Wondering about Atheist Programs for Children

[Morley]

Morley, there was nothing explicitly offensive in my OP. In order to find something offensive, a handful of posters had to read between the lines.

Point taken, Kevin. I'll stop reading between the lines. My apologies.

[KevinSim]

Ah. Thanks for answering my questions - although on question #2 I kind of wonder if you’ve been culturally cloistered away, so to speak.

That could be true. I took Latter-day Saint Seminary classes every school day for my last four years before I graduated from high school, and I took Institute of Religion classes every single quarter of the four years I spent at the University of Washington. I was also an active member of the singles ward at the UW.

Whatever the case may be, growing up in the Seattle area and then living in the Dallas metroplex should’ve provided a fairly cosmopolitan experience.

It did. And in many ways it transformed me. I wasn't the same person graduating from the UW in 1987 as I was when I started there in 1983.

On a side note, I grew up in Spokane and loved going to Seattle with family and then friends - I was into the 90’s grunge scene and saw PJ, Screaming Trees, Alice in Chains, and Soundgarden at the Moore and one other venue that I forget the name.

After my wife and I got married, she wanted to go to the Fair Grounds in Puyallup to listen to Huey Lewis and the News. I went with her and wasn't impressed. I endured it because I knew she was enjoying it. Two or three weeks later we came back to the same place to hear the Moody Blues. I loved it! I've been a big fan of the Moody Blues ever since.

[KevinSim]

That’s why I was curious if you had something more specific in mind with use of that word.

I didn't.

[KevinSim]

Morley, there was nothing explicitly offensive in my OP. In order to find something offensive, a handful of posters had to read between the lines.

Point taken, Kevin. I'll stop reading between the lines. My apologies.

Apology accepted.

[Marcus]

Really? Could you explain more about this reasoning? Specifically, what is your reasoning to support that “gay parents [don’t] have any ideological differences with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” but that “atheist parents [do] have ideological differences with that church” ?

Athiest parents by definition don't believe there exists a deity. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does believe there exists a deity. That looks to me like a pretty significant ideological difference. Marcus, are you of the opinion that that doesn't amount to an ideological difference between atheists and the LDS Church?

You mentioned above you were high-functioning autistic, so I’d like to communicate as straightforwardly as possible.

In your OP, you stated that your grandson, twice a month, attends “Activity Day for Boys, an hour of playing games in our church's cultural hall with a dozen boys roughly his age, facilitated by two adults who do a pretty good job of finding fun things for them to do.”

Your question was “Do atheists have programs like this for their young children?”

Your inquiry was answered by many. Your subsequent reasoning about gay and atheist parents, and the resulting question about “ ideological differences” seems like a topic for another thread, although I actually did already answer it in the context of activities for children when I said this:

We don’t label their foreheads, so I’m not sure how many atheists, agnostics, and/or believers we actually have, but i’m on the Library Board in my small town, and we have a full schedule of activities. We do way more just try to find fun things to do for an hour twice a month, though. Here’s a sample of non-religious activities we have….

That seems to wrap up the topic at hand, glad you received so much good information. Hopefully it can be helpful to you as you continue to seek good activities for your grandson.

[KevinSim]

That seems to wrap up the topic at hand, glad you received so much good information.

It does indeed seem to wrap it up, and I appreciate all the information posters gave me. If I ever leave the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (ha ha), I will have plenty of ideas for activities to keep my grandson occupied!

Hopefully it can be helpful to you as you continue to seek good activities for your grandson.

Thanks, Marcus!

[Marcus]

... If I ever leave the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (ha ha), I will have plenty of ideas for activities to keep my grandson occupied!

so it was just idle curiosity?

Hopefully it can be helpful to you as you continue to seek good activities for your grandson.

Apparently not. It's unfortunate you feel limited to only lds-organized activities, even for activities not religiously based. That type of isolation misses so much of the world, and I don't think I'm overstepping if i point out that our resident child development expert probably would not recommend that strategy for the well-being of the child.

[KevinSim]

... If I ever leave the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (ha ha), I will have plenty of ideas for activities to keep my grandson occupied!

so it was just idle curiosity?

Pretty much.

Hopefully it can be helpful to you as you continue to seek good activities for your grandson.

Apparently not. It's unfortunate you feel limited to only lds-organized activities, even for activities not religiously based. That type of isolation misses so much of the world, and I don't think I'm overstepping if i point out that our resident child development expert probably would not recommend that strategy for the well-being of the child.

That's the crazy thing. I wasn't limited to only lds-organized activities; I've taken my grandson to some of the mentioned library-sponsored activities myself! I don't know why I didn't think of that when I first asked my question.

[honorentheos]

I've taken my grandson to some of the mentioned library-sponsored activities myself! I don't know why I didn't think of that when I first asked my question.

You assumed atheist meant something closer to Mormon rather than what it actually means.

[Chap]

I've taken my grandson to some of the mentioned library-sponsored activities myself! I don't know why I didn't think of that when I first asked my question.

You assumed atheist meant something closer to Mormon rather than what it actually means.

That is a very acute observation. People whose lives are structured by their allegiance to a particular religion sometimes tend to say to themselves something like "Joe is a Catholic, Mary is a Hindu, Jane is a Baptist, Bill is an atheist, Kit is a Seventh-day Adventist", as if "atheist" was just another religious sect. It is reasonable to ask "What do Seventh-day Adventists do on Sundays?", because they belong to a religion which is known to have certain set observances for particular times and particular days. But the group designated by the name "atheists" have nothing in common apart from the fact that they do not have any belief in a deity.

To ask what atheists do with their kids on a Sunday is about as pointless as asking what bald men do with the kids on a Sunday. Apart from the purely negative answers such as "atheists probably don't take their kids to Church" or "bald men probably don't visit a barber", you simply cannot expect to get a useful answer.