My 16 year old son told me he doesn't believe in God and that really upset me. I was brought up a strict Catholic and strayed later in my teens as well and I thought I would let him choose his own faith but now I wonder if that was the right thing to do. We never took him to church and really never talked much about religion to our children. Is it our job as parents to pass our belief to them or let them choose there own path.
several things come to mind (mine that is)
would it have upset you the same if he would have said "I believe in Hinduism?" , esentially the situation is the same, they are chosing a different belief system than the one you have
is there something in his behavior that makes you think that he is inherently heading in the wrong direction? if your son is healthy, loves his parents/studies/hard working....I really think you did a GOOD job, many other kids might tell you that they believe in 'x,y,z' and then proceed to do everything against such beliefs
evidently most people transmit their beliefs into their offspring, regardless.....at the end its their own free will
and to end, I was raised in catholic family and went to catholic highschool......I am not going to say anyone did something that made me 'hate' religion (unlike other people that live bitterly saying 'they forced this etc') and still ended up atheist (although I know most about the Bible than the guys that wake me up every Sunday morning to tell me about how the World is coming to an end..)
my Mom probably would be very upset if I openly told her what I believe, my brother on the other hand fully knows what I think