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 A CNN iReport essay on raising kids without God draws record-breaking number of comments.
January 18th, 2013
06:32 PM ET
Godless mom strikes a chord with parentsBy Daphne Sashin, CNN Deborah Mitchell remembers the time, when her boys were younger, and another mom asked her about her religious beliefs. Mitchell was raised Catholic but moved away from religion in her early 20s. She told the other mother that she didn’t go to church and didn’t even really believe in God. Then, she says, the recruiting started. “She used to call my house and tell me she was praying for me. She’d leave me messages and leave cards in my mailbox with scripture,” Mitchell says. “I do realize that she meant well, but at the same time, I know my views were seen as wrong. I needed to be ‘saved.’” Mitchell, a mother of two teenagers in Texas who feels “immersed in Christianity,” started a blog about raising her children without religion because she felt frustrated and marginalized. She didn’t want to feel so alone, she says. This week, she gained a whole new audience and the reassurance that she's not alone. Her essay on CNN iReport, “Why I Raise My Children Without God,” drew 650,000 page views, the second highest for an iReport, and the most comments of any submission on the citizen journalism platform. It starts:
Mitchell posted the essay detailing her seven reasons for raising her children without God on CNN iReport because she felt there wasn’t anyone else speaking for women or moms like her. As she sees it, children should learn to do the right things because they will feel better about themselves, not because God is watching. She asks questions like: If there was a good, all-knowing, all-powerful God, why would he allow murders, child abuse and torture? Lots of people disagreed with her. Tons. They flagged her iReport as inappropriate and criticized CNN for linking to her essay on the CNN.com homepage. But there were plenty of others who wrote thoughtful rebuttals, respectfully disagreeing with Mitchell while not foisting their own beliefs on her. Take, for instance, a Methodist dad, who said faith can be hard to nail down, but “not to avail ourselves of the power of something we don't completely understand is silly.” Others said Mitchell presented a simplistic view of religion. “Presentations such as these seem to ignore a substantial percentage of believers - well-educated, compassionate, liberal folk, Christian and non-Christian alike - who, I feel, are able to worship without being blind to the realities of the world, or without lying to their children about their understanding of these complexities,” wrote commenter RMooradian. “I'll be raising my children with God, but I understand those who cannot!” But Mitchell’s essay also struck a chord with hundreds of like-minded parents raising children in a world where lack of belief puts them in the minority, often even in their own family. “Thank you for writing this. I agree with everything you say, but I’m not brave enough to tell everyone I know this is how I feel,” a woman who called herself an “agnostic mommy of two in Alabama” posted in the comments. “Thank you for your bravery and letting me know I’m not alone.” It’s a growing group. One in five Americans is not affiliated with any religion, and that number has grown by 25% in the past five years, according to a survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. Of that group, 88% said they were not looking for religion, although 68% of the unaffiliated said they believe in God. Brittany Branyon, an American graduate student and substitute teacher living in Germany, was also compelled to express her thanks to Mitchell. Branyon was raised Southern Baptist in Georgia and Alabama. In high school, when she began to question the theory of creation and befriended gay and lesbian students, she says her mother tried to perform an exorcism. “She opened all the windows and doors in the house, brought me to the door, held my shoulders and shook me while screaming, ‘Satan, get out of this child!’, ‘Satan, leave this child alone!’.” After moving away from the South, she and her husband “became more comfortable in our secular ways,” but still take criticism from family members. They are now expecting their first child. “Though we are elated to welcome our child into the world, we can’t help but dread the religious uproar that is to come from our families,” she wrote in an e-mail. Such an uproar is familiar to Carol Phillips, a stay-at-home mother in northern Virginia. When she gave birth to her first child, she said her family was shocked that the baby wasn’t baptized. She said her mother-in-law cried and told her the little girl’s soul would not go to heaven. Then there are the comments from strangers. Last year, Phillips said she and her daughter were at a birthday party when a tornado warning sounded. “We were all in the basement keeping safe. A little girl was saying baby Jesus will keep us safe. My daughter asked who Jesus was. The rest of the time was spent hearing ‘I'll pray for you sweetie, we can take you to church with us if you want,’” Phillips told CNN. Commenting on Mitchell’s iReport, Phillips said, “To live out loud and to speak freely about my beliefs brings many clucking tongues. I would think it’s easier to come out as gay than atheist.” Mitchell said she spent years studying the history of religion and does believe it has “an important place in our community.” She has told her children that she’ll be fine if they decide to join a church when they are older. She ended her essay:
After her post ran on CNN, Mitchell said she was encouraged by the number of people who agreed with her, or who disagreed but wanted to have a respectful discussion. “I’m not saying that everybody should think how I do. I’m saying the people that do should have a place in our society and have acceptance and respect,” she said. “I just want to have children grow up and be able to not be afraid to say ‘I don’t believe that,’ or ‘I’m not part of that.’” soundoff (15,081 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 Next »
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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I hated Christianity for all the obvious offenses that we all understand. Then as i was reading the bible I had about five dreams about scripture, the night before I read it. not just once. it was a spiritual reality of the presence of the Holy Spirit, not based on my righteousness, but simply the mercy of God. and the TRUTH includes, and I am one hundred percent sure, the doctrine of sin and redemption through the blood of Jesus Christ. physical arguments over evolution are beside the point.. Christ is the creator of every soul, and only you can reject and condemn this reality. He has allready atoned for your sin, yet He is despised and rejected by men. read Isaiah 53 a prophetic marvel portraying the Lamb of God written in 700 BC.
