Challenges Faced by Atheist Families

Comedian Penn Jillette's raising atheists speech discusses some of the difficulties of raising a family outside of religion while being surrounded by it. Jillette draws from his personal experience as a father and an atheist to provide viewers with examples of issues that arise for atheist families.

Penn Jillette describes his religious nieces getting upset with his daughter because she claimed there was no God. This is a tough situation to react to, because everyone is entitled to their opinion and religious family members may not appreciate an atheist explaining their views or thoughts on theism to other people's children. Jillette also describes a conversation that he had with three men who recently became atheists. In walking away from their religion, they lost their families and friends.

Jillette stresses the importance of standing by family members regardless of what their religious beliefs are. Though his mother was an atheist and his father was a Christian, they remained very close.