Do You Force Religion on Your Kids?

liberalogic said:
So you want to do this in Spanish?

Tú no sabes nada de lo que estás diciendo.

My point throughout this entire argument has been about the ethics of instilling a religion in a child. I have stated that you are placing a bias on the child instead of giving him the room to make his own decision. I see religion as something that should be believed because you believe it and not because you were told to accept it. This is my underlying point-- of course your kids are going to believe it if you tell them that when they're young. But who is to say that they wouldn't choose another religion when they are mature enough. True, they will still have that opportunity, but by instilling it in their minds when they're young, you are diminishing the chance of this happening.

I completely understand that you have the role as the father and as a christian to teach children that religion. I'm not telling you not to, I just personally think that it's unethical. And the majority of parents teach their kids their religion, so obviously I am a complete outsider. This is an opinion that I have-- I'm not forcing you to agree with it.

My role as father does not compel me to teach Christianity to my children. My role as a Christian father does.

You consider it unethical by YOUR arbitrary standard based on you turning your back on God. And THAT is where we differ ..... I have not lost my faith.

Be that as it may, in order to validate your argument, it would be unethical to teach one's child ANYTHING except data. I'm raising a child, not a microchip.
 
GunnyL said:
My role as father does not compel me to teach Christianity to my children. My role as a Christian father does.

You consider it unethical by YOUR arbitrary standard based on you turning your back on God. And THAT is where we differ ..... I have not lost my faith.

Be that as it may, in order to validate your argument, it would be unethical to teach one's child ANYTHING except data. I'm raising a child, not a microchip.
:clap: :clap: :clap:
 
mom4 said:
I guess it could never be resolved. You see tension between fulfilling a parent's religion and a point of ethics. Religious parents see no ethical dilemma.

Out of curiosity, what would constitute a "fact" in your mind?

Something that cn be proved beyond a shadow of a doubt.
 
GunnyL said:
My role as father does not compel me to teach Christianity to my children. My role as a Christian father does.

You consider it unethical by YOUR arbitrary standard based on you turning your back on God. And THAT is where we differ ..... I have not lost my faith.

Be that as it may, in order to validate your argument, it would be unethical to teach one's child ANYTHING except data. I'm raising a child, not a microchip.


Nice!
 
gop_jeff said:
That's really interesting. I attend a Nazarene church, and I've never heard anyone say that Nazarenes are right and everyone else is wrong. Not saying I don't believe you, just saying that it sounds... weird.


I should have been more clear, they said non-christian religions are wrong. We ended up leaving because they wouldn't let my father join since he'd been in the military.

dmp: Since this church was in an area with a large Minninite and Amish community they were probably more strict than other churches, I don't know.

Anyway the whole experience turned me off of organized religion and being exposed to other churches didn't help since many people I met were such terrible hipocrites (sp?) do as I say not as I do people.
 
dmp said:
Every Christian - heck, every member of most ANY faith sure had better believe theirs in the 'one true' path.
:)
Unless your faith isn't centered around that... :shrug:
 
The ClayTaurus said:
Unless your faith isn't centered around that... :shrug:

i suppose if one's faith is 'All paths lead to God'.

But Christians cannot believe that. If they do, Christ is a liar and not worth following.
 
dmp said:
i suppose if one's faith is 'All paths lead to God'.

But Christians cannot believe that. If they do, Christ is a liar and not worth following.

I'm sure there is a higher power. My problem comes with seeing everyother non-christian religion as wrong, what if the buddists are the only ones doing the right thing???? Jews don't even believe in Jesus. So......who's right??

For now I'm raising my kids to be the best people they can be and I'll let them decide for themselves. I expose them to church, but I don't tell them one way or the other what to believe.
 
Trigg,

Isn't there a happy medium between telling your kids they must believe everything you believe absolutely without question, and giving your kids absolutey no guidance on the difficult path of growing up and wrestling with their faith?

It seems to me that people who say - Oh, I'm going to let my kids figure it out entirely by themselves - are running the risk of raising kids who never figure out why it might be valid to believe in anything at all.

I mean, if faith is so unimportant that Mom and Dad don't care to explain it to me, and don't care whether I'm a Baptist or a Wiccan or a Satanist, then why would I waste any time on any faith at all, afterall, they all eventually ask me to do things that might be challenging for me, or they tell me not to do things I want to do? I'll just do what I think is right - or what I want to do

Additionally, how do you explain certain aspects of life to your children WITHOUT instilling some sense of your faith on them.

Your family dog dies. If you dont want to influence them in any way - do you tell them that the dog died and thats it? Nope - that would be instilling atheism. Do you tell them the dog is in Heaven? Nope - Judeo-Christian beliefs (except for some Christians who believe animals don't have souls...so if you tell your children your pet has a soul you are cutting off these religions from your child...so be careful there).