The bible is a story of people with faith who repeatedly screwed up. But God has commanded the light to shine in our hearts in the face of Jesus. I pray for you all to ask God for the truth.. This is His will, that we may know Him, our creator and redeemer. You are not condemned, you are justified through the blood of Christ. for the life of the flesh in the blood, and I have given it upon the altar to atone for your souls (1400 BC) Lev 17:11. The apostle John clearly states, In the beginning was the word , and the word was God...all things were made through Him Jesus Christ , is the Word of God, and the creator of the world and all souls. and faith is a gift to those who ask for it. I love Jesus, and i live on His Word. He is the bread of life. Jehovah Shammah -The Lord is There!
The Holy Spirit is a sanctifying spirit that bears the truth of God's word in our hearts. He is God, and He sustains His on ministry of the gospel truth. A divine power, resurrected and eternal.
Lucky for us God r aped a virgin and gave birth to himself or we would all be doomed.
and yet the bible is a known fraud. We know your god and jeebus never existed. Can you begin to see the frailty of humans and "eyewitness testimony" when they can be as deluded as you?
You were hallucinating. Get over it.
take a lie brand it as Truth, and drill that into the mark as hard and often as you can. Point out who their enemies should be, who they should chastise, who they should marginalize.... back all this up with eternal damnation....keep people in fear, but call it Love..
Con job pure and simple.
The easiest way to explain religion to a child is by opening a dictionary to the word "hypocrisy", then reading it to them.
Must be nice to live in such a simplistic world!
You mean realistic world. Monotheistic religion is full of hypocrisy, bigotry, and hate. The two worst perpetrators of these traits are Christianity and Islam. Both claim their god is the only true god, both claim their prophet is the superior prophet, both advocate treating women and gays as lesser beings, and both have holy books that are full of violence against non-believers.
There is nothing "loving" about either of those religions. The worst part is that most of their followers live life with blinders on, incapable of seeing the broader world outside of their closed-minded religion beliefs. That is why kids should not be subjected to religion. Poisoning children's minds with religious dogma when they do not have a choice is child abuse.
life is simpler when one is honest
Is that why you don't like to be religious, because you know you'd just add to the hypocrisy? LOL! Atheists think they're so much better. I've witnessed atheist organizations tear themselves to pieces because of hypocrisy. It's human and has nothing to do with religion or lack thereof.
So she wants to be respected whiIe at the same time belittling those she's demanding respect from, and also misrepresenting their beliefs. What a hypocritical and deceitful POS this woman is.
It is clear you don't know how to read...or, at least, read objectively.
Where did she mis-represent others beliefs? Where did she belittle anyone?
always the boldest liars and most crazy nutters who use "truth" in their moniker
She's not belittling people; she's disagreeing with ideas. If we aren't allowed to disagree with an idea, and to state out reasons, we are all in trouble.
Next time actually try reading the article and critically considering its contents before you post. That way you save yourself the embarrassment.
This story has been on CNN for two weeks. Can you really find nothing else to report about?
This article was first posted on these Belief blogs on:
January 15th, 2013
08:28 AM ET
iReport: Why I Raise My Children Without God
I count 5 days - not 2 weeks...
@Check
Believers readily abandon rational thought. Are you surprised they are incapable of basic math?
p.s. The mom's iReport first appeared on Jan. 14... so that's 6 days at the most, anywhere on CNN.
LinCA, I'm athiest... I'm just tired of seeing the same story on the featured section.
Also, didn't bother to check the exact number of days, just noticed it last week, and its still featured this week. 5 Days is still an inordinate amount of time to feature an insignificant story. Gasp! athiests exist!?!? get over it
ROTFL! That's arheists for ya. Attacking their own because they assume too much!
