Raising a child in a religious family is a good thing. In this area of the country, we are smack dab in the middle of the Bible belt. Sunday morning and evening you won't find a business open, or hardly a car on the street because everyone is at church. Local baseball teams do not practice on Wednesday nights for the same reason. Even the high school teachers do not assign homework on Wednesday. In fact, the school not only gives the students a holiday on Good Friday, but also lets them out for the Monday after Easter.... Why would I not raise my child to understand what the local predominant religion is? She needs to be able to fit in socially, learn the rules of behavior in modern society, and have respect for herself. I teach her these things, and Christianity reinforces these lessons. She can't knock the next door kid in the ear because he took her toy because that's not socially acceptable - she'll get in trouble for hitting a kid. I can even point to it in writing, in a book that is accepted by everyone around us. Omnipotent presence and everlasting reward or punishment reinforces good behavior when there is no direct benefit - if no adults are looking, she could go ahead and hit the kid who took her toy; she might not get into trouble. But if she knows that God is watching, she might keep her hands to herself. Threat of Hell serves as a negative reinforcement to keep up good behavior. Promise of everlasting reward teaches delayed gratification. Am I making a good little drone, like all the other good little drones out there? To some degree, yes. She needs to know the lessons the Bible teaches just as much as she needs to know algebra, and English, and what the stars and planets are made of... My desire for her is to become a healthy, happy, productive citizen. I don't see anything in Christianity that precludes that...
Well, thanks for adding something to this thread... What is your opinion on introducing religion at a young age?
I would not want to make my child conform like you do. I am also not interested in conditioning my child to believe some bearded man in the sky will hurl them to Hell if they dont conform to its laws. I also do not wish to turn my child into a drone as you put it. Basically, I wish my child to discover what it enjoys doing from its natural curiosity and to not pigeon-hole their knowledge into something as volatile as religion, or any single religion for that matter. You know, letting someone live their life how they see fit, not creating a "drone".
He's just been indoctrinated from his parents, now he will indoctrinate his children. That's why religion hasn't died out yet, continuous indoctrination passed down through families for generations.
WHAT? Nobody posted a video? I like visuals for the effect.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBmuqr9R1w8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmC4dwCcsUs I say watch the "Cosmos" series from Carl Sagan with your kid.The series is 30+ years old,but still educational,and try to keep them away from as much mind numbness as you can (near impossible in today's society).
Parents try to do their best to put kids on the right path. If someone believes in a certain religion, of course they will want their child to be 'saved' and go to heaven. I understand why many of you are against religion but you can't sit there and expect parents not to teach their children their beliefs. It's just what you do as a parent. You believe in your shit and when you're raising that kid, you want them to go down the correct path and normally that's the path that the parent has chosen. The bible even says, teach a child the way he should go. When he is older, he shall not stray from it. Any parent, atheist or religious wants to teach their child the way they should go so when they are older, they will be able to live and handle life appropriately.
I'll let my child pick for him/her fucking self thank you. I don't need some fucked up book to teach my kids how to be good people and have morals and manners i can it myself. If you want you and your family to be slaves go right ahead.
Hell of a thread! I've put a lot of thought into this one and one of the things I am most excited about as far as raising a child at some point in the future is raising them as a total blank slate as far as spirituality and religion. A total objective mind, nothing to cloud their judgement of ethics and the big questions.
so when your old n gray you will give them all your money....duh! or believe people like Benny hinn can really do miracles http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pf-XUe_z-8 Its called conditioning. Its not bad to have a higher power but religion exploits people to such a degree its tough wading thru the bullshi*t Religion has lots of benifits but one of my favorite quotes is "Die Religion ... ist das Opium des Volkes" and is often referred to as "religion is the opiate of the masses." - Karl Marx Jesus help me Im goin to hell
one thing that you folks havent mentioned - miracles. how do you explain them? a church goer would say that god intervened to protect the persons life because it wasn't their time. god wasnt through with them on earth, and wanted to show people the sign of his existence by surviving the person from an accident that would surely have killed him but miraculously he escape unscathed. poppycock! miracles are propitious accidents in which the circumstances are infinitesimally minute that our minds are unable to calculate by only measuring the aftermath and not witnessing the event in full. if a driver of a vehicle in lane A loses control and swerves into lane B then the person in lane B will either live or die based on probably 1 particular circumstance. usually its as fine as a fraction of speed. had the driver in question been just a little slower in taking off at the last traffic light, he may have lived, but he pressed a little harder just because he wanted to be at the front of the pack, now he is dead. what if his weight had been shifted slightly because he turned up the radio a second before and the debris that flew thru the windshield went straight for where his head once was but he survived. i dont attribute that to a miracle. but he may not be able to say that his turning the radio up is what saved his life because he might actually get a bump on his head and not remember exactly what happened. just say god did it and decide to live your life with a holy purpose. god is merely an excuse for people to live their lives with good intentions. "what would jesus do?" no body knows, but we speculate that he would be a calm and collected and insightful person so the phrase is thrown out there to remind yourself to do something that is selfless and charitable. the bible or the religion itself is just a face to put to the rules. otherwise people would say that its an unwritten rule to be kind to your neighbor. you have the constitution which is a giant list of rules that must be followed because its documented. if