Should an atheist family tell their dying ten year old son that there is a heaven?
If you are a hardcore atheist, the sort who debates on here and laughs at religious people, and your hypothetical son is dying from a horrible, incurable disease and will be dead by age 11, would you tell him that he will soon be gone forever? Or will you lie and tell him there is a heaven where you will meet him again?
Comfort is preferred
Side Score: 3
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Cold hard truth
Side Score: 7
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Ok seeing as how we dont know, there should never be the "cold hard truth" What the fuck? who the fuck doesnt want to comfort their dying child? He wouldnt know if there is no afterlife if it doesnt exist, hed just be dead, so you might as well comfort him, seriously, you dont tell your kid, "well your gonna die and thats that, sorry to break it to you because this is what we believe the truth is." we dont know, so giving him the "cold hard truth" could in fact be a terrible lie. COMFORT HIM DONT MAKE HIM FEAR THE REAPER. DONT FEAR THE REAPER Side: Comfort is preferred
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I see myself as a christian, so I would tell them about Heaven. But I am an agnostic theist .. I tend to switch from being atheistic and religious. But if my 10 year old was dying, I would tell them we would see each other someday. BEcause seriously what good is the other thing gonna do ? It is the truth ? How can you say that ? you have no idea whats after life - you can believe whatever you want but the truth you will never know till you're there. So seriously, having hope is only good. Especially in a situation like this. Side: Comfort is preferred
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I'm really not sure because I don't have a son. but I don't believe that the truth is "cold" or "hard." the truth is the truth. And a child who's raised Atheist can accept that death is unknown. Now, tell a Christian kid that Heaven is a lie and then you've got a situation. But tell an Atheist kid that Heaven doesn't exist and he'll just say "well, yeah, I already knew that." Now, if you never talked about death with your kid, well, now's the time. Tell him that this is the going to be one of the most impactful journies of his life. No one knows what happens when you die, and it's an individual effort. There's nothing to be scared of because this is something we all do. You can comfort him without lying. Side: Cold hard truth
Yeah. There is nothing inherently cold or hard about dying if one understands the difference between hanging out alone in a dark room with the lights off, and death. Imagining death is something can be scary, imagining it's nothing is not. But is a ten year old really an atheist? There is some primitive thing in us which has made up an afterlife as a defense mechanism, and I am not comfortable telling a ten year old anything at all about it, on their deathbed, if they have not asked specifically. Pyg has the correct answer. Leave them any opening they need. I believe the only job here is to reassure the child that no matter what, it is something that every person ever born is destined to go through, so they in that sense are not the least bit alone. Side: Cold hard truth
First of all what does the ten year old believe? Why do the parent's beliefs play such a big role here?? The parents should tell the "truth" which is the fact that they DO NOT KNOW what is going to happen. Which brings us to an interesting point. Atheists claim that they don't know until cold hard evidence is in place yet they say there is no heaven as if it's a "cold hard truth". So it's not at all fare to call that truth. (: Side: Cold hard truth
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You just said "hardcore atheist". So I would go with the truth. Lying to your dying child is the last thing I would want to do. Death isn't always so bad. Death is eternal and peaceful, like dusts caught in the light. And your child would probably end up in Hell if there was a place such as Heaven. Side: Cold hard truth
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