I bet LinCa feels dumb for falsely accusing john of being a believer. Do you always make such unfounded, sweeping, and incorrect statement Lin?
Yes, LinCA, yep.
And John, the original iReport received over 680,000 views and over 8,500 comments. This particular one has 63 pages of them already... and there was another one (that I don't feel like looking up) that had similar response. People are interested in it.
Check, there's a difference in interest and significance. Case in point: the amount of people who watch Honey Boo Boo or Jersey Shore
Ha and of course Lin doesn't respond. Typical atheist, runs away when their baseless as.sumptions are proven wrong.
This is a "blog," John. You that's why this story runs for more than one day.
Let's examine the facts, shall we?
– Accepting outrageous claims on faith alone, and rejecting evidence to the contrary, makes believers irrational.
– John makes a ridiculous statement and appears to be not interested in facts, which fits believers.
– John complains about a story that highlights an atheist, which also fits believers.
This makes the likelihood that the OP is a believer pretty high.
The second post by a poster with the handle John doesn't really do anything to change that as anybody can post under any handle. Even if it was a post by the OP, it could still be an attempt to deflect criticism. The statement stands.
Religion is a very personal matter. While I believe there is an infinite being we call God, I do not believe in the dogma of the various religions. I cannot believe baptism or lack thereof is the key to the gates of heaven, Nor are any of the other rituals. If God is truly benevolent then he will judge based on deeds, how we have lived our lives, not on a meaningless ritual. Too many evils have been and continue to be committed in the name of religion (any and all religions) for me to accept the rigid self-serving doctrine of the shamans. I am in my late 70's and still seek the gift of his truth.
If this is so, then we are all in trouble. None of us is perfect; we have all done wrong. God, at least in most views of Him, is perfect. Thus, if He judges us according to our deeds, we all fail.
The progressives declared LBJ's Great Society a success. The more gang bangers, the more cops. The more cops, the more pUblic Servants. The more on the payroll, the more consuming. The more consumers the bigger the economy. The bigger the gubmint the more security. The "wegod" sayz it's all for one and one for one. Hoooray for macaroni.
I see your "lol??", and raise you a "w t f??"
Religion is a very personal matter. While I believe there is an infinite being we call God, I do not believe in the dogma of the m various religions. I cannot believe baptism or lack thereof is the key to the gates of heaven, Nor are any of the other rituals. If God is truly benevolent then he will judge based on deeds, how we have lived our lives, not on a meaningless ritual. Too many evils have been and continue to be committed in the name of religion (any and all religions) for me to accept the rigid self-serving doctrine of the shamans. I am in my late 70's and still seek the gift of his truth.
I don't get it. Surely we must all receive some sort of satisfaction out of all this ranting. This society is ongoingly being built to promote equality, acceptance, and security. Get over it! When individuals make the choice to raise their children without a God, they should be treated with at least indifference, if not celebration for the freedom of expression. Why should anybody get offended over something that has no direct effect on their lifestyle? When I say that I believe in God; That is all that it should be. MY BELIEF! If you so happen to believe in my God as well, great you can go and do that. When did my belief become your belief. As far as I am concerned, we are a society full of individuals. In that light, we should all make an effort to protect freedom of expression. Let it be understood that my way of life should not limit yours and vice versa. As in the case of a parent choosing a religious or not upbringing for their child; That has absolutely no limiting effect on me. Can anybody on this page tell me exactly why they would be offended that someone would choose to raise their child with or without God? If you can, I would love to have a polite discourse with you as I suggest reasons why you shouldn't be so offended!
GO EFF YOURSELF!!!
Thank you for showing your weakness by taking my name and spreading slander.
Prove that I stole your handle. Making extraordinary claims requires extraordinary evidence.
@godoflunticscreation aka Money man. You failed to prove that atheists are spreading"vitriol" so now you use underhanded techniques to make it seem so. This must be how your mind works to accept the false religion you are a part of. It's very interesting to watch from a psychological perspective.
You just proved it yourself. LOLOL The level of stupidity is astounding.
I don't see any proof....guess you don't have any and resort to underhanded attacks.
It's also quite comical that you accuse me being the same person as money man. Try again buddy.
I am glad that you prove yourself to be wrong. Please continue destroying everything you proclaim is true.
The original article had all the legitimacy of a blind person writing about the use of colors. I was surprised that anyone would pick it up and publish it. I've never experienced a Bruce Springsteen concert – can I write an article about how I hate them and that they don't even exist and will you publish it?
