Poll: Should Parents have the right to force there religion on there kids ?

[Garg]

Yes/no,

It is a parent's right to raise children however they want within confines of the law.

So just as much as a parent can force a child to go to football practice or not do drugs.

The child can, and will rebel if they disagree. Then it is up to the parents how to deal with that rebellion.

 

[Treblaine]

"FUCK NO!"

The children shouldn't have anything to do with the religion until they're older. Kids are too impressionable and will believe anything you tell them. Tell them early enough and traditionalise it and they'll carry on without questioning it for the rest of their lives.

Today I watched Richard Dawkins latest program on channel 4 about the issue of faith schools. Near the end he talked to a child psychologist who did a little test with some of the kids at a primary school (they were about 5/6).

She asked them some questions, and then gave them two responses to choose from (that they thought made more sense). One leaned on the purely logical side, the other leaned on the "everything is here for a reason" side. (You'll see what I mean).

One of the questions was (this isn't word for word): "There is a lake that is always very still. Why do you think the lake is so still?

a) Because there are no rivers running into it

b) So that it's easier for the animals to wash in "

3 of the 4 kids picked b), and there was another question where they all picked the religious-y answer.

It's quite interesting to see young children do that when deities were the default answer for everything when the human race was in it's infancy; and for a long time after that. And for some people still today.

So to reiterate my point, no they shouldn't. It may be a belief and that's fine, but it's not one based in fact and so it should be left until the child can come to their own conclusions.

This is not to say that you shouldn't expose them to religion. You should just expose them to everything equally, and also point out that the scientific answers are the ones based around things we have studied and we know.

To mimic Dawkins, religion is taken seriously because it's been around for a long time and has become tradition. Science continuously evolves and challenges itself - it actively searches to disprove it's own conclusions.

Amen to that.

Take the Faith out of Government Supported schools
or take the Government Support out of the Faith Schools!

See how much they love Jesus when they have to learn with sub-standard stationary!

"What was that? A Prayer? A prayer within these walls!
Prayer has no place in the public schools, just like facts have no place in organized religion."
- School Superintendent on "The Simpsons" episode #100, 1994

 

[Mr. Mike]

I'm a tad bit late to the party here, but I'm a practicing Catholic and even I think this is a bad idea. People should have the right to believe what they want and not have beliefs forced upon them by others.

 

[Treeinthewoods]

Yes, because the cold hard fact is that as a child you have no legal rights at all. You are not a real person in the eyes of the government until you are 18 so you have no choice but to shut up and take it. You can't sue your parents for taking you to church after all.

Does that make it right? Absolutely not, but it won't change so try discussing it rationally with the parents and hope they will respect your choice. If not, consider it motivation to work hard and be out of the house quickly when you are an adult.

EDIT - Yes, you have a right to be safe and nourished but that's about it. You are a child so the system is designed to look out for your benefit even when you don't agree (like adults have the right to remain ignorant but you can be busted for cutting school).

 

[Canid117]

In the parents view they aren't forcing their religion on you they are SAVING YOUR SOUL!!!!

but no after a certain age they should let you choose for yourself. Honestly forcing you child to church is only going to make them hate church anyway so whats the point in trying?

And was anyone else surprised by a lack of a story about how the OP's Flanders-esque parents are forcing his atheist/emo ass to church? Thats how most of these threads seem to start but this one didn't.

But the kids do deserve a voice and the abilty to get the government to enforce the
right to free thought

You realize the constitution only restricts the power of the government and not private institutions or individuals right? In a legal sense the government cant try to control your thoughts but there is no legal restriction stopping your parents from doing so.

 

[L-J-F]

Children should just be taught all religions at school from a very young age, that way they can choose the one that they feel is the most right without having a single one forced down their throat (it's hard to accept another religion when you are heavily indoctrinated in one already from birth).

 

[Krantos]

OT: No.

That being said, have you ever heard "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink"?

