assuming you don't want to brainwash, what is the proper age to introduce religion

[blu]

'age' might not be the appropriate measure, it has more to do with maturity, but in the interest of raising a non-sheeple kid, when should religion/god be introduced? personally, we are aiming somewhere in between 11-13 for my stepson and when that time comes doing a thorough review of all major religions/ideas throughout the world, as well as the idea of being agnostic and atheist. what have other people done?

 

[RetiredGySgt]

Your assumption is wrong. In fact a lot of people leave their church and God behind as soon as they are old enough to refuse to go. The only place that might be less of an occurrence is in tight knit religious communities that shun contact with the rest of the world.

 

[blu]

Your assumption is wrong. In fact a lot of people leave their church and God behind as soon as they are old enough to refuse to go. The only place that might be less of an occurrence is in tight knit religious communities that shun contact with the rest of the world.

sure people leave, but very few reject the ideas entirely - completely erase them from their brains - and this effects their future religious or non-religious searches

 

[RetiredGySgt]

Your assumption is wrong. In fact a lot of people leave their church and God behind as soon as they are old enough to refuse to go. The only place that might be less of an occurrence is in tight knit religious communities that shun contact with the rest of the world.

sure people leave, but very few reject the ideas entirely - completely erase them from their brains - and this effects their future religious or non-religious searches

Wrong as usual. Once again the only place indoctrination can even reasonable be claimed is in those communities that shun contact with the outside world. Everyone else is in contact with other people and get the news that some people disagree with their religious teachings.

 

[strollingbones]

leave the kid alone..he can choose when he gets older...why push anything on him?

 

[Neser Boha]

leave the kid alone..he can choose when he gets older...why push anything on him?

I agree with bones on that one.

 

[mudwhistle]

'age' might not be the appropriate measure, it has more to do with maturity, but in the interest of raising a non-sheeple kid, when should religion/god be introduced? personally, we are aiming somewhere in between 11-13 for my stepson and when that time comes doing a thorough review of all major religions/ideas throughout the world, as well as the idea of being agnostic and atheist. what have other people done?

Usually when you raise a child you raise them learning about the church then you allow them to go into deeper studies on their own when they get older.

The point is to introduce it throughout their lives and allow them to choose whether or not they want to continue.

You try to set good examples for them. Maybe they might want to have the same kind of life you do when they get older.

At the least that is the way Christianity is intended.

 

[chanel]

It is comforting for young children to believe that loved ones who have died (yes, including pets) will go to heaven. It matters not whether the parents believe it IMHO. We started taking our children to church as babies. They were raised RC and have been "brainwashed" into following the ten commandments and giving to charity. Now they are older and don't buy into the dogma. That's ok with me because they have a moral foundation and a basis to compare with. Denying your kids any moral teaching can be harmful. "Setting a good example" is not enough during times of crisis. Prayer can ease a lot of pain.

 

[goldcatt]

Morality doesn't only come from religion, chanel. That's another common fallacy.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

leave the kid alone..he can choose when he gets older...why push anything on him?

If one is religious one has little choice in the matter. Christians believe that until the child is 8 or so the Parents are spiritually to blame for any sins the child commits and are REQUIRED to teach them about God. Muslims are similar.

 

[goldcatt]

leave the kid alone..he can choose when he gets older...why push anything on him?

If one is religious one has little choice in the matter. Christians believe that until the child is 8 or so the Parents are spiritually to blame for any sins the child commits and are REQUIRED to teach them about God. Muslims are similar.

I don't know as much about Islam, but that is true for a lot of Christian sects. Some are more liberal. Kinda silly when you think about it, isn't it?

I haven't decided yet when I'm going to start taking my kids to meeting, I rarely go myself. Not anytime soon, what's the point of forcing them to sit there when they can't understand or appreciate what's going on? What I can do is teach basic morality and try to sow the seeds of independent thought so when they are ready to choose, they can do so with their eyes open and find the answers that really suit them. To me I would be shirking my responsibility as a parent otherwise.

Notice I did not say a thing about "religion". That will be something they learn about and decide for themselves as they get old enough to grasp the concept.

 

[chanel]

Morality doesn't only come from religion, chanel. That's another common fallacy.

I realize that goldcatt but I am curious what book atheists refer to when teaching right from wrong. I am not being facetious. I know from experience just telling kids "don't do that" is not entirely effective. They must know "why" and sometimes "God" is more powerful than "because I said so". How is it taught? Formally or just happenstance?

BTW - all the atheists I know had some religion as a child and are good people. Coincidence?

 

[goldcatt]

Morality doesn't only come from religion, chanel. That's another common fallacy.

