My concern is not just that it would be traumatic, but that it will be so traumatic that he’ll rationalize himself into a “belief in belief” situation. I had my crisis of faith when I was close to his age (14) and I wasn’t ready to accept something that would alienate me from my family yet, so I simply told myself that I believed, and tried not to think about the issue. (I suspect this is why most people don’t come out as atheists until after they’ve established separate identities from their parents and families.
A lot of people never escape from these traps. I think waiting somewhat—until he’s somewhat older and more mature—will make him more likely to come to the right conclusions in the end.
I had rather the opposite experience—don’t recall ever really believing (though I went to Catholic elementary school and semi-regularly attended a church), and was shocked in 8th grade to find that people were really serious about that stuff. Ended up spending a lot of time pointlessly arguing.
If I understand correctly, your primary concern is that he may rationalise himself into this “belief in belief” situation, and that this will ultimately delay or deter completely his transition into atheism. Why do you think this? Have there been any studies done to support this notion?
I doubt the likelihood of learning about rationality and the Singularity inducing a crisis of faith is greater than that of most public science books.
My concern is not just that it would be traumatic, but that it will be so traumatic that he’ll rationalize himself into a “belief in belief” situation. I had my crisis of faith when I was close to his age (14) and I wasn’t ready to accept something that would alienate me from my family yet, so I simply told myself that I believed, and tried not to think about the issue. (I suspect this is why most people don’t come out as atheists until after they’ve established separate identities from their parents and families.
A lot of people never escape from these traps. I think waiting somewhat—until he’s somewhat older and more mature—will make him more likely to come to the right conclusions in the end.
I had rather the opposite experience—don’t recall ever really believing (though I went to Catholic elementary school and semi-regularly attended a church), and was shocked in 8th grade to find that people were really serious about that stuff. Ended up spending a lot of time pointlessly arguing.
If I understand correctly, your primary concern is that he may rationalise himself into this “belief in belief” situation, and that this will ultimately delay or deter completely his transition into atheism. Why do you think this? Have there been any studies done to support this notion?
I doubt the likelihood of learning about rationality and the Singularity inducing a crisis of faith is greater than that of most public science books.