Is Teaching Children They Might Go to Hell Child Abuse?

[rageoftyrael]

but father heathen, it isn't considered abuse, as in actionable abuse. not that i'm aware of anyway.

 

[Willamena]

Is it abusive to teach children that they might go to hell? Why or why not?

Depends on what you teach them "hell" is.

 

[fantome profane]

Is it abusive to teach children that they might go to hell? Why or why not?

It certainly can be. And what perhaps is worse is to teach children that those friends and family that don’t believe what they believe are going to hell. And in the event that someone close to the child has died, to teach that child that the person they loved is now suffering intense and eternal torment. This would absolutely be psychological torture and emotional abuse. I would challenge anyone to think of anything worse that could be said to a child. I am sure this is not what most parents teach their children, but I am also sure that there are some really sick “parents” out there.

 

[blackout]

It's a paranoid thing to tell a child.

"God MIGHT send you to hell when you die, where you will be tortured and suffer
for ever and ever every day and night without end."

"A serial murder and rapist MIGHT break into the house one night
and take you away and torture you and then kill you."

Which is a dumber thing to tell a child do you think?
Which one is more realistic?
Which is more frightening?
Which is worse.
Let's make our children fearful and paranoid why not?

 

[Scott C.]

Is it abusive to teach children that they might go to hell? Why or why not?

To understand the plan of salvation and not teach it to our children would be child abuse. The plan of salvation is a plan of hope, joy, and redemption. Yes, those who knowingly and willfully reject God and his commandments, with no spirit of repentance, will have a bitter pill to swallow in the next life. Those who humble themselves before God will be happy in this life and the next. We should teach these things to our children. Most important we should teach them by example.

 

[S-word]

It certainly can be. And what perhaps is worse is to teach children that those friends and family that don’t believe what they believe are going to hell. And in the event that someone close to the child has died, to teach that child that the person they loved is now suffering intense and eternal torment. This would absolutely be psychological torture and emotional abuse. I would challenge anyone to think of anything worse that could be said to a child. I am sure this is not what most parents teach their children, but I am also sure that there are some really sick “parents” out there.

but I am also sure that there are some really sick “parents” out there.

You can say that again, why there are some parents who even teach their children that there is no God.

 

[kai]

yes it is, its insane to me to tell a child something like that, when you have absolutely no evidence to support the fact that its true. They should learn it when they are old enough to weigh up religions and choose one for themselves if they so wish.

 

[TheKnight]

I would challenge anyone to think of anything worse that could be said to a child.

"You are a worthless piece of trash and I regret the day I conceived you." <<There is no worse a thing for a parent to do than to sever that precious parent-child bond by showing the child an utter lack of love.



In answer to the OP, I doubt it would be abusive. But just because it isn't abuse doesn't mean that it shouldn't be done. Education (and teaching them anything is a matter of education) should be done with care and with precision. Children, the little sponge-minds that they are, should be educated well-roundedly and on a level that their minds can grasp. Is the hell concept one that is appropriate for educating a child? Maybe at some point a child could learn that there are those who believe in hell and what they believe that hell to be. However, this is not necessary in the formative years of their lives.

 

[kai]

At the end of the day Hell is just one facet of certain religions, so i don't suppose you can tell kids its true about redemption,salvation , living forever in Paradise etc without the bit about living in eternal torment if you don't follow the rules.

 

[Mister Emu]

No, teaching a child about hell is not child abuse... it, of course, depends on the method however...

Now that scared the s*** out of me and made me incredibly unhappy and anxious for quite some time, not just because I thought I might go to hell, but because I knew that with the huge amount of laws set in the Bible that, despite being good people, my family ignored, I realised that everybody I loved would be going to hell if the Bible was to be believed.

A misunderstanding... If the Bible is to be believed the grace of God gives one an opportunity for heaven in spite of one's sins, not for being free of them...

 

[Buttons*]

I agree with Willamena. I think it depends on ones' definition of hell. If someone teaches that hell is a place where they are tortured for all eternity etc, and uses this every time the child does something stupid, THAT could be considered abuse. If a child WANTS to know what the concept of hell is, and the parents teach their children about the idea of hell - I can't see that as abusive.

I was told about hell, but I don't think it was abusive. It certainly wasn't put to me in an abusive manner. Most of the abuse that happened to me was physical or verbal for secular things. Curse words. Calling me names. These scared me far more than the idea of hell ever could have.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Not any more abusive than any other indoctrination. If you're going to program them to accept certain irrational things as true and not allowed to be questioned, then any specific piece of that indoctrination pales in comparison to the harm you're doing by intellectually handicapping them.

 

[Wandered Off]

I know it caused a lot of stress for me as a kid. The way I see it now, kids are stressed enough as it is. Adding the most extreme threats imaginable isn't helpful. I don't know if I can call it abuse, but it can be traumatic, and not just then but for years of paranoia that follow.

 

[Storm]

I really don't see it (generally speaking) as any more abusive than teaching children they might go to prison.

 

[kai]

I really don't see it (generally speaking) as any more abusive than teaching children they might go to prison.

i dont know ! you can go to prison if you break the law, but to tell them you will go to this place "Hell" for not beleiving what i am going to tell you?

 

[JMorris]

i dont know ! you can go to prison if you break the law, but to tell them you will go to this place "Hell" for not beleiving what i am going to tell you?

indeed. prison is an actual place the exists within reality. and you will go there if you get caught breaking actual laws, that actually exist. warning your kid about this is just good parenting.

hell on the other hand......... is none of the above. why not just tell your children that if they arent good, monsters will come in the middle of the night and take them to be eaten.

 

[Sunstone]

I really don't see it (generally speaking) as any more abusive than teaching children they might go to prison.

I don't understand why you would see it that way. Could you elaborate, please?

 

[England my lionheart]

Is it abusive to teach children that they might go to hell? Why or why not?

I think its abuse because a childs imagination runs wild,for example a freind of mine is a Catholic and went to a Catholic School,he used to have terrible nightmares when he was a kid about Hell.

 

[monta]

I think its abuse because a childs imagination runs wild,for example a freind of mine is a Catholic and went to a Catholic School,he used to have terrible nightmares when he was a kid about Hell.

I went to Catholic school, we didn't have any severe reaction to being taught about the existence of Hell, we were taught it was where the unrepentant sinners people go, I believe Sr. Brendan would have cut our her tongue before traumatising a child in that way.

I don’t doubt some people instil the terror of eternal damnation en lieu of reasoned discipline, but some people tell their kids the boogeyman will get them if they get out of bed at night or that the cops will take them away if they tell lies, or their penis will turn black and fall off if they play with it.

I remember reading about Alfred Hitchcock and his father had the local police lock him in a police cell overnight when he was a kid to teach him a lesson. You don’t need religion to carry out some dodgy child rearing.

 

[Storm]

I don't understand why you would see it that way. Could you elaborate, please?

Well, I just woke up but I'll try.

Basically, it's teaching kids that if you do bad things, you get punished.

There are, of course, bad parents. I'm not talking about them.