Bottom line is, the world is a scary, confusing, wonderful, challenging place and children need spiritual guidance to make their way through it, especially young children. At young ages they need to know that their parents have answers - even if the answer is - "We believe this because we have faith...but not everyone feels the same way."

If your child grows up and decides to investigate other religions as many, many people do - support them. Thats how you can help them figure out what is right for them. But to deliberately keep your spirituality away from your children is wrong - and will only cause your children more confusion and issues - not less.
 
Gem said:
Trigg,

Isn't there a happy medium between telling your kids they must believe everything you believe absolutely without question, and giving your kids absolutey no guidance on the difficult path of growing up and wrestling with their faith?

Well yes, I think there can be a happy medium. I didn't say my kids don't get guidance in life. They go to church with their grandparents sometimes and they also go to bible school in the summer so they are exposed to christian teachings. I did say I have a problem with "organized religion" but I'm not keeping my kids from it completely.

It seems to me that people who say - Oh, I'm going to let my kids figure it out entirely by themselves - are running the risk of raising kids who never figure out why it might be valid to believe in anything at all.

I mean, if faith is so unimportant that Mom and Dad don't care to explain it to me, and don't care whether I'm a Baptist or a Wiccan or a Satanist, then why would I waste any time on any faith at all, afterall, they all eventually ask me to do things that might be challenging for me, or they tell me not to do things I want to do? I'll just do what I think is right - or what I want to do

God is asking us to not lie, cheat, steal, and kill among other commandments. I teach those same things to my children everyday so they are getting the guidence they need to grow into good honest people. I also do believe there is a higher power. I'm just not sure what that higher presence is (which religion is right) so if I'm not sure myself, yes, I'll let my kids figure it out for themselves.

Additionally, how do you explain certain aspects of life to your children WITHOUT instilling some sense of your faith on them.

Your family dog dies. If you dont want to influence them in any way - do you tell them that the dog died and thats it? Nope - that would be instilling atheism. Do you tell them the dog is in Heaven? Nope - Judeo-Christian beliefs (except for some Christians who believe animals don't have souls...so if you tell your children your pet has a soul you are cutting off these religions from your child...so be careful there).

I would love to believe that there is some wonderful place people go to when they die, but I don't know. If I were Jahovas witness (sp) I'd believe that only 100,000 people are going to heaven. If I'm christian I believe that no matter what I do as long as I ask forgiveness before I die I get into heaven. I just don't know.

Bottom line is, the world is a scary, confusing, wonderful, challenging place and children need spiritual guidance to make their way through it, especially young children. At young ages they need to know that their parents have answers - even if the answer is - "We believe this because we have faith...but not everyone feels the same way."

Yes, the world is a scary place, I agree totally. But, I provide my children with a strong sense of family. I'm honest with them and I'm there to help them with their problems and questions. But, I'd be a hipocrite if I told them to believe something that I myself and am not sure about.

If your child grows up and decides to investigate other religions as many, many people do - support them. Thats how you can help them figure out what is right for them. But to deliberately keep your spirituality away from your children is wrong - and will only cause your children more confusion and issues - not less.

Again I do let them go to church with their grandparents and I send them to bible school in the summer. I do believe in a higher power. I don't keep christian believes away from them and I don't voice my misgivings, I'm letting them make the decision for themselves. I don't think the christian way is the only way, since that condems so many other religions (jews and buddists for ex.). I want them to explore for themselves and decide what is right for them. Instead of the "their wrong, we're right" mentallity that I was raised with.
 
Abbey Normal said:
......."Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6

For us Christians, it is a source of great comfort.
This text has bothered me for most of my life. Especially when child rearing is discussed and what comes to mind is all the Bible stories you learned as a child.

(I sited where godly people have had less-than-godly children.
http://www.usmessageboard.com/forums/showpost.php?p=398249&postcount=58)

I'm like Abbey, & have held onto this text in hopes, that as a parent, I was doing right by my children. But I don't always see evidence of this, in my son's behavior; since his brother's death, I see a great change in my son, and this is of great concern to me. (not that I'm by any means a standard of measurement).

Could this text possibly mean, that IF you teach your children the principles and values you hold dear, they will ALWAYS have them as a reminder? That even tho' they may get way-laid by life and their decisions aren't always the best, those principles are deep inside them. And they will still use them to govern their lives?
 
Joz said:
Could this text possibly mean, that IF you teach your children the principles and values you hold dear, they will ALWAYS have them as a reminder? That even tho' they may get way-laid by life and their decisions aren't always the best, those principles are deep inside them. And they will still use them to govern their lives?
I think that's exactly what this means, Joz.
 

New Topics

Forum List

Back
Top