I really appreciate this explanation and have been striving to do the same with my child. I was raised in a fairly standard religious (protestant) household and actually had a period when I really bought into all of it. But when I reached my teenage years and the things I was reading and being told started to make me ask questions, that the people who seemed to have all of the answers would essentially clam up or double down on the dogma they were throwing out.

Being an atheist in America is a bit of a challenge as an adult, but I have learned to navigate the social situations that would potentially “out-me” to folks who are religious. As a result, I have had many conversations with my kid to prepare them for these kinds of conversations since being an atheist is apparently almost as bad as being a democrat (and a socialist!) in the part of the US I live in. I would like to think that my child will steer clear of religion at this point and that he will remain a free-thinker but I suppose only time will tell.

The loss of belief for me started with a loss of faith in the people I was always taught to trust. I never want my child to ever look at me that way when they realize everything they were led to believe is made up.

You beat me to it. I loved my Dreamcast. It had so many great innovations like the VMUs, those chonky controllers, high density discs, and some really excellent games. If you picked up a VGA box it could also display on a PC monitor and you got super crisp video output…I played a ton of Phantasy Star Online and this was the ideal setup. Sadly, Sega screwed up their timing on the release since the PS2 was around the same time, if I recall correctly, and I think that is what ended their contention as a serious console maker since I am sure they lost bucket-loads of money.

I finally unloaded my DC about 6 years ago during a yard sale to a console collector…ahh well, good times.

So I started reading this post since I figured it would have some interesting comments but its becoming apparent that there is some sort of ulterior motive here for the OP. I suppose it should have been obvious this was an exercise in bad faith since their initial comment includes, “…for no logical reason at all”. But congratulations on getting some decent engagement on this platform.

OPs basic question is being answered with valid points and their responses indicate that they are just reacting defensively and trying to explain away or excuse all of the horrific things the Catholic Church is provably responsible for. As for me, I wouldn’t trust my kid with any religious organization because I think they all have a pedo problem and can’t keep their hands off of children; their minds or their bodies…just look who keeps getting convicted of these crimes and I can assure you it isn’t the atheists people should be worried about.