Should Children be fed religion

joecoolfrog · Post by **joecoolfrog** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 1:10 pm

My parents were Church of England but rarely attended church,I was sent to Sunday school and Christened but otherwise left to make up my mind about religion when I was old enough to weigh up the various options.
I followed exactly the same path with my son and Im pleased I did because he has grown up extremely well balanced and is quite capable of making sound decisions without my or his mothers influence.
My point is that is it fit and proper for parents to push religion at Kids before they are capable of independent thought,in short is it moral to effectively brainwash young children when doing so can vastly affect their future.

diddle · Post by **diddle** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 1:28 pm

they should be fed a balanced diet, not religion

High Guard · Post by **High Guard** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 1:37 pm

My parents fed me religion when I was a young kid, so when I turned 14 I told to go show it and moved away from them to US.

OnlyAmbrose · Post by **OnlyAmbrose** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 1:38 pm

Parents pass on their values. An atheist couple is going to raise their kid to be atheist. A Jewish couple will raise their kid Jewish. And so on.

Moral or no, that's what happens, and that's what's going to happen until (God forbid) kids are separated from their parents at birth.

Titanic · Post by **Titanic** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 1:46 pm

I agree with the original poster. I was bought up as a Sikh, but my parents never really forced it onto me, and they always said that when I turn 18 I could make up my own mind whether I want to carry on being Sikh or want to be something else.

This way you get to see the world and the religions with open eyes, and get to respect other religions rather then becoming a religion basher and saying that your relegion is right and all others are wrong.

MeDeFe · Post by **MeDeFe** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 2:09 pm

Take one piece of religion, slice it thinly, broil it in olive oil, add a slice of lemon. No side dish needed.

comic boy · Post by **comic boy** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 2:19 pm

OnlyAmbrose wrote:Parents pass on their values. An atheist couple is going to raise their kid to be atheist. A Jewish couple will raise their kid Jewish. And so on.

Moral or no, that's what happens, and that's what's going to happen until (God forbid) kids are separated from their parents at birth.

But thats not strictly true as the original poster has already stated,some parents do and some dont but the question asked was should they?
My view is that it is clearly a parents responsibility to pass on a sense of morality,good manners etc but something as profound as religion should not be fostered on a child before he is capable of fully understanding the nature of what is being taught.

luns101 · Post by **luns101** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 2:33 pm

MeDeFe wrote:Take one piece of religion, slice it thinly, broil it in olive oil, add a slice of lemon. No side dish needed.

I think I just found my new signature! =D>

Norse · Post by **Norse** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 2:58 pm

When I went to university, I met a girl who was force-fed religion as a kid...

Guess what? she hated her parents, became a total slut, got pissed all the time, and dropped out of uni, as she became pregnant.

diddle · Post by **diddle** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 3:02 pm

Norse wrote:When I went to university, I met a girl who was force-fed religion as a kid...

Guess what? she hated her parents, became a total slut, got pissed all the time, and dropped out of uni, as she became pregnant.

thats just one example though

muy_thaiguy · Post by **muy_thaiguy** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 3:05 pm

Norse wrote:When I went to university, I met a girl who was force-fed religion as a kid...

Guess what? she hated her parents, became a total slut, got pissed all the time, and dropped out of uni, as she became pregnant.

I've seen that happen to people who were not force fed religion, and some who made the decision on their own as well.

High Guard · Post by **High Guard** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 3:08 pm

Norse wrote:When I went to university, I met a girl who was force-fed religion as a kid...

Guess what? she hated her parents, became a total slut, got pissed all the time, and dropped out of uni, as she became pregnant.

That can also happen when parents are very strict, then when a child gets his/her freedom they spring out as a wound up toy, because they were held back all their life.

vtmarik · Post by **vtmarik** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 3:09 pm

I support a well balanced diet, plenty of grains, meats, milk, and vitamins.

Feeding them a hierarchical belief structure instead of food is bad.

Norse · Post by **Norse** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 3:33 pm

I agree, that scenario can happen to anyone...

But of all the people I have ever met, I've never met anyone who has fooked her life up quite dramtically (and she happens to have been force-fed christianity)

BTW, last time I heard from someone who knows her now, she has 2 kids, and a terrible smack habit.

Praise the lord!

muy_thaiguy · Post by **muy_thaiguy** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 3:37 pm

Norse wrote:I agree, that scenario can happen to anyone...

But of all the people I have ever met, I've never met anyone who has fooked her life up quite dramtically (and she happens to have been force-fed christianity)

BTW, last time I heard from someone who knows her now, she has 2 kids, and a terrible smack habit.

Praise the lord!

Could also have to do with their parents (not nescasarily religion), school, spouse or other things. Not quite religion.

joecoolfrog · Post by **joecoolfrog** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 4:00 pm

People can rebel for all sorts of reasons so it doesnt follow that exposure to religion is always to blame for kids going off the rails. Having said that I dont think,what amounts to a life choice,should be pushed onto a young child as there is obviously the potential for problems in the future.
We all express outrage at 'honour killings' in the Muslim community but closer to home there are many instances of young people becomming estranged from their families as a result of them rejecting their given faith. Many people find God late in life or become 'born again' ,so age is apparently no barrier to heaven, so why cant we let children make their own informed choice rather than push them in a particular direction.

