children and religion

Yes, a good one

 

i think teaching children about religion from an early age is wrong. its like lying to them about santa, but they never learn it was all fake. I think many would find that if religion was taught to a handful of grownups who had never heard of religion before, they would think the person was absolutely insane. This alone should gives some insight into how silly some religions are.

 

I think (as I'm only a beginner in this parenting game meself) it's all about striking a balance, parenting that is.

There's no reason why you shouldn't read them (and later let them read) books that are important to you, there's no reason why these shouldn't include holy books from whatever faith. I guess it's important to try and get their interpretations of books though, rather than doing the educator/preacher type thing and telling them how to interpret what they read - I mean, where's the fun in that?

 

Well, I was raised Catholic, and at least when I was young we went to church every sunday, and I was in Catholic school (I think more because my parents went there rather than because it was Catholic). But even with all that, it wasn't really pounded into me. At some point we stopped going to church, though it seems we didn't stop believing. Fortunately, I was encouraged to read and I loved science; I was soon a disbeliever in many things in the Bible, though I still believed in God and Jesus in general. Eventually I became an atheist, then later got into Eastern spirituality and mysticism.

I don't think it's bad to give your kids a background in religion, as a sort of foundation. I mean, if you believe it, as young children they probably will too, it's natural for them. They're going to ask questions, and they won't be satisfied with "well, I don't know, it could be this way..." You could always explain that your answer may not be the full answer, or the right one, but you can still tell them what you believe. If I were to ever have kids (don't plan to), I'd give them my understanding of things, but still encourage them to be open minded and learn and grow for themselves. My parents never forced their beliefs on me, but they did answer my questions. That is the way to do it, I think.

 

I can't disagree with that. My favourite books have a certain amount of metaphysics and philosophy in common (Ursula le Guin, Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, 'the Lives of Christopher Chant') which I believe in, which is why they're my favourite books. I'm not saying I think those worlds exist but that they each teach real lessons about the real world. As long as you don't limit your child to religion I think it's fine.

 

I always liked the violent bits of the bible, especially the war against the Philippines (what the hell were those doing there anyway? ) and Daniel almost being torn to pieces by lions, which I think would still be a good solution to our little christian problem.

It should be made illegal to try to convert anybody at all to any religion, including and especially your children. I'm not fond of the death sentence but in some cases it's just more satisfying than a few years in prison.

Teaching about the world's different cosmologies, however, is absolutely okay and should actually be encouraged. Open minds save lives!

 

Not the Phillipines, it was the Philistines.

 

Yes, teach them any knowledge you feel to be usefull including all religions and metapysics. The key is to watch and make sure my kid doesn't follow my belief simply b/c I do; then shes not thinking for herself. Even morals are a tough question being so transitory and matter of opinion...I like the open mind choice.

peace, God bless

 

Gentle, I agree with you, yet at the same time, children certainly need guidance, especially with morals which they won't be getting anywhere else, not in our society. I think certain things should definitely be taught, like the basic 10 commandments (minus the ones that refer to god), thing's like: stealing is wrong, killing/violence is wrong (include animals and plants here), it's wrong to lie, etc.

What I'm saying is that not all morals are opinion or choice. Some are pretty universal. It comes down to "do unto others as you'd have done unto you." Now things like how you feel about gays, for example, won't be universal, but the Golden Rule applies here too. Teach tolerance first.

I think the best way is to have them feel an inward urge to be and do good. Not because of some outer punishment system (spiritual or legal) but because it's the right thing to do.

 

I remember some years ago two people I worked with in the maintence shop at the plant thought my religion was silly. I had a calendar over my work station with a Bible verse on it. Well, these two guys decided to tape some porn over the Bible verse. They thought it was funny and got a big laugh out of it. The next week when I got to work, I discovered that both men were missing. I found out that one of them had a mental break down, and it was discovered at the same time, that the other mans daughter had a life threatening brain tumor. All of a sudden, and for both of them, religion was not silly anymore.

 

what, god cursed the first guy with a breakdown, and cursed the other guys DAUGHTER to punish the man? Yeah, sounds like Bible logic to me...

 

I believe that God keeps evil at bay to some degree. Yet when you insult God, He removes that protection, especially when people mock Him. It was their actions, that brought evil on themselves, and their families. In the case of the girl, I recall asking God to heal her, and it was one of those rare times in my life when I heard the voice of God. He clearly stated to me these words, "I will heal them, as you have asked." Three weeks later, this girl made a full recovery, and the doctors told the parents, not to worry. The doctor told them, "it was if I didn't even half to operate." The girl is doing fine today, and the one who had the mental break down made a full recovery as well, and that year I even received a Christimass card from him. The same God that flooded the earth will come again. The world hates him and his words of truth. You might have religion, but religion with out God's truth is useless. Religion will not save you.

