Answering a Mom Who is Raising Her Child Without God

I was saddened recently at seeing a CNN article by a mom who blogs that she is raising her child without God. Her arguments for doing so, and my responses to those arguments are set forth below.

The mom argues that God is a bad parent and role model because he allows people to inflict harm on others.

If you say there is good, then there must be evil. If you say there is good and evil, then there must be a moral law beyond humanity (otherwise it’s just one person’s opinion against another person’s opinion). If you say there is a moral law beyond humanity, then there must be a moral lawgiver beyond humanity; but that is what you she is trying to deny and not allow.

You could also say that the shadows prove the sunlight. Shadows cannot exist without the sunlight. In fact, the shadows prove that the sunlight exists.

The problem with this argument is that it smuggles in a God centered worldview to argue against God. Its like sitting in God’s lap to slap his face.

The mom argues that God is not logical because he is a good, all-knowing, all-powerful God that allows evil to exist.

First, just because God does not intervene to stop evil, doesn’t mean that he caused the evil to happen. God’s objectives with human beings are in eternity and not limited by time and space. How do we know whether God has some good reason for allowing a bad thing to happen? If God wanted to control us, he would have made us robots that obey his will without choice.

Because God loves us, he gave us the freedom to choose him or reject him. Because he gave us free will, then we have the choice to do good or evil. God is responsible for the FACT of evil, but we are responsible for the ACTS of evil.

There is a great two minute video on this topic here:  Is God Good?

The mom argues that God is not fair because he answers some prayers with yes, some prayers with no and other prayers with not now. She also argues that God is not fair because he allows some babies to be born with birth defects.

If God was fair, we would all be eternally condemned because we have all sinned and rebelled against God. We live in a fallen world because of our rebellion against God. God saw the pain we were enduring because of our sin and chose to share our pain by sending Jesus to suffer with us. He paid the ultimate price for our sin by being crucified on a Roman cross. We now have the freedom to choose whether we will be saved because of what Jesus did. That is love, but it certainly isn’t fair.

The mom argues that God does not protect the innocent by intervening to protect children from evil acts.

If God intervened in every situation, would that be love? If God stopped every act of human freedom that was evil, would we be truly free? If God wanted to stop all evil, he could have made us robots, but that is not love. See my response to topic 2.

The mom argues that God is not present and we cannot see him.

We are not like God and he is not like us. We are time and body bound. God is eternal and omnipresent. If God was visible and like us so we could understand him, he would not be God.

The mom argues that God does not teach children to be good.

Each person has a conscience. God has written his law on their hearts. That is why people know intuitively that murder is wrong. If they act against their conscience enough, their consciences become seared and hardened to the things of God.

If God intervened in every situation to discipline children so they would better understand right and wrong, would that make us free? See my response to topic 2.

The mom argues that God teaches narcissism because “he has a plan” (whether he has a specific plan for each person is subject to debate, but I’ll grant the reasoning and make my defense).

If a mom loves a child, does that make a child narcissistic? If a mom has a plan for her child does that make the child narcissistic? I hope moms have plans for their children. Wouldn’t good moms want to plan to teach their children right from wrong, send their children to school, help their children succeed in life? Does the expression of a mom’s love make the child narcissistic?

He is God. We are not.

God is not like us. If he was like us, he would not be God. Just because we don’t understand God doesn’t mean that we should raise our children without God. If you raise your child without a God centered worldview, you risk reaping a child with an evil worldview.

People who have questions about God should make a diligent effort to understand Christianity before they react against it. It takes effort to know who God is. God’s choices are not always easy to understand. Unfortunately, too many people rely on flawed human reasoning to deny God without honestly investigating Christian doctrines. Theology is a complex topic that takes significant effort to comprehend.

I hope more Christians will become the salt and light that is needed in a world that is desperately seeking the solution God offers us in Christ Jesus.