Why can't I be free to love Jesus and tell others about His love?

Question

One of the answers I got to a question of mine in which I mentioned teaching my daughter the way of God so Satan cannot enter into her heart was this one," Please, please, please do NOT fill the minds of innocent children with such rubbish!!
God is fictitious and, it follows, that all associated concepts are the same.
There is no hell or heaven.
There is no devil.
There are no angels.
The soul is a lie.
Therefore, your question is ridiculous.
Does it seem logical to you to feed small children with archaic myths as fact? You are effectively mentally abusing them.
Enter the 21st century and accept reality.
Atheism is THE only logical choice for anyone with a brain cell that works. "

Do I accuse YOU of abuse for NOT telling your children of the Lord. NO. That is your choice! But this is why I think non-Christians can be very rude. If I say I love Jesus and teach my child to do the same, I am told its 'abuse'. Does this fair to anyone?

Answer 1

Well, I do believe that Deuteronomy 6:5-9 says it the best-

5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

We of FAITH are told to pass on our faith to our children and grandchildren. It is our most important job as parents and grandparents. Do not let any man tell you not to do what God has commanded you to do. If they don't want to believe in God, then that is their problem, and they will need to take that up with Him in their time. As for you, do what you know to be right, raise your daughter that she will not fall to the wiles of the devil.

Because this is not a Christian forum.....if you want one, GO TO ONE -Nicholas H.

As for this comment, this is NOT a Christian forum, you are right, but the last time I checked, it is DEFINITELY a Religious forum, if you don't want to hear religious material, go somewhere else. Also, I've been monitoring the Religious forum, and I hardly see anyone bashing Hindu's, Buddhists, or Muslims here, but mostly all of the hate speech is directed at Christians. If I didn't know any better (and I might not) I would say quite a few people have a God complex.

Beacuse the rest of us don't care. And we are tired of hearing about something that doesn't exsist. -Kelly Bundy

If you don't want "to hear about something that doesn't exist" then don't (as an atheist) read Religious posts on a Religious forum. You are just as culpable for reading it as the person is for writing it, probably even more so because you don't believe.

Basically what you are doing is brainwashing your child to believe what you believe. -rileysmurf

You are obviously not a parent. When you raise a child, the first things you teach it are your beliefs. You believe they should not throw a ball in the house. You believe they should obey you. You believe in a higher power. That is not brainwashing, that is good parenting. When they are old enough, they can make decisions about what to do in their own house, but in your house they live by your rules. That is a pretty simple idea.

Answer 2

It may seem harsh,....... but we are lively member's of an active community, living in real time, in a real place.

It would probably also need to be realised,..... that should it come to the attention of an atheist,..... that an idealogical or philosophical delusion, is being deliberately propagated as fact,.... to a young or inexperienced mind,... then sooner or later, a challenge is virtually inevitable.
If the tenet put forward,.... appear's both illogical and irrational, then in the eye's of a realist or atheist,..... this would be deemed a falsicity, or deception.
A spark for vigorous debate.

The crux or pivotal point here,..... is not whom is doing what to who,..... but the accuracy and propriety of the tenet.
With so many examples of erroneous and flawed data,.... virtually evident throughout the scripture's,.... the day's of unquestionable aquiescence, are decreasing with every new generation.
Hence the occurence of dissent.

Walking on water, without sinking like a brick.
Parting the 7 sea's,.... by flinging your arm's around.
Re-sighting a blind man, who was as blind as a bat.
Loading tiger's, cow's, Dinasaur's etc, on an old leaky boat,.... sailing around the world, dropping a sheep here,... a Dinasaur there,.... a cow here, a Tyanasaurus Rex there.
Floating to heaven,.... tumbling to hell.

The list of foolish and nonsensical data,.... evident throughout the bible,..... leave's me unsurprised,... this matter is being contested.

If the church was a little more realistic,.... with fact's and rationale,... then perhap's the scripture's would be more acceptable.

Until that happen's,...... then the present,.... simply remain's the same....