Bouncer · Post by **Bouncer** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 4:03 pm

by lumping all christians in one group, all islamics in another......etc etc
it is found that there are around 25 major religion groups in the world today.
(major meaning more than half a million adherents)

they all claim to be the one and only true faith, yet they all differ radically in their customs and teachings.
so, at best, only one can be right.

so that means .........if you choose to teach a child a religion there is a 96% chance that it will be learning
nothing more than pure codswallop!

statistically, their time would be better spent learning mathmatics ........':D'

muy_thaiguy · Post by **muy_thaiguy** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 4:07 pm

joecoolfrog wrote:People can rebel for all sorts of reasons so it doesnt follow that exposure to religion is always to blame for kids going off the rails. Having said that I dont think,what amounts to a life choice,should be pushed onto a young child as there is obviously the potential for problems in the future.
We all express outrage at 'honour killings' in the Muslim community but closer to home there are many instances of young people becomming estranged from their families as a result of them rejecting their given faith. Many people find God late in life or become 'born again' ,so age is apparently no barrier to heaven, so why cant we let children make their own informed choice rather than push them in a particular direction.

Because parents ARE going to influence what their child believes. And also urge their kids to believe in the same stuff. That is going to happen. Even if some parents do force their beliefs on to their kids, I doubt it will cause major riffs in their family lives.

fireedud · Post by **fireedud** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 4:48 pm

I beleive that kids shouldn't be fed religion. I was raised up as a Sikh, my grandmother kept making me got to Church, and practice thids instrument they use to sing the hymns( it's like a pump piano). But, I was put in A catholic school teching me the same morals, but everything else was different. I never beleived any of that crap. I think, if God is so powerful and mighty, why doesn't he stop all the evil in the world? And I felt Church is a waste of time, okay I heard that passage once, nothing different's gonna happen the second time.

I say that kids shouldn't be fed religion, but just good morals (knowing not the morals in the Ten Commandments [don't kill, respect your parents, etc.], is better than learning how we have the Ten Commandments).

comic boy · Post by **comic boy** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 4:51 pm

muy_thaiguy wrote:
joecoolfrog wrote:People can rebel for all sorts of reasons so it doesnt follow that exposure to religion is always to blame for kids going off the rails. Having said that I dont think,what amounts to a life choice,should be pushed onto a young child as there is obviously the potential for problems in the future.
We all express outrage at 'honour killings' in the Muslim community but closer to home there are many instances of young people becomming estranged from their families as a result of them rejecting their given faith. Many people find God late in life or become 'born again' ,so age is apparently no barrier to heaven, so why cant we let children make their own informed choice rather than push them in a particular direction.
Because parents ARE going to influence what their child believes. And also urge their kids to believe in the same stuff. That is going to happen. Even if some parents do force their beliefs on to their kids, I doubt it will cause major riffs in their family lives.

Yes we know it happens but do you think it should happen ?
Dont you think parents should let their children decide about something that may well influence their entire life.

unriggable · Post by **unriggable** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 5:49 pm

Shaw's Religion:

Serving Size 2 Books (15 kg)
Servings per container 33

Calories 666
Calories from fat 230

Total fat 12kg
Saturated Fat 9kg
Trans Fat 0g

Cholesterol 1kg
Sodium 0g*

Total Carbohydrates 1750g
Sugars 1.5kg
Dietary Fibers 0g

Protein 1kg

----

*We recommend adding a grain of salt when consuming religion

OnlyAmbrose · Post by **OnlyAmbrose** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 6:20 pm

comic boy wrote:
OnlyAmbrose wrote:Parents pass on their values. An atheist couple is going to raise their kid to be atheist. A Jewish couple will raise their kid Jewish. And so on.

Moral or no, that's what happens, and that's what's going to happen until (God forbid) kids are separated from their parents at birth.

But thats not strictly true as the original poster has already stated,some parents do and some dont but the question asked was should they?

No, the original post proves my point.

The OP's parents were relatively apathetic toward religion, and so is he as far as I can tell.

Children will emulate their parents, in general, whether in religious fervency, religious apathy, or hostility toward religion.

Bertros Bertros · Post by **Bertros Bertros** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 6:48 pm

OnlyAmbrose wrote:Parents pass on their values. An atheist couple is going to raise their kid to be atheist. A Jewish couple will raise their kid Jewish. And so on.

Moral or no, that's what happens, and that's what's going to happen until (God forbid) kids are separated from their parents at birth.

To some extent this is true, however I don't think it's the whole truth. Regardless of the right or wrong for the moment, people with a religion are more likely to bring thair child up of that religion than those without are to bring up their children as atheists. A religious parent who regularly goes to church will involve their child in their religion from an early age without even thinking about it. Its natural. But for an atheist to prevent their child having involvement in religion means actively preventing it; making a conscious decision to not allow your child to hang around with a Christian kid for example. Whilst some people will do this of course, purely the passive vs active involvement would surely skew the stats alone. I've heard this argument many times and I think its easy to think of all atheists as drum banging Christian/Muslim/Jew haters, just like its easy to think of all Christians as pushy recruiters; on either side this just isn't the case for the vast majority.

In terms of do I agree with the OP. Well kind of. In an ideal world all children would be allowed to make their own choice, but in actuality this isn't even practical let alone realistic. My Dad loves cricket, funnily enough so do I, shouldn't I have been allowed to make my own choice, maybe I would have been into football or tennis, who knows. I think everybody should strive to help their children understand all sides of any aspect of life and make their own decisions for themselves, but it is crazy to suggest we should try and prevent ourselves from letting some of our beliefs, likes, dislikes and passions being passed on.

sfhbballnut · Post by **sfhbballnut** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 7:44 pm

most religions teach some sort of ethics and that's vital to a child's development

Backglass · Post by **Backglass** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 7:47 pm

sfhbballnut wrote:most religions teach some sort of ethics and that's vital to a child's development

Sorry...Religion is not required in order to be ethical or moral.