Who would raise their kids there if they could help it?

Would you rather raise your kids in a dangerous ghetto in Oakland, or a nice quiet upscale community with no crime.

Choose carefully, the people they become depends on your answer.

PLEASE watch this. This is extremely reminiscent of my time growing up in small town Alabama.

It's unbelievable but it's absolutely true. I will have enough money to move out of here soon, thank science.

By the way, this is how they sucker them in. First it's fun games, bbq and frisbee, then all of a sudden you are in a big dark auditorium listening to how hell is gonna be if you don't get saved--TONIGHT! Then it's pressure, pressure, pressure as the youth pastor, then their peers will ask, why aren't you saved yet. You know you're going to fry right? Rinse, repeat enough and most kids will eventually cave.

Ya think so??? My son is hip to the game being played. We warned him he could get cornered. He makes his own decisions.

I don't doubt you were all traumatized, but not everyone has the same experience. Especially when people at home are supportive. An adult girl friend in a workplace is not going to have the same experience as a school kid, so stop being all dramatic. Several hard-case atheists I know grew up here and are fine. One of them from the Church of Christ, which is just one step removed from snake handling.

Your son sounds like a tough customer. Hopefully OP's kids will be as strong-willed. Unfortunately, most kids are not. Most adults aren't even that tough, imo.

Einbert, you seem very delusional and paranoid. I think you may have had some sort of traumatic experience, maybe even molested by a preacher of some kind.

I have a ton of secular friends who do not believe in religion in any form, they lead no hard life. It's just where you live and who you surrounded yourself with.

You, also seem to be very hardcore anti-religion. Like, completely. You're calling it a mind-virus and that just tells me that you are not open-minded, in any form. As for me "not thinking about religion", I think about it for myself, but for my children, I do not. They can make up their own minds.

You obviously don't think about it, you just keep it around because in your opinion, there's no good reason not to. Otherwise you would, you know, actually practice it. Or, more likely, if you put into serious thought into it, eventually realize what a farce it is and drop it. The fact that you don't even realize this is exactly why religion is a mind virus and far more harmful than you realize.

Also I was never molested, that's very mature of you though to insinuate that. You seem like a real good ole' boy actually, and I imagine you fit in perfectly in Texas. You should probably stay right where you are.

It is traumatic for someone who is trying to learn how to think freely for themselves to have to grow up in a culture where anti-intellectualism is king, and "faith" is the one thing that separates the good people from the bad. But if that's what you want to do to your kids, I'm not going to stop you.

Glad you will, although I'm against organized religion but I am all for freedom of religion.

The US definitly made a mistake, they claim they have freedom of religion (well, says in the constitution) but is it that really? Like that mosque being built which the majority of America opposes, that isn't freedom of religion anymore.
You won't see IN GOD WE TRUST on a euro bill either. It's just so weird

Maybe I'm too harsh and on the US, I'm an outsider but there's some general things like I said that make me go "wat"

Damn US is second lowest?

That's bad but it's in a town and we would be living in a city. Doesn't that make a difference?
That's the kind of examples that Europeans hear about so that's probably where my concern comes from but I know it's only the worst cases I've heard of.

You can be as good as parent as it's possible, but children will still compare them to their peers, like they should. Children shouldn't be living like their parents since they're from a different generation. I'll do my best as parent but I'm not going/want to be the only influence in their lives.

In Europe that's different. People combine belief with evolution here so I never thought that it should be one or the other. I want to say C but I know I'll have a hard time not saying anything about evolution. We already discussed this though and he's fine with me doing this.

I would tell them about it but I would definitely not mind if they decide to believe in something else.

Yea it's hard not to do this when you grew up with it.

I'm not worried about them absorbing extremism. I'm worried if they'll have to defend their beliefs daily. Childhood shouldn't be a daily struggle.

You seem as extreme as they are. I don't think that's healthy either.

They're not going to accept that you have different beliefs if you're not accepting theirs. Don't be so negative. I doubt that any intellectual puts it as black and white as you do.

He grew up with it. Some things you can't change about yourself and why should he? Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs.

Yea I feel the same way. I don't consider it freedom of religion either when the president refers to god in every speech and when you have to put your hand on a bible in court. That's very weird for Europeans.

I don't begrudge him his beliefs. But when he says he sins, does basically whatever, doesn't go to church, basically doesn't take his religion seriously at all and says he believes "just because he does" it seems like he doesn't think about it at all. Just an observation, nothing more.

Well you guys came into this thread saying you wanted perspective, I gave you my honest perspective, and you both decide it's a great idea to just insult me personally and completely ignore my position.

Not sure why I wasted my time for you two *******s to be honest. Carry on.

We wouldn't be together if he did. He never said that he's a very religious man. Our questions were more about community than us two.

I wasn't trying to offend you but it seems like you want to offend us. You gave your opinion and I do like hearing different ones. Yours seems a little too black and white for an intellectual though IMO. I didn't know I wasnt't allowed to disagree with you and discuss it?

I wouldn't think you would have that type of thing in a big city, the hard core stuff like that is mostly in small tight nit deeply religious towns. As long as your kids are not refusing to take the pledge and saying in God we trusts and are not "out and loud" about their non belief i doubt they get harassed.


But i dont think you can be opened about your non belief and not get the occasional eye roll or scowl if you express it. Even up here in the northeast ive gotten a little of it. It just goes with the territory.

Texas State Education Board is full full of morons.

http://content.usatoday.com/communit...c-textbooks-/1

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/0..._n_720119.html

lol texas

Damn, I was hoping some other school than a good one. Clayton here, many years ago.

I wish I could recall where I was hearing this... it was either an NPR piece or a podcast of some sort recent was discussing a book looking at this very thing. Its simply not true. According to this supposed expert, despite what we want to believe, long term studies have shown that children are more influenced by there peer groups then their parents. I don't have information to prove of counter but it seems plausible to me.

I think there's plenty of anecdotal evidence to support this idea.

ah, very nice. I graduated in '99.

I don't think that you need an expert or research to tell you that peer pressure is a bitch. You should have experienced it growing up, or at least seen it happen to other people's children. They don't call it "running with a bad crowd" for no reason.

It doesn't matter though. People are still going to argue bad parenting, and I tend to agree with that to a point. You should be able to raise your children to know right from wrong, but in the end, it's going to come down to their willpower to not do what the bad kids are doing when they are with them.