Answer 3

You most certainly can be free to say what you believe. I'm sure that you don't raise your daughter based on the opinions of others. Understand though that this is an open forum. As such you will read things that will bring tears to your eyes and other things that will send a shiver up your spine. God bless.

Answer 4

If someone says 'stop wearing bannanas on your head' and you aren't wearing any, do you stop to argue that you aren't wearing bannanas?

Freedom for oneself also means freedom for others. You were 'free' to simply ignore that message, as I am 'free' to answer any question I choose to. However, if I am using that freedom in proximity of other free individuals (and this is a 'free' community forum, open to all opinions, not simply those of a like-mind) then they have as much right to post whatever they want as well, so long as it doesn't pose a direct physical danger (the old 'yelling fire in a theatre' free-speech standard.)

Judging 'non-Christians' based upon a small community (and Yahoo Answers R&S is a very small community indeed) does not demonstrate many of the qualities one is supposed to adhere to as a follower of Christ. Perhaps the reason you were so upset by the answer was not because of what it said (wearing bananas on your head) but because of what it revealed about you. Jesus himself said "A man cannot serve two masters" and he wasn't just talking about money, he was also talking about those things we focus our attention about. Worrying about 'Satan' or the opinions of others instead of worrying about adhering to the spirit of Jesus' teachings can be the same as 'serving two masters.' Is it 'love' that you are teaching and demonstrating, or something else?

Answer 5

I would attack you so viciously about your beliefs, but as an athiest, I would urge to not blindly follow Christianity because that is what you were taught. consider the alternative, answer the athiests' questions honestly (not just reciting scripture), and make a decision based on whatever you feel--just don't follow blindly.
Chilrdren believe in Santa Clause, and the easter Bunny, and the tooth fairy...They will believe in anything that you tell them is real. So you if you boldly proclaim that god is real they will follow you...So, in my opinion, Christians shouldn't preach it as if it were fact, instead let it be known that they are your beliefs. this way the children are open to find their own way

Answer 6

well, this is a PUBLIC forum and not a Christians Only forum so when you announce to such a diverse audience that you're applying religious conditioning to your child you're bound to get some negative comments.

teach your child whatever you want but i gotta tell ya that as a child i was deeply conditioned to Christianity and it's taking me years of strenuously honest self searching to extricate myself from the cage my loving but misguided parents locked me into. IMO force feeding children myths as an educational staple is a very bad idea.

as for fair ... well, the world ain't fair. is it? and it's not like Christians are the most fair minded group of humans on the planet either. or don't you notice how nasty your peers can get?

Answer 7

If you want to teach your children about Jesus, then go right ahead and teach them. If you want to tell people you love Jesus, then go right ahead and do it.
It's not abuse to teach you're children about Jesus and what He taught. You're looking after your children and making sure they have a Personal Relationship with the Lord.
Don't let people get you down. Stay strong in your faith.
God Bless!

Answer 8

I don't believe I have ever heard anyone say it is child abuse to teach your child your belief system. The only time it has ever been an issue has been when a person's belief caused the child real harm.
Just because other people do not believe the same way you do really has nothing to do with you or your child. It is more about their freedom to not believe and about people not graciously accepting a different belief.

Answer 9

Romans 10
2 Peter 3
1 & 2 Thes

Answer 10

Hey, I'm all for following a spiritual path, and believing in whatever higher power we believe in. You worship Jesus. Personally, I believe in God, as I understand Him.
But when you start preaching your religion to people, you run the risk of offending a lot of people, who, just like you, have the right to believe in what they choose. Your children are your own, and teaching them good values is a plus, but eventually, they will make up their own minds about what they believe anyway.
As for the whole "Satan entering your heart" stuff, well, that's pretty creepy to scare a child like that. They are young and impressionable, as you know, but why would you want to freak them out like that? I was afraid of the bogeyman, or a monster under my bed as a kid, but I can't begin to imagine the nightmares I would've had, if my parents were talking to me about Satan entering my heart!!! I'd much rather be told that a loving God is there for me, that I'm never alone, and that everything is exactly as it should be. I believe in Faith, not fear.