Here’s how to make sure that they do grow up to be atheists, it just might be wise to reverse this:
The following link and content is shared here with the permission of Sarah Salviander:
https://sarahsalviander.substack.com/p/top-twenty-tips-for-turning-christian
Top Twenty Tips for Turning Christian Children into Atheist Adults
1. When your children ask difficult questions—especially questions you don’t know how to answer—just tell them God works in mysterious ways and leave it at that.
2. Resist the urge to ever say “I don’t know, let’s look into that” to your children.
3. If your children persist in asking difficult questions, make them feel bad about not having enough faith.
4. If your children express doubts about Christianity, don’t discuss the reasons for their doubts. Just make them feel guilty about it.
5. Don’t encourage your children to pray for boring things like faith, wisdom, and obedience to God.
6. Avoid teaching or talking about science to your children.
7. Tell them science is a tool of the enemy.
8. Avoid talking about reasoned philosophical arguments for claims in the Bible.
9. Ignore Paul’s admonition to test everything. Teach your children that all philosophy is vain and deceptive.
10. Don’t make a regular family activity out of reading and discussing the Bible.
11. If you insist on studying the Bible as a family, make sure it’s as boring and confusing as possible.
12. Don’t encourage or teach your children how to study the Bible on their own.
13. Don’t discuss the basics of Christianity with your children. Assume they picked these up through osmosis.
14. Assume that a superficial understanding of the Bible is the only thing children need to be prepared for life in a world desperate to turn them away from their faith.
15. Assume that vacation Bible schools and mission trips alone will prepare your children for the relentless challenges to faith they’ll face in the world.
16. Don’t consult outside sources for help in preparing your children for life as adult Christians. Avoid apologetics like the plague.
17. Focus on God’s perfect love and forgiveness, but not on sin and God’s perfect justice. Make sure your children know Jesus was a really nice man who tolerated everyone.
18. Focus on sin and God’s justice, but not on God’s love and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. Make sure your children feel like they have to work to earn salvation and God’s love.
19. Make Christian life seem as onerous and joyless as possible to your children. If it doesn’t feel miserable and empty, they’re doing it wrong.
20. Demonstrate to your children that you don’t take the Bible too seriously. Model for your children the idea that having faith in God and following Jesus Christ means making no sacrifices, no difficult decisions, and no real efforts to maintain their faith.
Who is Sarah Salviander?
“Apologist. I came to Christian faith through my scientific work, and it is my passion to help other Christians reconcile their beliefs with modern science. Visit my 6DS Ministries website here. I am also working with the Defending Christianity apologetics group at Hill Country Bible Church in Austin. Visit the HCBC apologetics website here.”
Astrophysicist. I have a PhD in Astrophysics and worked for many years in academia as a scientific researcher. Though I am currently focused on ministry work, I am still active in astrophysical research. Visit my research page here.
Author. I am a published author of scientific papers, books, and short stories. Visit my author page here.”