children and religion

[whereismynotecard]

If you really believe god will send everyone who doesn't believe in him to hell, wouldn't be kind of douchey to not teach your children about religion?

(Note: this is not directed at any particular person, just anyone who believes that.)

 

[ChristineES]

Hannah's got a point. There are Christians who believe that Hell is a physical place, and if they believe that anyone who does not believe will go there. They feel as though they have to protect their children.

 

[whereismynotecard]

I'm not going to lie. I think I'd push my children a little bit toward atheism. Not in a really mean way, like "NO!! You WILL believe what I believe, stupid!!" but just because if I think it's right, I'd want them to agree. But if they ended up believing in god or ghosts or whatever I would still love them.

 

[Luminous]

Hey, new to the forums and don't worry im not some arsehole who is going to bash religion. In fact i have taken A level theology and philosophy!

I have always wondered whether it is moraly right to teach children the concept of a god, as at such a young age most children are bound to believe what their parents tell them. So as these believers begin to age it grows with them, and some say this is faith; but can it not be said that it is just a preset concept planted into their minds during child development?

sorry if this is in the wrong section by the way.

peace x

I'll probably tell my children they are agnostic. which is kinda a basic fact. i'll show them lots of magic tricks, make them to be nice for santa and then tell them he doesn't exist. teach them about all the religious myth stuff and how fun it is to make fun of people who don't confess they are agnostic. and other stuff that made me stay agnostic. : Send them to a really awesome city where Halloween is great and fun and then on halloween force them to attend church service where the paster will spout all the malignants stuff he can about miki mouse and the rugrats. then they'll cry and then halloween will seam so much better and they'll be resentful of resentful preachers.

 

[rojse]

Say we were brought up with no concept of religion, or god till the age of 18, and then introduced to it; what would happen?

I had very little exposure to religion myself as a child - I went to church on Christmas, and had the occasional religious education class, but that is it. If I showed you some of my first posts on here, particularly about my assumptions about religion, you'd have a good idea of how uneducated I was regarding religion.

When I first sat down and had a proper think about religion, like whether God might be real or not (this was when I was about eighteen or nineteen), it all seemed quite ridiculous to me. It was about then that I joined up with RF, because it hardly seemed fair to dismiss an idea that has had such influence on the world without considering the opposite perspective.


I suppose the best way to put it was that I unconsciously atheist before researching religion, and then consciously atheist after - religious thought did not explain anything for me that could not be done better with logic or science.

 

[Luminous]

Then hopefully they wont give me that crap about how "science ruins the world and how fun and senseful their religious friends are and how christianity makes complete sense and is a good choice" that Agnostic's and Deist's children usually serve up during their rebel years.

 

[Dezzie]

This is a very great question.
I think it depends on the age a child is. When they are a couple years old and still can't think for themselves, I don't think it's fair to make them believe a certain thing, or grow into a certain thing. When they turn maybe 6 or 7, and can kind of grasp the concept, then I would start introducing different aspects of religion to them. I believe that my chilren should believe what they feel is right. My Fiance is pretty strong in the Christian Faith though. I told him I do not mind going to a Christian church but that I do not want our kids thrown into a belief straight from birth. I want them to be able to see the broad horizon of choices and I want them to know that any of them are okay with me. No matter their choices in life, I will always love them.

 

[ChristineES]

I think it depends on the age a child is. When they are a couple years old and still can't think for themselves, I don't think it's fair to make them believe a certain thing, or grow into a certain thing.

Most parents in churches send little tiny kids that age into the nursery, anyway, where they play. Some denominations take their little babies into the meetings, I know that Jehovah's Witnesses do that (I was told by a JW parent that tiny children were capable of starting to learn of the faith).

 

[Dezzie]

Most parents in churches send little tiny kids that age into the nursery, anyway, where they play. Some denominations take their little babies into the meetings, I know that Jehovah's Witnesses do that (I was told by a JW parent that tiny children were capable of starting to learn of the faith).

Oh yeah... that is a good point. They do bring them into the nursery. I forgot about that. My Aunt is a Jehovah's Witness and I believe she brings her kids into the meetings. I think that is very interesting that the young children actually start learning their Faith at such a young age. Did they say how young the kids were able to understand and learn it?

 

[rockondon]

Great question, OP!
I'm a little drunk at the moment, pardon me if I say something silly or offensive. But anyway, as an atheist, I've taught my little girl (she's 7yrs old) about a few religions and it usually goes like "some people believe [this]" and "some people believe [that]" and that its up to her to believe what she wants. As she forms her belief system, I will ask her why she believes the way she does.

Ultimately, I aim to teach her to make her own choices and to think critically. I feel a person should be able to justify their own beliefs, as well as examine them and change them in light of new knowledge. If you are unable to admit error, and your beliefs are sancrosanct, then you are a joke and so is your belief system...in my humble opinion. I also feel that indoctrination is abuse and that kids should be given the chance to make their own choices.

 

[BruceDLimber]

Greetings!