you look at sports they have rules too but they also have unwritten rules that are more of a modicum of respect to the other players, but if you do it the most you will get is a berating on twitter that you are an asshole and you might lose a few fans. dont park like an asshole, or you will be an asshole, nothing more. dont cut in line at the drinking fountain. you wont actually be punished but because there is no threat of punishment other than getting the death eye, nothing will come of it. but the religion said there is the all powerful all knowing god that will smite your soul at the gates of heaven and you will remain in hell for ever. ill mention another thing about god that hasnt been as of yet: technology. go back to a few centuries ago when the sun went around the earth, which was also flat, the universe ended at the sky itself which was thought to be only a few miles high. soon mathematics were invented and ideas were experimented. scientists where tortured and executed for claiming things that were against the general understanding of what was. now these days our technologies have provided us with a better understanding of what makes our universe work. both microscopically and astronomically. and as every piece of new information is discover, it provides a light in an otherwise darkened space that we simply gave the label "God". we dont know how it works but its just what god made possible. and even still as more and more things are found out, people simply say, "well in the beginning, god made it that way so that it would run on itself, like a watch with a lot of cogs and wheels." yeah thats an understandable retort, but i like to go back to the idea i made before about the minute circumstances that provided the particular outcome. life on earth could not have happened if the temp wasnt just right. if the levels of oxygen, hydrogen and carbon werent in just the right areas. but they were, and life spontaneously developed. from one small group of atoms that had just enough mass to attract other similar atoms which pulled even more atoms together because more mass means more attraction. followed by a large combination of multiple atoms that formed individual cells that eventually started life as we know it. evolution from one cell to many, followed by very tiny genetic mutations that were more likely innocuous to itself that gave it attributes that didnt prove any purpose, at the time, but eventually gave its host an advantage over other beings just like it and provided it better opportunities to eat and mate. furthering its own genetic heritage. life didnt come from an ultimate event like the touch of god. it was a slow and enduring process that lasted billions of years. having now gotten off topic, i would ask to those who believe in god, whats so hard to accept science as the answer?
Introducing religion at a young age is an easy way to teach morals and values to a young and developing mind. It's much easier to say "God said so" to a kid when explaining why they cannot commit bad behavioral practice, as opposed to explaining the societal and moral ramifications that will arise should the kid take such action. It is also an excellent way to indoctrinate a person. Young minds are much more easily accepting of indoctrination than someone who is older. Some people are so indoctrinated by religion that they completely restrain perfectly natural desires and compulsions by force of will alone (celibacy, refraining from sexual intercourse until marriage, etc.) It's also a fantastic way to establish an easily galvanized following of easily manipulated people. The continued existence of cults and religious fundamentalism proves the previous statement to be true. It's a great way to make MONEY!!!! Religious institutions are tax exempt, and if you're a good (insert religious belief here) you usually will make a tithe or offering to your church, expecting that your generosity will be rewarded by an archetypical supreme being who if he does exist, has absolutely no need for your cash. Yet the Catholic Church and many other churches take in millions upon millions of dollars a year, and wield great power and influence around the globe. If there were no more new followers/ converts of religion, the cash flow would shrink pretty quickly. I think religion is a double edged sword. It's great for those to whom it gives comfort and peace about the fact that our lives are ultimately quick, meaningless things in the scope of existence. But it also had the potential to do great harm to humanity (holding back scientific progress, encouraging close minded, narrow thinking etc.) That being said, I was raised in a pretty religious household. I consider myself agnostic, being open to the concept that there might be a supreme intelligence behind the universe, but I'm not entirely convinced by it. I generally try to follow the concept of being at peace with one's own ego, and confronting inner "demons" and personal issues that a lot of people try to project outwards for religion to fix for them.
This is like asking what's the point of introducing Darwinism at a young age. Same thing. As parents, we teach our kids our beliefs, whatever they are.
No darwinism isn't a bullshit way to trick your kids into having good morals and behaviour due to fear of eternal punishment. Darwinism doesn't teach that homosexuals and adulterers should be stoned to death.
Not really. Darwinism is taught alongside critical thinking skills and no one's told they're going to be subject to an eternity of excruciating pain if they don't believe in it. Darwinism also doesn't teach that you have to be a certain way or else the people around you might murder you. Nice try, though. <span style="font-size:14px;"> </span> Nevermind, I should've refreshed the page first.
Darwinism basically = social evolution Religion does not equal social evolution, infact its kind of the opposite of that if you have all your facts on the table. Also, they teach this shit to kids because adults would ask questions and thats a no no.
Same reasons, different doctrine. No matter how you justify (yours). You believe you're right. Well, guess what.... so does everybody else. Bad parents are the ones who don't teach their kids anything.
Indoctrination pure and simple... why do you think almost everything, including junk foods, have cartoon animals. Kids love with the fullness of their hearts, they believe they are real and will love them, and therefor get their parents to buy the food. A kid will pick a spongebob mac and cheese over the normal stuff any day if they love spongebob... Kids will love God if you get them early enough, they don't have the ability yet to rationalize fiction and reality. So early religious teachings are super effective to indoctrinate kids their whole lives, especially if they are raised believing there is a terrible evil place they go when they die if they don't. Scare tactics and playing on their unconditional love early on is an effective brain washing tool.