However,
Even though I don’t think there is an invisible man in the sky, it really irks me to see/hear kids looking for approval from their parents by taking their parents views without thinking about it.
It reminds me of mock elections at school that seem to always mirror the outcomes of their parent’s actual elections.

Free thought is important. I discourage my own children from being my echo as much as possible.

That said, I’m not making any assumptions or judgements about the way Shannon raises his own daughter. This post just reminded me of my own experiences.

Carmen : I personnally believe that religion as an institution has brought more arm than good in the world. And mother teresa and a few others are not enough to balance centuries of obscurantism, crusades and mass murdering. On a personal level though, I do not see anything wrong with it
Just my 2 cents

To treat God as another being among beings is to be fundamentally confused about what constitutes Godness.

Incidentally, this is what makes atheism and thorough-going theism very close cousins. If God doesn’t exist as an object, but instead ought to be conceived of as existence per se or as the Being of beings, then to interpret the experience (of God) as nothing is very nearly as true as a more religious interpretation: God is the active existence of everything and more.

Check out:
Jean Luc Marion, “God Without Being”
Merold Westphal, “Overcoming Onto-Theology” and “Hermeneutics of Suspicion”

Its for this reason that I find myself, as a Christian, agreeing w/ the new atheists. I want to say to them, “You’re right. That THING is not God. Very good. Furthermore, worshiping that THING is idolatry and is of course bad for people. You might even call it a sin.”

For that reason, I often find that atheists are better theists than most religious people I meet. They have a requisite respect for the standards of what would qualify as God than most christians, muslims, jews, mormons, etc.

I guess for me, I tend to go with the ideas that Start Trek: TNG posed — that if a developed species visited cavemen, the cavemen might think the species was a higher power.

Then again, I have experienced and seen things that (at least for me and a few people) seem like a cosmic set of gears and everything worked together to “line up” to allow certain things to happen.

and when as I hope she has a part in the development of BrunoBrunhilda Death Dealing Rat SNAKE GOD

it will work it’s way thru

where I differ from approval of DAWKINS but do approve CARLIN is that Carlin is funny and he’s not saying there isn’t a god he is saying well go listen to it

dawkins is saying there is no a god – if anyone challenges him – he’ll back down – because no one with a brain can assert there is not a god

the rest is just comedy -

my god has a bigger pisser than your god

THAT’S RIGHT Allahkat
George Carlin had money making take it to the bank piece; it is on youtube “God Bless America”
But if you’re in a bar down here in the South, you might think twice about mocking God or America, as you’re not a dead standup comic but if you don’t shut the fuck up you may be dead or missing your front and back teeth.

I’ve had the pleasure of working with or being the student of teachers or masters not merely at the PhD level but beyond to know first hand that belief or non-belief in God does not seem to have any mapping to that does the Noble Prize Level Physics.

Sure you can make up lists but lots of those guys are doing it for the fame fortune and millions.
It is as simple as a google to discover that minds as creative as Newton believed a much of crazy stuff. That is as simple as the fact that to be that creative you jump way out of the box and while sure there is no god you know there are fairies in Ireland.

As far as I am concerned right now mocking a Christian is right up there will pulling wings off flies. String Theory is a mess; we went by the tipping pt. Two years ago, methane release, and no one has found a Higgs Boson. We got nothing. Any one who claims to be more than a
Knight of Ignorance is well – could be an atheist.

To assert there is no “god” is way outside the scientific method and an over reaching.

That said, there was definitely no derision going on.

I’m glad that someone knows how to raise their children. A free mind and a strong will, maybe the next generation can actually get something good done.