(By the way, attending a Boss concert is on my bucket list, so don't get excited that way. Just stay on the intent.)
ahh.. she doesnt understand the dogma eh? ...Infantile understanding of the Gospel – thats what the clergy spouts when they cant counter an argument well thats countered by a quick glance at our History.... thousands of years to get it right..to enlighten us...and still we are waiting for Religions to act as they advertise.
No, she has you guys dialed in pretty well.
@WilStuart
You said, "I've never experienced a Bruce Springsteen concert – can I write an article about how I hate them and that they don't even exist and will you publish it?"
Bruce Springsteen actually exists.
There is tangible evidence of Bruce Springsteen concerts.
What gets me are the hundreds of rituals performed each week...endless over and over and over...same dusty old Hymns...
same 'lessons' over and over and over....and the ultimate message? you are garbage, you are an utter piece crap (you where born this way) and only through Me (via a cash payment to my middlemen) can you come live with my abusive, sadistic Awesomeness...forever!
Take a look at the opulent churches the crazy clothes...one of even their candle holders would run a clinic the third world for a month.... you can find more truth in The Weekly World News picked up at the tabloid counter than you can the Bible.
You've just lied about everything and tried to act like it's Christian doctrine. Guess atheists can't be moral after all.
lol best you have?
I lied...lol... about what? be specific.
I don't care to debate someone who willingly lies. Thanks for playin.
then why did you say anything to begin with? ..... step up or be gone clown.....
Some Christians claim that forgiveness is impossible without grace due to the intrinsic evil within humankind. This "wow" person should probably study the various sects of Christianity before calling out someone else on not knowing their stuff!
People go to the same churches for many years, sing hymns, and hear messages - without hearing once that they must make a cash payment to a middleman to live in God's 'sadistic awesomeness' (whatever that is).
so your church doesnt mention ti.thing at all? wow unique church. no tray passed around? no firery sermons that only the Ti.thed will be saved.
and yes If God created this, then He is a sadist.... he has no problem ordering his people to slaughter whole peoples (see Canaanites among others). Is focused on silly and petty details...and the punishments for violating these rules can be quite severe. You havent given any thought whatsoever as to what your God would actually be like have you?.....
Omniscience, Opnipotent, Onmipresent...the religious use these words to discribe Him but based on what ive seen very few grasp the concept. Your God, If the bible is any gage, is the last enti ty you would want to even meet, let alone spend an eternity with...
A wise person once saie " I would rather live my life like there was a God, and die and find out there wasn't one, than to live my life like there was no God, and die and find out there was one. Once you truly accept God into your heart, you will have no doubts.
That is an illogical statement. Believing just to avoid the mad-made up threat of eternal punishment is among the most rediculous reasons to believe I have ever heard.
Put the book down, and join us in reality.
Pascal's wager.
You believe them wise only because you agree with them. That is the height of foolishness.
Doesn't it bother you at all that a non believer can live a righteous, and exceptionally moral life, be compassionate, kind, and giving, yet your god will still burn him for ALL eternity simply for questioning his existence. Christians tend to have a warped sense of what "morality" really means.
if they were truly a wise person, they would know how flawed that argument is
Once you believe in a god, you'll believe in a god. That's just a tautology.
Sounds like Pascal's Wager.
I'm sorry if you don't believe in God. But I assure you, He believes in you.
Allah sends his regards.
You don't even know there is a god, let alone calling him male. If he is male, why aren't you also worshipping the female god. Oh wait, they're both imaginary...
So does the Goddess. What? You don't believe in her? Well, I am sorry about that, but rest assured she believes in you.
Your god not only believes in me, he can't wait to get his mitts on me so he can torture me for all eternity! And this horrible punishment will be for finite deeds. Your god is incredibly petty and sadistic if you ask me.
And you know this how? What proof do you have?
So she wants to be respected while at the same time belittling those she's demanding respect from, and also misrepresenting their beliefs. What a hypocritical and deceitful woman!
http://youtu.be/sHiGsL4bzmM
How's old Chrissy boy doin these days? Oh wait.....
Just fine. Why do you ask?
I knew it! He's alive! He is mankind's savior. Listen to the teachings of Christopher. He will save you from the error of your ways. Strive to be like him in all things. Suffer and die as he did to be cleansed. All hail Christopher, for from the atheists has come enlightenment and salvation for all mankind.
Christopherian? Show me where I implied that. It seems that you are a fanatic and must apply your fanaticism to everything around you. I hope one day you realize how sad and pitiful you are. Then maybe you begin on the right path.