 

Yes, when it comes to porn hung on Jesus calanders, he's right on top of it, handing out diseases and mental illness. When it comes to genocides like the Holocaust, Darfur, Rwanda, and all the others, or to evil dictators bombing innocents (Saddam and the Kurds, for example) he's nowhere to be found. Oh sure, eventually the killing stopped, and Saddam is on trial, but that's not divine justice. That's God's laisse faire approach to omnipotence. Is he just lazy? Is he toying with us? You play a joke on a coworker and you get cursed, you kill millions of innocents and... nothing.

What a Mighty and Just God this is...

 

I agree with that not teaching them simple dogma with little explaination is what I refer too. Teach them the practical and logical reasons why murder isn't a good idea not just "Thou Shalt Not" kinda deal.

God bless, peace

 

its a interesting question , personally I dont think children should be taught a religous dogma , I think its ok to explain why you believe a certain way but I think its up to the individual to choose whether they believe or not .

at a very young age children dont have a fair chance to make their own choices , now in some religions parents are taught that they have to teach their children certain dogma and the child really doesnt have a choice .

this happens to lots of people involved in the religion Im most interested in at the moment islam.

if your interested in islamic suicide bombers often you see pictures of type of muslims involved in this activity as children dressed up in parades as suicide bombers .

you also see the mothers of bombers very happy that their children have blown themselves up and a load of innocent people too .

and they often say how happy they are that their son is with the dark eyed virgins in heaven .

to me this shows that these people have been brainwashed thoughout their life to get to the point of blowing themselves up for a fantasy world .

this is why I think just letting parents teach what they like could be quite dangerous


some pictures of mothers of suicide bombers with captions of what they said on arabic tv, also some pictures of effect of attacks thats on the last page of a thread about images related to islam.

some of the earlier pages have pictures of children dressed as suicide bombers.

often you have pages celebrating people becoming Shahid or Martyrs on the internet and the parents will think they will get blessings for having such a son or daughter

anyway interesting pictures

http://www.faithfreedom.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13967&start=30

 

You raise your children with what you consider to be truth.


Personally I think anyone who follows a religion is misguided.

That said, I can't respect a man who believes something to be the ultimate truth and doesn't share it with his children.

Just as I will being raising my son as a secular humanist I would expect any other parent to go with their heart.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secular_humanist

Speaking as an atheist and a father.

 

a lot of my friends who are ex-muslim have to worry about their parents finding out that they left in case their parents kill them .

so you have little if any chance to learn about other religions while growing up , and then you cant openly leave because people try to kill you .

and this happens in the west not just in islamic theocracys, personally I would call this a form of child abuse, Im not sure how to deal with it but the fewer people who think like that the better

 

my feelings on religion are mixed. i dont know if there is or isnt a god. i just dont really care. i can attend church or not attend church. its not that im for or against it. i just dont really care about any of it. however, my fiance is an atheist. a devout atheist. he wants to raise our son that way. i'm more for letting him build his own opinions. if it makes him feel better to believe there is a god, than thats fine with me. if he wants to practice atheism, thats fine too. just so long as ultimately the decision is his.

we have a while anyways, our son is only 1 1/2.

 

it's like i'v been brainwashed or something. and i think that may very well be why many young people believe it too.
You have been brainwashed, along with everyone on the planet in one way or another. Find out all that you can about "paradigms" of thought. Once you understand how your mind works and how it is influenced, you can break free. That is how and why I created my CDSubliminal business. If you'd like I can PM/email you some info on how your mind works.
am i just crazy?
Not at all ~ you are questioning the premises upon which your life has been founded, and that is a good thing. Always remember that there are great truths embedded in all religions, and these two shoud launch you on your journey ~~
1] Ask and it shall be given; seek and ye shall find,; knock and the door will be opened unto you.........
2] Know the truth and the truth will set you free.
Dig it?

 

When I have children, I will teach them my morality. Along with my morality includes my religious beliefs. If wanting to teach your children what you believe is right is a crime, then I'm a criminal conspirator. So sue me.

Raising a kid with certain ideals and beliefs does not force them to spend their whole lives thinking that way. My parents raised me with certain ideas, many of which I've grown up to not agree with. They raised me as a Jew, which I no longer practice. But I also grew from the things my parents taught me. I've learned a lot of really great things from it. I probably wouldn't think the way I do now if I hadn't been raised Jewish. Far from holding me back, it has made me grow as a human being. And I like who I am, so they must've done something right.