Godless Parents Are Doing a Better Job

[rug]

Tracy Moore
2/03/15 3:30pm

Hate to break it to you, Bible thumpers: Parents who raise their kids without religion are doing just fine, studies say, possibly even better. Overall, not believing in God seems to make people and their offspring more tolerant. Less racist. Less sexist. Enviro-friendly. And their kids care less about what's cool, which—say it with me—only makes them cooler.

In an op-ed at the Los Angeles Times by sociologist Phil Zuckerman, you can read about a swath of studies that support what everyone who is "between churches" has known forever: Not believing in God isn't synonymous with being amoral. If anything, it can give you a greater clarity about right and wrong, because you're more likely to base it on empathy and decency than a guaranteed spot upstairs come Judgment Day.

In the 1950s, only 4 percent of Americans indicated they'd grown up in a secular household; today, 23 percent say they have no religious affiliation, Zuckerman writes, citing Pew research. They're called "Nones," or, you know, heathens, and that number is even higher (30 percent) among the 18- to 29-year-old set. So with more people than ever eschewing a reflexive belief in God, it seems as good a time as any to ask how that's working out for us. Zuckerman writes:

So how does the raising of upstanding, moral children work without prayers at mealtimes and morality lessons at Sunday school? Quite well, it seems.

Far from being dysfunctional, nihilistic and rudderless without the security and rectitude of religion, secular households provide a sound and solid foundation for children, according to Vern Bengston, a USC professor of gerontology and sociology.

Bengston has supervised a 40-year study of religion and family life across generations—the largest ever coordinated—called the Longitudinal Study of Generations. He recently added atheist or agnostic families to the mix alongside the rise in their self-reported numbers. And rather than discovering families unbound by the glue of God, performing nightly Satanic rituals in lieu of a nutritious dinner, he found… functional families with actual ethics and values and shit.

http://jezebel.com/godless-parents-are-doing-a-better-job-1682844001?fb_action_ids=10153064967512766&fb_action_types=og.likes

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-0115-zuckerman-secular-parenting-20150115-story.html#page=1

[4now]

1. Its not too surprising

that people that believe in reality make better parents then ones that believe in invisible gods and demons.

[rug]

2. Judgmental parents are the worst.

[4now]

3. Raising children to live in fear and ignorance is much worse

[rug]

4. Not as bad as an atmosphere of condescension and false superiority.

[4now]

5. lol. You prove my point

Thank you.

[rug]

6. As do you.

Peace.

[phil89]

7. That's religion for you

NT

[rug]

8. No, it's a smug club built on mutual dislikes.

[NeoGreen]

14. Oh yes, most definately...

...Religion = A Smug Club Built On Mutual Dislikes

ASCBOMD's!

[bvf]

9. Of course.

[rug]

10. This is what Bengston said:

“Many nonreligious parents were more coherent and passionate about their ethical principles than some of the ‘religious' parents in our study,” Bengston told me. “The vast majority appeared to live goal-filled lives characterized by moral direction and sense of life having a purpose.”

Do you think life has a purpose?

[bvf]

11. Sure. Don't you?

[rug]

13. I do. But it's far from a universal opinion.

[FailureToCommunicate]

12. “Life is either a daring adventure...or nothing at all.”

- Hellen Keller