once you tell them they have to believe or they go to hell, doesn't take free will out of it, because then they don't feel free to choose their own path?
2007-09-26 02:22:16 · 48 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
cj - i have 3 wonderful children. my son is 15 and wiccan, a daughter 12 who's a witch, and my little 9 yr old atheist daughter, thanks for asking!
2007-09-26 02:27:31 · update #1
bob - you almost have a point there. but i'm not suggesting to teach them nothing, but to teach them everything! true freedom is to give them all knowledge and let them decide
2007-09-26 02:29:28 · update #2
yes, but it's more than that, because now you are putting a supernatural consequence on something they are bound to do anyway (sin) in one way or another......So now you are messing with their concept of cause and effect, too. This is why i think a higher percentage of people of faith are incarcerated...
2007-09-26 02:25:51 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 4⤋
It is the duty of the parent to teach their children their faith. Look to Jesus, he was schooled in his faith also. A good teacher does not teach by scaring a child (or an adult). God is love, and we teach in love. A child is not held accountable until the 'age of accountability'.... that can be most any age. An age when a child can reason, question, weigh, add to, - you get my point. At the age of accountability, a child or person can weight the things that are presented to them, and they can seek their own answers. This is a good thing. They have the free-will to do that. But God put parents or guardians over children, and you don't just throw a child out in the middle of a busy highway and 'trust' he/she will choose the right path to get to the side of the road and not get killed. God commands us to teach our children.
2007-10-02 05:38:25 · answer #2 · answered by Mercedes 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No more than telling them if they drive too fast they could get thrown in jail. That also takes away free will.
How about using a gun or a knife. That can get you in jail.
Go to the law library and you'll find 10,000 Books all limiting your free will in 200 nations.
Mr. T. owns like 20 or 40 acres of rural property and he once dynamited a tree stump and the powers that be arrested him for blowing up a stump on his own property without first getting their permission and consent.
In other words YOU are NO LONGER the King of your castle.
You have ask George Bush or Mayor Daily before you can flush the toilet to see if you have their permission.
So much for free will and a free society.
2007-09-26 03:03:11 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
I was rasied and taught the beliefs of a religious cult (that God would kill me if I left their way of beliefs) and I left the cult 10 years ago. I investigated various things (including the belief that there is no God) and I became a Christian after my investigations.
People have free will by way of just being a human....we grow up and learn about the world and about differant religions. You choose your own path in life--you don't have your parents or anyone else to blame but yourself. I feel very happy to know that when I die I can stand before God in heaven with no excuses--it will just be "I took the time in life to find out who you are."
2007-09-26 02:29:42 · answer #4 · answered by Viennacardinal 3 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Well, how many adults has this choice been offered to? The free will is in the choosing. No one is ever forced to choose Jesus. No one is ever forced to choose satan.
Unfortunately, we live in a time when we are bound, or at least we are led to believe we are bound, by so many man-made laws, we really don't understand the concept of sovereignty. A free people chose as their heart and mind dictate.
2007-09-26 02:33:26 · answer #5 · answered by High Flyer 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Is it interfering with a child's free will to potty train them?
Or should you wait till he or she is old enough to decide for themselves?
Should you wait till a child is old enough to decide for themselves about morality, or should you teach them right from wrong while they are still young? Doesn't that interfere with ther free will also?
Or don't you realize that a child doesn't have the wisdom or maturity to make these kinds of decisions on their own. That's the very reason God gave the children parents to teach them right from wrong, to teach them morality, to potty train them, and to help them to grow up as a loving, mature, successful adult.
2007-09-26 02:47:36 · answer #6 · answered by no1home2day 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
((((((RIEGAN!!!))))))) *gives big 'ol hug*
Well, we teach Hannah (who is 5) that Jesus was sent by God to help people, cure the sick, feed the 5000, and the other little stories in her little story bible...then He died on a cross so that we won't have to go to the "devil's house"---(hell sounds to weird coming out of a sweet little 5 year old's mouth) and that God and Jesus love us all very much and He is with her everyday, and helps protect her. NOW, that being said, who says when she gets her brother's age she won't change her mind. YES, I SAID *HER* MIND. (her half brother by a diff dad) he is 12. their grandfather is an atheist and a primate specialist (sorry his title escapes me)at UGA, and this little boy is SMART. he will tell you in a skinny minute that he is an agnostic...that right there tells me that when kids get older and exposed to the world, that's when they start to mold who they are going to be in life...if you don't believe that, ask my mother! LOL!!!
have a great day, sweetie...i gotta get some work done.
2007-09-26 02:35:03 · answer #7 · answered by ddking37 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The Scripture says, "Train up a child in the way it should go. When it grows old, it will not depart." WE have a spiritual responsibility to give our children faith training. What they do with it is up to them, especially if we teach it to them as properly as we know how and are guided by God.
2007-09-26 06:28:29 · answer #8 · answered by bigvol662004 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Until the age of accountability a child really has no free will. They are made to go to school and learn things they probably don't want to. They are made to learn to eat foods they don't like-so how is teaching them about christianity any different. I don't see it.
2007-09-26 02:33:56 · answer #9 · answered by dee 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
you can teach a child out of the love of Jesus without putting the fear of God in them which serves no purpose. When the child gets older they can learn a little more about religion on their own and make a honest informed decision. Any type of negative teaching is going to make the child afraid and make them want to distance themselves from the lesson. I responded in a negative fashion in Church and school when these methods were used. As I grew older and learned through love the real message of Christ was a blessing to learn.
2007-09-26 02:30:15 · answer #10 · answered by nocateman 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
No. Everybody makes choices based on what they know and what they believe they know. So no matter what they are given as supposed knowledge, then they still choose to believe it or not and to do with it as they please. This is true of anything they are exposed to. It may make it more difficult for them to feel free to go against anything they have been taught, but they still have that choice and so they still have freewill in the matter.
2007-09-26 02:30:51 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