This is really the only applicable to teenagers since it's the only time in a child's life where this is an issue because before that they don't have an opinion and afterwords they don't live at home. And, speaking frankly, many teenagers rail against this stuff just to spite the parents. Unless you're doing this just to get your parents riled, it's not worth the effort. Put up with the boring ceremonies and just believe what you want to believe anyway. Making a fuss is strictly done for the sake of making a fuss. It doesn't accomplish anything.

Speaking as an agnostic, you have to have some tolerance for religious people. It is important to them that other people believe as they do. Not to make themselves feel better (as the cynical atheist crowd like the believe) but because they honestly believe that non-believers go to hell.

Now, that's not saying that religious people can't be full of themselves and obnoxious, it just means that the majority actually do have good intentions.

 

[child of lileth]

No, but they do it anyway.

 

[Macgyvercas]

well, yeah to a degree. they should be able to teach them what they believe and make them go to church etc.
i mean, if we stop religious people from teaching their kids about their faith then we'd have to stop atheist parents teaching their kids about evolution and how god doesn't exist.

Evolution is a fact, not a religious belief.

If you want to get real technical, evolution is a theory. There is tons of evidence to support it, but it can still theorectically be disproved. If something is fact, that mean is has been proven to be true. Science is not determined by whether something can be proved right, but if it can be proved wrong. So pretty much everything in science is a theory. Sure we have Laws, but we can state them as "fact" with a large degree of reliability due to getting the same result (repeatability is vital in science) many thousands of times. /end science lecture

*footnote: I believe Evolution.

OT: Parents should have the right to take their children to church and whatnot. But once old enough the kids should be allowed to choose for themselves.

 

[Irony's Acolyte]

I have no problem with parents exposing their children to their religion. Its good for kids to have some sort of philosophy like that during their childhood so that when they are older and begin to figure things out for themselves, the person has somewhere to start. But if a kid decides to pick a different philosophy than that of his/her parents then if the parents have any problems with it they should respectfully let the kid know. I understand that teens often make mistakes at first about what they believe in. If the kid is starting to get involved with some sort of cult, than the parents should be able to warn the kid about the dangers. But in the end what a person decides to believe in is entirely their choice. If they want to let others influence that choice fine, but they should not have to let other people (even their parents) choose for them.

 

[RivFader86]

where kids? ;P

 

[Lavi]

Nice use of 'force' in the title. Really sets the antitheist mood.

Do they have the right to raise their children as they see fit? Yes, so long as the child is not physically or emotionally harmed. If you agree, male circumcision should not be done. Female circumcision should not be done. The Phelps should have their children taken away (because these kids are abused by others due to what their parents convinced them of).

As for everything else... Gawd, the kid is gonna be fucking fine whether he's raised reading the Quran or the Bible or nothing. They grow up into rebellious teens anyways.

 

[Bruin]

Anybody can raise their children as they choose to as long as it doesn't violate the law. Telling your child what you think your moral and spiritual beliefs should be is not wrong. It's not "forcing" anything when the choice is ultimately yours to decide whether you believe it or not. Some children are more easily swayed than others, and even when presented with the opportunity won't stray from and will defend vehemently their beliefs, this is true, but it's not forcing anything on them when they're the ones who say "I believe this," or "I don't believe this,".

 

[Vuljatar]

Should they have the right? Yes, absolutely. A child's parents are the best people to raise them unless proven otherwise. And making your kids go to church doesn't make you an unfit parent, merely a fool.

 

[Kortney]

No. Children are too young, they believe nearly everything they are told.

 

[Vuljatar]

No. Children are too young, they believe nearly everything they are told.

And the alternative is a thousand times worse: The government telling you how to raise your children.

 

[Mr. Google]

HELL NO! Kids should be able to choose for themselves i mean really if they believe or dont believe in something

 

[Bruin]

No. Children are too young, they believe nearly everything they are told.

Teenagers, Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy and the monster in the closet would like to have a word with you.

They base their morals and spiritual beliefs off of what their parents exhibit and tell them is true. But they are human beings--being children doesn't negate the fact that humans always say "What If?" and always question the world around them. It's in our nature. If you choose to hold your beliefs after you have the age and knowledge to question them, it's your decision. Your parents aren't making that choice for you.