Is it "brainwashing" or whatever you raise your kid in an anti-theist environment?

I don't think so. To me it is the same as raising your child to be a vegetarian. You teach what you know. It will be up to your child as they get older to decide if that is their path or not.

If you really "nail this in at every opportunity," I don't know if I'd call it brainwashing but it would seem to be over-zealous. (Indoctrination seems to be to be a more accurate word than brainwahing here.) However, if you remove that phrase and just talk about raising a child with a strong notion that there is no god, I see nothing negative at all about that. Parents want to give their children correct information. When their child asks how the earth was made, it would make no sense for them to explain the scientific explanation and then say "however, some people believe that a divine power created the earth from nothing in the span of a day." There would be so many ideas running around the child's head as to be totally confused. You just give the child the information you think is correct...and this information is going to vary depending upon faith and beliefs.

Every bit of cultural information a child receives while growing up is technically 'brainwashing'.

There are no logical, rational reasons for many of our cultural conventions. It's just the way we do things, and that's what our kids are taught. Everything from potty-training to eating dinner at the kitchen table at 6 pm to brushing your teeth before bedtime is inculcated indoctrination - there is no questioning or resisting, it must be taught if the child is to be a functional part of human society.

The same thing goes for any kind of religious belief. A child isn't born believing in the Bible, it must be taught. Likewise, if a child is inculcated with the notion that there is no god, and no higher power, it would also be a form of indoctrination.

There's nothing inherently wrong or 'abusive' about indoctrinating a child with the idea that the Bible is true, or that gods don't exist. It's the way we teach all skills and cultural to our kids. That choice should always remain that of the parents.

When a child is old enough, they can examine the underlying reasons, evidence, and values inculcated by their early learnings, and decide whether or not they are still valid.

The vast majority of them, even when Mom is no longer nagging and reminding them, continue to brush their teeth every night. Partly out of habit, but mostly because they come to recognize the value of the practise.

It would be interesting to see how many kids indoctrinated as Christians become atheist compared with how many kids indoctrinated as atheists become Christians, and compare those numbers with kids who received either no religious education, or a broad range of religious services.

Yeah, I would say it is to some degree... But every parent raises their kids with what they believe to be true. At some point, every kid gets to decide things for themselves, no matter what. So with any "brainwashing" that goes down, any free moral agent will have the choice to choose the way of brainwashing later. Right? They'll have secondhand faith either way, and then they'll have the opportunity to accept as their own, or reject it and find their own way.

I think so yes. It goes both ways. Now if the parent just says "I personally don't believe a god exists" and then explores what ever option thier child MIGHT be interested in, then no. But telling kids what is and is not true on something that anyone with a brain can say CAN NOT be proven one way or the other is just as bad.

Food for thought Stiggo...I can't tell if you are fundamentalist Christian or Atheist. So sure of "truths" its hard to tell

Theword "brainwash" has a negative meaning for you, I suppose. Even if you don't teach a child about God, even if you shut everything about religious things, sounds, paintings, etc, your child will look into his or heart and will long for something that is beyond him or experience emptiness later on which will lead him or her to connect to something spiritual because God has infused, instilled in all of us His amazing grace. However, once your child will discover it later in life, he or she will not be forced by anybody to accept Him or not, not even you..your child has given freedom by God, that's how God loves your child. To teach someone denies God will have a big responsibility to ansnwer before God later.. Don't be afraid to teach your child about God, nobody dies after learning that there is a loving God. Athiest teachings are not better than Christian teachings. Your child will grow like a tree without roots!

probably.

but we don't do that. we say, "look at the evidence and decide for yourself." we may say,"this is why i don't believe in christianity..." and then give support, but we certainly don't tell our kids that it is a matter of faith because we have no proof, nor do we scare them with the threat of eternal helfire for disagreeing or tell them they are "sick" with sin and need a savior or make them congregate and devote an hour or more a week to pure indoctrination

so in that sense, no, it is not the same as when christians brainwash their kids. they have a system that has been refined over and over for the last 2,000 years that is meant to create an obsession with god and pleasing him.

we just use common sense so it's not really necessary to drill it in there.

Yes, it absolutely is. Every bit as much as is programming the child with some kind of religious dogma.

I'm a strong advocate of objectively educating children about the diversity of belief and non-belief and allowing them to make up their own minds as young adults. I had the advantage of that kind of upbringing and I'm passing that gift along to my son.

Yes, it is. It pisses me off when some atheists whine about Christians brainwashing their children (which they do IMHO), and then constantly try to make it clear that there is no god to their own children, thinking it's just telling them the truth. I just tell my kids there are people who believe, I choose not to, and it will be their choice in the future, if they choose to believe, it's fine with me. Here's a star for a well asked question.

I was raised in a home where it just wasn't mentioned./ We had more important things to do with our lives than waste them discussing imaginary creatures. I did the same with my daughter, and she is a well adjusted, normal, intelligent atheist.

I did not "nail" anything in I simply never mentioned it, and she never asked. That is the way it is. None of us are born with any knowledge of god(s). It is a learned behavior, one I chose not to learn at the expense of chucking out everything else.