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Sun 13 Jan, 2008 05:05 am
DO PARENTS HAVE THE MORAL RIGHT
To have their children ACCEPT and BELIEVE their Religion, against the childrens' will ?
IF so, where n HOW did thay GET that right ?
Yes. It's not unreasonable for parents to have a household rule such as "As long as you're living under this roof, you'll go to church every Sunday". However, you can lead a child to church but you can't make him believe. If you're asking if more pressure be applied to conform to a specific set of beliefs, then no.
The question is framed in a way that reminds me of the inherent flaw in Christianity. We are taught that we must love God with all our hearts and minds, yet we must ignore the stubborn fact that the God who created us apparently does not understand that love can't be demanded.
This thread presents the perfect opportunity to state my theory of religious education. I believe it should not begin until adulthood.
tycoon wrote:This thread presents the perfect opportunity to state my theory of religious education. I believe it should not begin until adulthood.
That would spell doom for religion.
Phoenix32890 wrote:rosborne979 wrote:tycoon wrote:This thread presents the perfect opportunity to state my theory of religious education. I believe it should not begin until adulthood.
That would spell doom for religion.
And that would be a GOOD thing. I think that children need to be taught a basic sense of morality, of being kind to others, and the difference between right and wrong. Most important, they need to learn to be independent thinkers, capable of figuring things out for themselves.
Do some of these things (besides the independent thinking) emanate from religious teachings? Sure they do. But as I have said many times, I do not believe in "throwing out the baby with the bathwater". There are lots of things that appear in religious thought that is valuable for everyone. IMO, codified religion as a whole, of any kind, is not one of them. It teaches "groupthink" and separates people who are not of the same mindset.
I think that when a young person is in college, he can take courses on comparative religions and philosophy, and make up his mind for himself.
Actually, this learning should begin in high school, but I don't know how many high schools have quality courses of the type to which I am referring.
I 'm interested in your quote from Ayn Rand;
r u an Objectivist, Phoenix ?
I raised four children. Not once did I tell them it is imperative they be atheists. Nor did I speak ill of religion in their presence. I did not teach them about religion or atheism in any wise at all. Result: 1 atheist, one church goer, two believer non church goers. (I have always believed that one believes or disbelieves according to innate nature. No amount of education or propaganda changes a mind over the course of a lifetime.)
I was born in England... had Church of England brand of religion in school..once a week, one lesson ( or preaching more like it ) never stepped into a church again. Never was inpressed with anything about religion... couldn't understood the need for it, or why there were so many different brands of it.
Had 3 sons, never talked about religion or god to them allowed them to make up their own minds, they never found any interest in it and didn't to my knowledge even try. they married and their wives were of the same mind.. now have seven grand children, all out of their teens... same thing for them, they don't even think about any of it,to my knowege, my wife and I,I would suppose, you could call us atheists, but the others of my clan I would call normal.
I would say if you want your child to know about YOUR God you should at least sent him to every denomination there is in your location plus teach him about non Christian religions, also the so called atheists... the devout Christians here think it's a religion.
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