dont u think u shud let ya child choose there own religon?

Question

and wat they belive in
my dad is chritsin n my mum is no reliogn
so they decided 2 let us choose wat we belive in andif we wanted 2 prey or go 2 a place of worship
or follow a set religon
i decidc not 2 follow a religon but i do belive there is sumin higgher than us
but my bor doesnt belive in antihn
n my sis agrees wit me
wat do u think shud a religon b forecd on 2 a child wen it isd born?
thanxx
soz if theres any spellin mistakes

i dont mean like 3-4 yr olds like there teen years
but the parent shud jus tell the child from a young age its up 2 u

i was always guided by my paretns in every other way apart form my faith
that was up 2 me and i first started thinking bout wen i was like 9 and decided wat i wanted 2 belive im now 18 and still stick 2 wat i belive in even thogh ppl av tried 2 convince me there religons is soo good n great i dont feel the need 2 have 2

2 micheal
m my father didnt feel the need 2 push us in to sometihng and he is abrilliant father he works hard 4 all of us he and my mum adopted 3 children sum years ago and is a briloiant kind man who belive in choice so i think he will b judged 4 that no 4 foreceing reliogn on his 6 children

Answer 1

Absolutely I mean it's better to allow your child to find out for themselves what church is right because sometimes they don't share the same values as their parents.

My mom is a seventh day adventist
My dad is a jehovah's witness
My grandma was a baptist
The rest of my family are catholics


But that didnt stop me from becoming a latter day saint :)

Oh I am still a teen

Answer 2

I don't think any religion should be forced on a child. Parents should let their child make their own decision. You don't need religion to teach children how to be good people. Neither of my parents are religious but I know not to hurt people, I know stealing is wrong. Do religious people really think that non religious people have no values or morals as the first answer to this question sugests?

The problem with forcing a religion on a child is its akin to brainwashing because they're so impressionable when they're young and they'll believe anything that you tell them.

Answer 3

Yes, that is what I want my child to do... if God gives me free will why shouldn't I offer it to my son? I plan to teach him everything I know. I am teaching him everything about the world, everything about God and His love, how to pray and how to hate evil, and love goodness... to love others, how to be open minded, how other people worship and how they believe... because I believe that knowledge can be power. The more knowledge you have about God, yourself, others and the world around you the more prepared you will be to deal properly with everything when you are faced with those things... it also helps to make wise, yet unjudgemental (toward others) decisions on who and what you want to become. I am very protective of my son, but I do not over-shelter him. To do so, I believe would be foolish... it breeds naivity and therefore increased vulnerability. I also teach him that some people do not believe in any Gods. I teach him the theory of evolution and creationism both, and the various reasons for what others believe... we don't get into all the arguments that go on as yet, because he is only 8 years old and more interested in playing, but He seems to be choosing to believe in God. My son actually leads a very rich spiritual life for an 8 yr old... He is a very happy and wise child... and I thank God for him everyday no matter what he does or chooses or becomes or wants to believe in life.. I will love him and feel the very same about him. Just as i promised God (6 years before he was born)... I will trust God with my life and with my son's life. No matter what happens... I love and trust God unreservedly.

Answer 4

My father was Roman Catholic who'd had a falling out with the church and my mother was Methodist. They wanted me to decide on my own religion so beginning around 10 years old I spent about a year going to various churches in the area. I was exposed to Presbyterian, Episcopalian (closest to Catholic my dad would attend), Methodist, Baptist, and Lutheran.

What I saw was they all, either subtly or overtly, said "If you don't believe as I do, you will burn in Hell for eternity." At first I worried over which was right and what would happen to me if I picked the wrong one, and maybe the right one was one I had not been to. Then I had this thought: "What if they ALL are wrong?" That, coupled with all the hypocracy I saw in the various congregations, felt right. I've spent the past 40+ years believing in my own version of God and am quite comfortable with what my death will bring.

So to answer your question, I do believe a child (and anyone else) should be allowed to follow their own path. There is no "right path", other than the one that brings peace to your heart and allows you to operate for the highest good of all.

Bless your heart.

Answer 5

Religion should NEVER be taught to children. Reasoning should be taught.

However, reasoning is hard to teach because a parent must be able to first reason himself, before he/she can teach how to reason to children. This is why most people find religion an easy way out of having to make the effort of reasoning. Religion is a pre-packaged philosophy that someone else prepared for us. All we have to do is believe in it.

Children can't CHOOSE a philosophy - religious or not. How can they? And on what basis? If their friends go to a church, they probably will choose to go too. It takes several years to answer the philosophical questions of life. Most intelligent people do not conclude their inquiry - they continue to consider different points of view and study to learn logic so that their ideas do not contradict reality. Only in this way one can really choose a philosophy for living correctly.

Answer 6

"soz if theres any spellin mistakes"
I'm sorry - there must be something the matter with me.
I just don't have the patience to de-cypher what this child is talking about although the question seems quite good and my answer is: Yes - children should be free to choose.

Answer 7

Parents should teach their children about God. Children are not capable of making decisions for themselves. It doesn't have to be forced, but introduced slowly as with any other subject a child is learning. It grows as they grow. I don't let my kids decide what they want to eat, what is right or wrong, what websites they can go to. I guide them, I teach them. It's the same with religion. When they are adults they will do as they wish with my blessings.

Answer 8

Absolutely but bring them up with values of course so that they have some direction. In my religion we allow a child to choose whether they want to be baptized as early as 8 but no sooner.

Answer 9

First, learn to find the spell check button.
Second, while I believe children should choose their own religion when they are older, I do feel it is appropriate for parents to give them a foundation of religion. Without education, it is hard to make an informed decision.

Answer 10

You cannot force a child to believe anything. You can expose them to certain ideas, praise some ideas and criticize others, encourage some words and deeds and discourage or punish others, but you can't force belief. All you can do is create an environment more or less conducive to a particular set of beliefs and even this isn't always reliable.

But neither children nor adults can choose their beliefs. Again, they can choose to listen to or not listen to certain people or ideas, choose to read or not read certain books, choose to study or not study certain questions, choose to associate with one group of people or another.

What they come to believe will be a result of that, but to speak of simply "choosing" to believe or not to believe is nonsense.

ADDITIONAL

All that being said, and perhaps more to the point of your question, it i of course a parent's responsibility to guide their child's education, to engage in discussions with them, to pay attention to what they read and with whom the associate, and to guide their activities (which may include attendance of religious functions), though this control will lessen as the child grows.

I think whatever a parent's views, they'll find it much more effective to employ gentle persuasion, particularly as the child gets older, rather than the child seeing religion as a power struggle, a source of resentment, and a way to assert independence.

But a parent certainly is entitled to insist a child attend church, establishing this as a habit and as a matter of course, especially during the early years. Just as they may insist the family eat dinner together or participate in other activities as a family.

And I say this as someone who is not religious.