No mention of how rude it is for the person claiming you're going to hell. How insulting and dehumanizing and, yes, bigoted. Nope.

What's far far worse is for you to say "I don't believe that."

Give me a fucking break.

Kids can certainly relate to that one. Whether or not the kids end up believing religious rubbish later on, they'll retain the notion that people who damn their neighbors are just mean people who should be avoided.

I have absolutely no hesitation telling a child that some person who thinks s/he has the right or the wisdom to determine who will be tortured for eternity is just plain mean because that's what those people are. I can prove it with their own book, too.

The kids know this already. And as for the ex-wife and her family ... hateful comes to mind as an apt descriptor.

I am happy that no one told these kinds of devastating lies to my children.

My mother rips one off once in a while like...."Well, if you believe in nothing, maybe you should GET nothing, for Christmas"

My daughters just laughed it off.

One more thing that is utter bullshit about this. There are plenty of christians who think hell is nonsense and completely incompatible with a loving god. As for atheists, even the "partial" atheists, whatever the flying fuck that means, all think hell is about as realistic a concept as Never Land.

Son and daughter in law pretty much agnostic, but kids pick up religion everywhere these days because it's so repressed dontcha know. Less people say they're religious but religion, especially one, is in your face every minute with everyone praying and praising God every five minutes. But I digress, back to the granddaughters. One of them asks what religion are you, Grammy? I'm a non believer, I say. Five shocked girls, then we went out for sushi.

because she doesn't want me to go to hell.

I appreciate that she cares, and I try to be respectful of her as a person, but I also firmly remind her of my disbelief in her mythology.

is to tell them that although I am grateful that they care, I would prefer that they do something concrete, like be there when I am down or hurting. Or let me know if and when I am on the wrong track about things other than God. Or just give me a hug or ask me over to dinner. Anything that really does help me.

When I was a Christian lad, I always figured I would go to Heaven, because I was a good boy.
I thought Hell was for bad guys, like Hitler, not me.

What kind of God would sentence someone to Hell for eternity for what they did in their short life by comparison? No God worth the name would do that.

I think I woud just reach for the Buy-bull and have some teachable moments with those kids:

"It says here, Moms and Dads can sell their daughters into slavery. Don't worry, if the two of you go up on eBay, I'll try to make sure I'm the high bidder."

"It says here, the loving God killed all the babies in Egypt. What kind of father would do that?"

"Make sure you ask Mom to tell you the story about ONE OF THE HOLIEST MEN IN THE BIBLE. He had two daughters, just like us! His name was Lot..."

Etc. Etc.