what anyone else thinks.
Furthermore, the premise that “employing critical thinking skills, or seeking evidence, demonstrates a lack of faith” is simply ridiculous and I don’t for a moment accept it.
…or you could consider, for a moment, that there might be a reason why multiple people on multiple occasions have called you hypocritical. I wasn’t, in fact, criticizing the manner in which you raised your children. That is a red herring response. I was criticizing the fact that you claim “what we did with our children is absolutely good enough for us, no matter what anyone else thinks” while simultaneously condemning others for the same behavior.
That is simply hypocrisy, Frank.
And your last sentence is delightfully ironic. You dismiss my premise that employing critical thinking skills demonstrates a lack of faith, ….by rejecting it on faith without demonstrating any critical thinking skills.
Come on, Frank. You are better than this. You are smarter than this. Think about what you say before you say it. Take some time to truly examine your beliefs and see if they are internally consistent.
My children spent four years in a public high school. During that time, they were surrounded by staff and students who did NOT share their beliefs. So they were absolutely exposed to other beliefs – and no beliefs at all.
And thanks for your paternalistic attitude…so glad I’m “better than this”. What a blessed relief to read your comforting words!
As for your words on faith, from what I can tell you’re just going around in circles. I came to faith in Jesus at age 42; do you really think I didn’t demonstrate any critical thinking skills? And while my kids were in high school (and then university – again, surrounded by non-believers), do you really think they didn’t demonstrate critical thinking skills? Come on, you’re better than that.
I can’t speak to your personal conversion, but I can say that you show no critical thinking in this forum.
The fact that your children were exposed to people with different beliefs does not mean they were exposed to the beliefs of those people. This is a simple logical fallacy. Your conclusion does not follow from your premise.
Furthermore, your entire line of “reasoning” is yet another of your Red Herring arguments. The question at hand is whether YOU and YOUR WIFE exposed them to these other religious teachings, since you fault atheists for failing to expost their childrent to your belief.
Faulty logic. Red Herrings.
Complete lack of critical thinking demonstrated here.
These are absolutely NOT red herrings. But if you, sqlblindman, want to think they are, then go ahead. It seems to give you comfort.
They are Red Herring arguments, by definition.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_herring
“The idiom “red herring” is used to refer to something that misleads or distracts from the relevant or important issue”
Instead of discussing the question I raised, which was whether you and your wife exposed your children to to other religious teachings, you counter that they were exposed to other beliefs at school (though public schools do not engage in religious instruction).
Likewise, I was criticizing your hypocrisy, not the manner in which you raised your children.
So, Red Herring arguments. By definition. You avoided addressing the issues I raised, and instead responded with straw-men.
You have a sad habit of taking actual facts and treating them as if they are mere opinions. It seems to be your go-to response when you have no logical argument.
But let me guess…I’m welcome to my opinion, right?
Sadly, from what I’ve read by so many hardened atheists, it’s typical to label what I’m writing about as a red herring.
Whether you accept it or not, my kids were treated to overwhelming bouts of other faiths and a complete lack of faith. My previous comments made that very, very clear.
And this will be the final exchange of comments between us, because both sides have been very clearly articulated and as webmaster, I’m not about to allow this go around in circles.
I, as a parent believe that a bed should be made every day. So, I, as a parent, my wife and I taught our son to make his bed. Now that he is grown, he does not have to make his bed at his own place, he can choose to do as he sees fit.
As parents, we all (atheists and believers) are going to teach our children, what we think appropriate to equip them for life. After all, that is our responsibility as parents. I can make it through difficult circumstances because of my faith in Jesus Christ. I taught him how my faith works. As he grew up, he began to make his own choices.
After all why would I as a parent teach my child something I have no faith in? Do atheists instruct their children about a personal faith in Christ? I would bet they do not.
Our children are not born fully functional with critical minds. They must be taught by their parents. We ALL instruct our children in the way they should go; when they grow up they make their own choices.
To say that they shouldn’t know what belief system their parents have (regardless of what it might be), would be to rob the parents of their responsibilities.