Hacker News Reader

Comment by dqpb | Hacker News Reader

I'm going to say this in the politest way I know how to - because I'm not trolling you, I sincerely care about the sanity of my fellow human beings.

When you make God a priority, it is most likely that you're prioritizing a fictional lense on your worldview.

Thats fine if it's a choice, but it's cruel to train that kind of thinking into children before they've had a chance to experience the world in it's raw form, and have learned how to discern fact from fiction.

View on HN

As a parent I have a strong desire to raise my children with the same values that I have. For people who practice organized religion, you can’t really have the “values” part without the religion part. It all fits together into a cohesive whole. Young children also have a strong desire to mimic their parents, while at the same time wanting to know “why?”. How does one explain to kids why you’re celebrating a religious holiday or headed off to church/synagogue/etc... without teaching them about God? Most organized religions also have imperatives for passing on the knowledge to children. It’s totally incompatible with a person’s own belief system to not raise their children in their faith.

Many people for thousands of years have devoted their lives to the search for Truth. It is a journey that takes a lifetime. I don’t believe there is some moment in time where one is able to discern fact from fiction when it comes to the big questions of the meaning of life.

in terms of stickiness, God build a product that retains users through generations. That’s serious user retention!

And think about the vitality factor for some sects!

Values are more meaningful when held for their own sake.

Not if the meaning comes from God. Which, to a theist, it does.

>As a parent I have a strong desire to raise my children with the same values that I have. For people who practice organized religion, you can’t really have the “values” part without the religion part. It all fits together into a cohesive whole.

Then you should probably examine whether your values can stand up without the false axiom you're using to shore them up. I'm not saying they can't! But you need to check. And if they do, so much the better: you can pass on good values and avoid teaching your children nonsense.

You should look up the definition of axiom, and possibly look up the concept of phenomenology.

I'm quite aware of the definitions of both. What did you mean to say?

Firstly, your expectation that an axiom be true belies your misunderstanding of what an axiom is. Secondly, your expectation that something at all be true independently of personal experience shows your lack of acquaintance with phenomenology, or at least a refusal to understand it.

I think you read far too much into gp god and family comment. While it is possible that they meant living a religious orthodox life with proselytizing, and that is acceptable. I think more often "good" here is used as an abstraction of a simple, "good" life, with morals, no decadence, etc. Which is a perfectly fine goal I think. Whether the reasoning for that is experience, religion, philosophy or some other thing I think it's unfair to judge.

> it's unfair to judge

We are a social species. Judging each other is one of the most fundamental things we do.

"God" means a lot of things to a lot of people. Appreciating the world around you and doing what you can to be good to others can be "God".

Yes, I'm painfully aware of this kind of fuzzy thinking.

Religious or not the last thing I want teaching my children anything is the world in its raw form.

Why?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com