Hello everyone

[Maria]

Greetings from Somerset, God's own county (just kidding) in the south west of England.
I'm Maria, I'm 23 and have a wonderful 3 year old daughter called Emily. The local vicar (whoever he/she is) will be shocked to know that I'm 'living in sin' with my boyfriend. I'm a radiographer (since last September) and still learning the ropes.
I'm from a country that has no separation of church and state and where religious education is compulsory in all our schools. These days parents can opt to withdraw their kids from RE but mine didn't. That's OK. I enjoyed RE. What child doesn't like fairy tales? The attempts at indoctrination failed in my case. I can't remember a time when I ever believed any of it. This place is ideal for me. I'm a happy-go-lucky girl and I'm an HAPPY ATHEIST!

Thanks for reading.

Maria

[Tank]

Hi Maria

Good to see another Brit' joining in.

My youngest daughter is a medical photographer, so good on you for getting into a good profession where you're helping those around you.

Welcome to HAF!

Regards
Chris

[Maria]

Thank you, Chris

[Cosmo]

Ave Maria

Welcome to HAF!

That's OK. I enjoyed RE. What child doesn't like fairy tales?

As long as they KNOW they are fairy tales. I am assuming that religion is not taught as myth or legend, but truth about the world.

The attempts at indoctrination failed in my case.

Power to you. But do not underestimate the brain's ability to be fooled. Children, for well understood evolutionary reasons, are built to accept the word of adults as true and unquestionable.

Anyways, I understand that you are smart, inquisitive, and curious. You will most likely pass on these traits to your daughter, which should render her immune to religious (and hopefully other) lies.

[Maria]

No, RE isn't taught as fairy tales. And yes, I am very aware of the power of indoctrination, especially when it comes to children. In my opinion it's a form of child abuse. When my daughter starts school I will exercise my right and withdraw her from RE. Since the Education Act of 1998 schools must also allocate part of RE to Islam, Hinduism etc. I won't have my daughter exposed to that nonsense either.

[fester30]

Welcome to our happy place, Maria!  

I must say I'm surprised to hear UK, a place where more than half the people are non-religious, has mandatory RE in schools.  It's a funny world.  Here in the Bible belt of Arkansas, USA, there are some apartment complexes and landlords that won't rent to you if you are "living in sin."  Don't worry about it, though.  I did it for a year before I married my current Mrs. Right.  We were even Christian at the time (she still is, sort of) and we didn't get struck by lightning or anything.

[Maria]

Hello fester30 (and I forgot to say hello to Cosmo)
Yes, its very strange. On the face of it, the church is very powerful here. The Church of England is the officially established church in England; the Church of Scotland (Presbyterian) is established north of the border. The Queen is the titular head of the CofE and 'Defender of the Faith'. 26 archbishops sit (unelected) in the House of Lords where they wield some legislative and judicial power.
And of course we have RE.
But in reality the church is very weak; much weaker than in the United States. If a man stands on a soapbox here and preaches. most people will smile, roll their eyes and walk on by. I have a feeling he would get a lot more respect across the Atlantic.
I agree with Cosmo about indoctrination. Having said that, I have a message for US Christians who want RE taught in their schools. Be careful what you wish for. Most atheists I know are atheists largely because of the bible.

[Cosmo]

Maria,

Sorry if I sounded patronizing or rude, it definitely was not my intention. I know that parents, more than anyone, want what is best for their children. I was just pointing out that sometimes, (in my case) religion is not taught as, you know... a myth, and it is hard (I mean, I was religious until very recently, and I am 24) to break free from certain beliefs.

[Cecilie]

I hate pink.

Welcome to HAF.

[hismikeness]

I hate pink.

+1

Welcome to HAF.

+2
 

[The Magic Pudding]

What child doesn't like fairy tales?

I don't know, but anyway have some fairy floss.

[Maria]

I hate pink.

I don't care. I like it.

Welcome to HAF

Thank you.

[missedtheboat]

Hi Maria! Welcome! Just out of curiosity, what do you plan on saying when your daughter asks where we came from? I've been trying to figure out the best way to tell my son.

[Maria]

Hi Maria! Welcome! Just out of curiosity, what do you plan on saying when your daughter asks where we came from? I've been trying to figure out the best way to tell my son.

Thanks for the welcome.

What will I tell her? I assume you're not talking about the birds and the bees, right?
I could tell her this:

Once upon a time there was this very powerful being called Yahweh who had been floating around in an infinite void for an infinite amount of time (whatever that means). He was bored out of his mind until he hit upon a cunning plan. "I know," he exclaimed. "I'll create a universe! That should keep me occupied... at least for six days. Then I'll wait for about 13.7 billion years for intelligent life to appear on this little speck of dust called earth. Then I'll obsess over their sex lives."
So he waved his magic wand, shouted 'abacadabra' and 'hey presto'.... and here we are with 100 billion galaxies.

Seriously, I think my daughter and your son will need to be a good age before having the "where did we all come from' conversation. At least 10. I'll tell her about evolution, and hopefully by then we'll have the answer to the ultimate questions such as 'how did the universe get here?' and 'what caused the Big Bang?'
If we don't know all the answers then I'll simply tell her that.
One thing I can tell her for certain: everyone agrees that the universe exists. We are all part of the universe. We have a universe full of proof for the universe. But there is not one particle of proof that any 'god' exists. If anyone tries to tell her that everything must be created then I'll advise her to ask the obvious question.

[missedtheboat]

Hahaha, Yea I wasn't talking about the birds and the bees.. that talk will come soon enough, ugh.. haha.




I think that sounds like a pretty good answer