Ask an Atheist with Sam Mulvey

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I am a non-believer, or better yet, just consider myself in the vein of the late Hitchens, an anti-theist, in that I detest the idea of religion in any and all forms. I’ve been divorced from my first wife, who is an evangelical Christian, for a couple years now, and we had two children together whom I love with all of my heart. Just the other day, my daughter who is five and son who is four, came home to tell me that they dare not lie because lying will send them to the “devil.” I don’t even know how to sum up just how disgusted I was and am. The thought of my two children having to grow up with fear of fictional beings.

Now that these seeds have unfortunately been planted, when and how would be the correct time and way to explain to them that there is nothing to be afraid of? When and how can I explain to them that there is no evidence to suggest that they need to be afraid of an imaginary fireman underground who knows when you lie? Please help.
-Dylan from Kentucky

What fictional work best describes who you are or what you do?
-Meghann from Texas