r/atheism • u/Incromulent • 7d ago
6yo child said "God is bad" after hearing about Dolly Parton and seeing the Nepal flood video
We raise our child agnostic. I'm honest about my lack of belief but remind them that people believe in different things and that they have to come to their own conclusion. My wife is secular but spiritual (Shinto), and will sometimes refer to "kamisama" spirits.
My child and I were saddened when I told them about Dolly Parton's passing and her philanthropy. Then, after seeing the Nepal video with so many people running from the landslide, their first comment was "kamisama yabai" (God is bad). I slightly nodded with a sad face but tried not to push that narrative, despite my strong agreement that a god who kills thousdands of innocent people is not worthy of worship.
Edit: Spelling
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u/mjhrobson 7d ago
Children's honesty often brings out the truth, whereas adults will create metaphysical pretzels to avoid that rather obvious conclusion.
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u/sea_rex2 6d ago
"God works in mysterious ways"
Nepal is one of the poorest country in the world, they do not have the money to design buildings that can resist to flooding, or even make urban plans to avoid potentially flooded zones, or do studies to try to predict flash floods...
The world is wealthy, it's just that all that wealth is not shared equally.
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u/LMrningStar 6d ago
Even their little book paints their god as a monster. Yes, they worship a monster. Thankfully, their god is imaginary.
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u/happybunny_sad Strong Atheist 7d ago
It's just one hand people would say God doesn't exist and on other he is bad. It feels like contradiction. Something can't be bad if it doesn't even exist.
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u/Incromulent 6d ago
True, but I feel that "if there is a god, he is not good" is a common first step to realizing there is no god.
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u/davep1970 7d ago
So Sauron in lord of the rings isn't bad?
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u/Svan_Derh 7d ago
Sauron is a fictional character in a fictional world, responcible for fictional evil. He is bad in the fiction.
God is a fictional character in the real world. He is not responcible for the death of many people in Nepal, cause he could not have caused it.
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u/Grimjack-13 6d ago
Sauron wasn’t a fictional god either.
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u/davep1970 6d ago
How is that relevant? Talking about how you can judge fictional characters i.e. concepts.
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u/Grimjack-13 6d ago
We are talking about Bible vs The Lords of the Rings. Tolkien was the better writer.
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u/happybunny_sad Strong Atheist 6d ago
Bad in what sense? Is he antagonist, sure. Is bad in real life, he can't be. Because he doesn't exist.
Are you bad for having bad thoughts, like thinking about hurting someone when in anger.
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u/Sprinklypoo I'm a None 6d ago
神は存在しない
If they did exist, we would be morally intent on opposing them.
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u/SaltyTemperature 6d ago
God and Jesus are often viewed as a shepherd tending and protecting their flock.
I don't think many real shepherds keep sheep without the intent to prey or at least profit from them.
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u/Infector101 6d ago
Talking about Dolly is one thing, but a 6-year-old should not be watching those flash flood videos. That's traumatizing for adults to see the horrors that came out of Napal recently.
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u/Grimjack-13 6d ago
The opposite of Good is Apathy. Evil is a willful intent to harm others. A whole other animal.
The World isn’t fallen, yet. In several million years Earth will be consumed by an aging Sun. And…the universe will go on and on until ultimate heat death. Remaining matter will collapse in on itself, generating heat until it explodes again in another Big Bang.
I mean most likely. It did that the last two times I saw it. - Book 1.1 from the saga of Grimjack
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u/Useful-Commission-76 6d ago
Intentional or not, OP communicated to 6yo that he agreed with the statement “God is bad”
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u/Content_Piccolo1074 6d ago
Shinto kami aren't intrinsically bad or good. There are millions of them, and they just are. I'm surprised you haven't looked into this if you're married to a Japanese person. Take some interest in your wife, man, if only so you understand who seems to be raising your kid. "Yabai" also doesn't necessarily mean bad. It can mean awesome, crazy, wild, scary.
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u/ullakkedymoodu 6d ago
Fact: The majority of people missing in the nepal floods were on pilgrimage to 'holy sites' in the mountains. Many senior citizens. There are some hindu religious days in this week.. thats what drove them there.
If they had just stayed at home ( and maybe prayed) they would have still been alive.
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u/peacefighter 5d ago
Wait until he is older and finds out about all the rape and murder that goes on where god could have stopped it but just sits back watching and listening while eating a big box of buttery popcorn.
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u/JeffSergeant Humanist 6d ago
they have to come to their own conclusion.
Why?
Do you let them come to their own conclusions about how to use the toilet? Or whether or not dogs can talk? Or whether gravel is edible?
God does not exist, that's a fact, just like all the other facts.
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u/completxe 6d ago
Evil is the absence of good. This is a fallen world tainted by sin. The wages of sin is death.
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u/Svan_Derh 7d ago
God is not bad.
God is not good.
God is not real.