We Baha'is have an obligation to teach our children about ALL the great religions (and how they're all both interrelated and from God)! (Baha'i schools assist in this.)

For example, my son attended Baha'i School from age four 'til his teenage years. And when he was six, he was already taking a comparative-religion course that explained to him the various religions and their goodness & legitimacy!

Then when the child reaches the Age of Maturity (15) he or she has the option of choosing to become a Baha'i, something else, or nothing at all! And parents MAY NOT interfere in this decision!

Works great for us!

Best,

Bruce

 

[rojse]

I'm a little drunk at the moment, pardon me if I say something silly or offensive.

I can't think of a better way to start a post on a serious topic than this.

 

[rojse]

Greetings!

We Baha'is have an obligation to teach our children about ALL the great religions (and how they're all both interrelated and from God)!

Short of not discussing any religions at all, I think this must be the best approach.

 

[jakedavid91]

Great question, OP!
I'm a little drunk at the moment, pardon me if I say something silly or offensive. But anyway, as an atheist, I've taught my little girl (she's 7yrs old) about a few religions and it usually goes like "some people believe [this]" and "some people believe [that]" and that its up to her to believe what she wants. As she forms her belief system, I will ask her why she believes the way she does.

Ultimately, I aim to teach her to make her own choices and to think critically. I feel a person should be able to justify their own beliefs, as well as examine them and change them in light of new knowledge. If you are unable to admit error, and your beliefs are sancrosanct, then you are a joke and so is your belief system...in my humble opinion. I also feel that indoctrination is abuse and that kids should be given the chance to make their own choices.

Some good points made in this thread. :clap

I think this one stands out, as the most moral way to go about on informing your children.
Although i have never personaly seen a child who has been brought up in say, a catholic mind grow into a way which makes their quality life worse; in most cases it has made it better. It is just a matter of whether it is right to influence them in this way. (i.e not informing of other religions)

 

[Imagist]

Evangelicals raise their children to believ in god, often threatening them with abhorrent concequences should they ever loose their faith.

All of them?

Yes, all of them. The bible is chock-full of threats for those who lose their faith. Find me an Evangelical Christian who doesn't teach their child that the bible is the word of god, and I'll tell you they don't fit the definition of an Evangelical Christian.

 

[kai]

at the end of the day all religions are based on a "story" someone tells you that story and you make up your mind whether you believe its true or not, but as a child you tend to believe that what your parents tell you IS true, so you are influenced just because your parents chose to believe their particular "story". how else could there be so many Christians or Muslims for example, if children were not brought up in their parents religion, who were themselves brought up in their parents religion and on and on it goes. even Bruces Baha'i way is exerting massive influence on the child , they may be learniing about other religions but i am sure somewhere they are told that all those religions culminate in Baha'i. for example:
There is one God whose successive revelations of His will to humanity have been the chief civilizing force in history. The agents of this process have been the devine messengers whom people have seen chiefly as the founders of separate religious systems but whose common purpose has been to bring the human race to spiritual and moral maturity.

 

[Imagist]

I think that it is morally wrong to teach your children a religion. It took me literally six years and a change of location to extricate myself from a religion upon which I had become emotionally and socially dependent in my most formative years.

My parents did exactly what many of you are suggesting is okay. They made it clear to me that no matter what choices I made, they would still love me and accept me unconditionally. But to a child that isn't enough; they don't just want love and acceptance, they want approval. And very few religions are compatible with this; you cannot be, for example, a Christian, and approve of Hindu beliefs. There are fundamental incompatibilities (You shall have no other gods before me, for example). This is not to mention that it is hard to bring a child up in a religion without bringing them into contact with other people of that religion; and these people are unlikely to all be even as open-minded as the people on this thread.

 

[ChristineES]

I think that it is morally wrong to teach your children a religion. It took me literally six years and a change of location to extricate myself from a religion upon which I had become emotionally and socially dependent in my most formative years.

If it is immoral to teach children about religion then it is also immoral to not teach children about religion, depending on who is talking. I am sorry you had a bad experience with learning about it, but most people don't- from what I can see.

It is sad to me when I hear of parents rejecting their offspring just because the offspring decided to follow a different path.

 

[Hospitaller]

i guess it all depends on what religion you are and all. if one is very strict and wants their children to follow their religion, then one should obviously mold them since they are able to understand words. if you dont really care, i guess you can just let them make up their own way to worship God, or you can just let them be atheist.

i recommend Catholicism. no offense.:yes:

 

[sandandfoam]

My instinct is to protect my children. Sadly people get sick and die in this life, sometimes adults can deal with that, sometimes they cannot. I do not believe my children have the tools to deal with this aspect of life yet. God is at the very least a comfort blanket for children. I hope to provide my children with the ability to think critically as adults, but as children I intend protecting them and facilitating as happy a childhood for them as I can manage. Even as an atheist this was my view.
I have seen the relief in my children's faces when I told them that people close to them had gone to heaven where they'd be happy and we'd all meet again. They'll have time enough to doubt as adults without my giving them the gift of existential angst in their early or middle childhood.