I realize that goldcatt but I am curious what book atheists refer to when teaching right from wrong. I am not being facetious. I know from experience just telling kids "don't do that" is not entirely effective. They must know "why" and sometimes "God" is more powerful than "because I said so". How is it taught? Formally or just happenstance?

BTW - all the atheists I know had some religion as a child and are good people. Coincidence?

Why would you teach basic morality to a child out of a book?

 

[sparky]

i don't recall a theological menu that i could have picked from.......~S~

 

[chanel]

its a guide. I respect what you have done with your children but I don't see that happening with many parents today. I do not believe in zealotry of any kind - including atheism. The majority of people are "doubting Thomases" but I do believe faith serves a purpose. Too many lost souls today.

I'm glad that blu wants to introduce religion to his kid, even if it is merely for educational purposes. Public schools do not teach it and its an important part of history and culture. Teaching tolerance is part of a moral education as well.

 

[eagleseven]

You can do it like the Catholics, and start em as soon as they're warm!

 

[Douger]

I think that people should wait until they have the full ability to read and comprehend.
If you took a grown man, who had never heard anything about any religion , and let him read the bible, he would immediately declare it as a poorly written horror story.

 

[goldcatt]

its a guide. I respect what you have done with your children but I don't see that happening with many parents today. I do not believe in zealotry of any kind - including atheism. The majority of people are "doubting Thomases" but I do believe faith serves a purpose. Too many lost souls today.

I'm glad that blu wants to introduce religion to his kid, even if it is merely for educational purposes. Public schools do not teach it and its an important part of history and culture. Teaching tolerance is part of a moral education as well.

If a parent has their own strong moral compass why do they need an outside source as a guide? And why would a parent resort to "because I said so" over questions of ethics and morality when you can start a dialog instead? Kids need to understand the fundamental concepts of right and wrong and why certain things are considered immoral, or unfair, or unjust - not just "because I said so". That's a cop out that says to a child "I don't know why, just do it". No wonder they don't listen to it.

And what gives you the mistaken impression I am an atheist?

 

[American Horse]

'age' might not be the appropriate measure, it has more to do with maturity, but in the interest of raising a non-sheeple kid, when should religion/god be introduced? personally, we are aiming somewhere in between 11-13 for my stepson and when that time comes doing a thorough review of all major religions/ideas throughout the world, as well as the idea of being agnostic and atheist. what have other people done?

Religion is the wrong target that works for "brain washing" or “mind forming" of youth. I was introduced into a very intense “fundamentalist” religion at a very early age, and most of the others who were introduced at about at the same time as I and were about the same age don't attend church at all as adults. And I declared myself an atheist in my teens. Among those who stayed with their religious upbringing and respond to events like death (of others) and terrible expressions of human ethical or criminal conduct, their responses seem proper in that they are willing to express some concern about such conduct privately and publicly.

The REAL TARGET that brainwashing works on, and there should be not doubt about that at all, is the indoctrination of youth, and here I'm referring to the RELIGION of certain politics, and the best age is the one it actually does begin at. That would be kindergarten or the first elementary school grade (which gets them ready for later when peer pressure is at its greatest and they are most susceptable) There, suddenly a child is taken from the comfort zone of loving parents and put into a socialized situation with others where they can be made to feel really alone and frightened if they don’t fit in.

They are likely to be ridiculed for thinking differently and shown how if they reflect the same set of values and display those values as outrage they WILL FIT RIGHT IN; and if they don't they will be ridiculed and called ‘sheeple’. We see the high-school system of forced conformity practiced right here on this forum, so we can see how imbedded it is. Bullying is part and parcel of that conformity, and we know that bullying is on the rise everywhere; "SHEEPLE" indeed!

And peer pressure is at its greatest in middle school and high school, but one shouldn't discount college, but if they haven't been taken into the fold by that age they are probably safe.

I remember how concerned I felt when my teenage son began coming home from school spouting hatred for "corporations" and the evil they were advancing on society. He had no experience with corporations and neither does any child at that age so I knew where it had to be coming from.

By getting him to talk about it I was able to learn the extent of the indoctrination. I was able to get him to look more clearly at what corporations are and do the type of people they are mostly made up of and lose the indoctrination.

In regards to the religious indoctrination or eduction, our school system which is the one my son attended allows religious education in addition to the regular class work. When he was a student there I felt no concern because it was an elective and could not be foisted on a student without a parent’s consent.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

I think that people should wait until they have the full ability to read and comprehend.
If you took a grown man, who had never heard anything about any religion , and let him read the bible, he would immediately declare it as a poorly written horror story.

That is why missionaries have been converting non Christians to Christianity for centuries right?