I think you could also tell your child, who is a man now, that he is an 18 year old man, and you are happy that he knows his own mind, and you respect his choice to believe. Then you ask him, as an adult, it’s time for him to respect your beliefs. You can love each other all the world and a bit more, but you are not obliged to think in the same way, as you are also individuals as well as father and son.
I hope he is going to study humanities or science and university or other kind of school. He can debate with them! It’s a great place to be challenged and to find those who think alike!

Be open with them. I have three kids. In order the first could care less either way. The second is an atheist. The third claims she is a Christian. I raised them all the same with information on every main religion and atheism and have allowed them to make their own decisions.

If being depressed is his main reason for belief then he's believing out of fear alone. I think that's a good place to start with him. Show him that life can be fulfilling even without a god

Answer questions when asked - it's their life to lead however they choose - we don't raise them to be our carbon copies.

The best way is to teach them how to think critically in other aspects of their lives, and hope they will eventually apply this method to the way they think about their religious beliefs. This is what happened to make me a non-believer.

A lot of Christians say God is love and maybe in relation to your son maybe you could bring up God is love why are all the atrocities going on and maybe that's not love to me and how about when God told Moses to kill his son on top of the mountain what kind of father would do that that really sucks

My son is an athiest but he label himself as agnostic.
He asked question about religions and god and i have him honest answers. He never believed so i guess i don't have that problem.
I would suggest explain why you don't and answer any question they may have

Simply tell them that religion is a fairy tale, like all the others, to teach people right from wrong. Some fairy tales are better than others. Santa, the Easter Bunny and god is just a way for adults to pretend and to remind them to be good. Some people don't need those reminders - maybe those are the best people.

The truth is we are all experiencing life without god. Believing a lie doesn't make it fact.

When we were expecting my son, my husband and I spoke quite a bit about how to raise him with regard to 'religious beliefs'. Granted it was quite a while ago, but I had already left the Catholic church many years before, and we decided to let him learn as he grew and decide for himself once he got old enough. Consequently, by the time he was ten, he knew many philosophies of Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, atheism, Hinduism, Judaism, and others.

He constantly confounded his teachers, because he chose his own belief system that incorporated what philosophy he believed was right for him from each. To this day, I find it amazing that people from other countries find it hard to fathom that he was actually raised in the United States. It's been that way since he was 12.

As far as other children, I would never try to dissuade them from believing in the religion they are currently indoctrinated to. My feeling is that it could cause more harm than good. Instead, If a child asks why you don't believe, start by explaining that just like there are many different religions, like Jewish, and (here add whatever you think they might know), and some people don't believe the same way, or at all.

If they ask more questions, I would only answer the questions they ask. I've said it before, but sometimes when a younger kid asks where she comes from, the answer she's looking for is 'Michigan', not the Origin of Species.

For your 18-year old, in fact, for any teen, I highly recommend giving them their own copy of the book Sophie’s World to read. This is a philosophical novel with twists and turns every step of the way through the history of philosophy that will have the reader puzzled, amazed and delighted. The introduction to the philosophers, from the ancients to the 20th century, as well as to the philosophical schools of thought are brief, understandable and enlightening. Most importantly, the book will gradually have the reader seriously thinking about the ‘why and how’ of nearly everything, including (perhaps ‘especially&rsquo religion. [goodreads.com]

I would recommend small steps for young children. Perhaps posing one question at a time, as they raise the issue of religion or have questions. Questions like: How would you know which god to choose? Marduk? Osiris? Isis? Ba’al? Brahma? Shiva? Vishnu? Cronus? Zeus? Odin? Ahura Mazda? Etc. Etc. You get the idea. There have been several billion gods if we include the Hindu gods. One estimate, not including them, is 28-million [atheism.wikia.com] Even if a realistic number is a small as a few thousand - how does one decide? By eliminating all of those ancient gods? Why? Are they dead? How can that be? Gods don’t die? Do they? Or were the people that believed in those gods simply wrong? What makes us think they were wrong but we are right about ours?

Ok, so you choose to believe in a ‘modern’ god. How would you know which religion to choose, from the several major religions? (Or, in your case the question might be - “how do you think mom chose her religion?&rdquo Do you choose one of the Abrahamic religions? Which one - Judaism? Christianity? Islam? Or what about one of the major eastern or others religions? How do you choose? If, for example, you choose Christianity, do you become a Catholic? A Protestant? A Mormon? Seventh Day Adventist? Etc. If Catholic or Protestant - which denomination, among hundreds? If Islam, which of the three sects? Why?

And which bible? The Koran? Or one of the dozens (literally!) of Christian bibles? Which would you choose to believe in? Why? And why are there so many choices? If the bible is the world of God, shouldn’t they all be the same? That is, shouldn’t there just be one choice? [en.wikipedia.org]

Assuming an individual can reasonably make the above choices, which specific church should they choose. Among each of these major denominations, the beliefs will be different, often based on the priest or pastor’s personal interpretation.

Or would it be better to think about the values you believe are correct, and choose a religion, a church, and bible, that reflect your values? [I personally think this is where one should begin, but how does one determine the true values of each of these religions?]

This is an overwhelming task, but these types of questions should help your children begin to think critically about this, as well as give them a way to think about all important subjects.

[To qualify myself: I am no expert, only a student of history and philosophy. With three young grandchildren, I have given a great deal of thought to this, on their behalf.]

So you can absolutely focus on the logical flaws... Christians LIKE the church hurt you angle, it lets them say they are true and you left for bad reasons.. I would not leave that one on the table.

The life would be more depressing is also a bit of bad poetry, ask him why? If this is the only life we have, don't we have to make the most of it, take responsibility for our problems now? Not just suffer through things we might be able to improve.....

The time to speak of was as soon as your wife used fear to manipulate your children. If you treat your lack of religion as something shameful and to be avoided, your children will treat it that way also. While you're trying to be respectful your wife is teaching your kids that there is something deeply wrong about their father. Speak up or live with regret.

I would let them come to you. Also teach them to question everything not just about religion. Hell, we now have a flat earth society. But most of all lead by example. Show them that people of no faith can be role models. Good people.

I couldn't eat a whole one

Keep being open. They will come back to you as they need questions answered. It cannot be done in an afternoon. I know one young Jehovahs Witness who was only 18 when we met and kept coming back to our house as he became infatuated with my daughter (!) and it took him some time to actually formulate the questions. Up until he met her, everything was on a no doubts, faith based acceptance. He had to learn how to question, to see our side of the argument. Don't know if he left the church, but he definitely became a more confident young man that summer. And, no, she never did go out with him.

I was also raised Catholic. Catholic schools thru high school. It was the 60's and the church was going thru a lot of changes. I guess it opened me up to other beliefs and then finding most if not all not making any sense if looked at without already having belief.
I let my kids figure it out and they are also Atheists.

Good to be open and honest.

Instead of being of the mindset of resolution or "conflict" why not just open their minds to new experiences that will expand their understand of the world around them. Like museums, or chemistry or volunteering at a homeless shelter. They are so many quality kid friendly chemistry projects online, or physics that teach children to understand unseeable concepts. Exposing them to varying human conditions will spark bigger questions that religion struggles to answer. Good luck and I hope you're successful in a drama free way.