For a nation of people who criticize Muslims and the Middle East as a whole because they value religion in every facet of their lives, the United States is insanely hypocritical with their indoctrination of religion in their children just as Muslims do. Theist Americans are the exact same as Muslims, only they have different prophets and they call their god something different than Allah.
Children are born atheists. They are a blank slate until their parents try to force their religious views on them. It should be left up to each individual what religion they choose or do not choose. Enough of the indoctrination of children in beliefs they should be selecting for themselves when they are old enough and intelligent enough to understand what religion is. Forcing kids to go to church or believe in some prophet unless they want to go to hell is nothing short of child abuse. Let kids be kids...teach them right from wrong (which does not require religion)...and stop forcing your personal beliefs down the throats of innocent children.
You're a sicko. You won't even let the kids run at recess.
You sound angry 🙁
Since when do you progressives own a child? When it's in the womb?
Gaven, notice the attacks. No evidence, no theories, not even an acknowledgement of what you said. They know they are wrong and resort to weak attacks.
There is nothing angry in my opinion whatsoever. It is common sense to let the kids be kids and leave religion to the adults. Religion is an adult topic. Forcing kids into a system of beliefs without letting them choose the system they want to follow, when they are old enough to make that rational decision, is not healthy. That is called indoctrination, something Americans often rail against when they see Muslims kids taking on their parents' religious beliefs and action from the moment they learn how to speak. Americans are hypocrites when it comes to such things and it is obvious from the responses and attacks on the woman who raises her children without god that many believe those who do not raise their children with religion are nothing short of a piece of c r a p.
The world does not need its children indoctrinated in adult beliefs. It needs to simply teach children right from wrong. Morals do not need religion to exist. They existed far before Christianity/Islam and they will exist long after Christianity/Islam wane from practice.
Typical empty-headed responses from the god crew to Gavin's post.
I'll give $1,000 to the most detailed, researched, and analytical response to this question:
Why does the belief blog attract some of the most hateful, vitriolic comments? The vast majority of whom are atheist.
Ready, set, go!
You ask this question but bear the burden of proof when you claim that majority are atheist. Your question cannot be answered until you provide this proof.
Are you slow? Look at the comments and then look at the % which are clearly from atheists. It's simple math, I feel sorry for you if you're incapable of figuring this out yourself.
Funny.. I always found aethists to be quite fond of logical discussion. It's usually the religions nuts that spout hate and intolerace.
It's not so much that I don't believe in God. I don't believe the money grabbing demigods on television. "Friends, I want you to lay hands on your television and say "I believe"", the send $100 to ....
Money Man, you don't sound very educated at all. You said Belief blogs, as in the entire belief blog section of CNN, yet you tell me to judge them all based on this one? Yet you still dodge my question. Im not surprised that you do this because deep down you know that you are being seen through as the simple minded and scared person you are and to answer my questions would only bring it into your conscious mind. So when will your provide the proof necessary to answer your loaded, false question.
?
Another parent taking the wimp way out – easier to believe in nothing and ignore the wonders of God's love
easier to believe what men wrote in a book than to try to find answers yourself.
Easier to believe that after death you will go to a disney land in the sky.
Mama,
Why you beat me? I just wanna have some fun yet you verbally and physically do mean things. Why mama?
I think it is easy to see why some people are up in arms over this article... in an article where she descirbes why she wants her own beliefs respected, she insulted and misrepresented the beliefs of others!
It is entirely possible to present your experience and beliefs without dismissing the beliefs of those you disagree with as a fairytale.
Yet there is no reason to show people with ludicrous beliefs respect.
Most christians would scoff and mock an adult that believed in Santa Claus. We find your own belief in Jesus just as silly and fun to pick on.
Seyedibar: I'm not a Christian LOL.
Everyone, regardless of beliefs, deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.
Speaking to people with respect or disrespect reflects more about the person speaking than those they are speaking to.
If someone is mentally retarded and I call them 'retarded' – the factuality of my statement would not excuse the inhumanity of it.
Telling people not to spout religious rhetoric while spewing athiest rhetoric is hypocritical.
Whining because she thinks her situation is unique because she is an athiest is short-sighted. We all run into people who want to change our beliefs. None of us are free from *that*.
We have no right to be *shielded* from other's opinions; though we are free to make up our own minds. We have no right to be protected from invitations to join people for worship, but we have the right to say No.
Any American can *chose* not to participate or believe in any particular or all religions or beliefs; we *cannot* tell others how they are allowed to express their own religious beliefs- which is what many here seem to be seeking.
We're also saving our kids from religion and the rabidly religious.
Santa Claus, on the other hand... we believe in Santa.