Why or why not?
2007-10-20 16:26:26 · 45 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Parents should raise their children any way they damn well please! One day, kids are going to grow up and have a whole big world to explore and make up their own minds about. What would be a crying damn shame is if parents didn't teach their kids to value beauty, justice, love and freedom. That will be the downfall of society, not whether someone believes there is God or not.
2007-10-20 16:37:32 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 3⤋
No, not at all. It's better to go through the cultural rigamarole so that the kid doesn't feel as if they've missed anything. Go all the way--12 years of Catholic school is best, as it creates the best stories to tell later.
Religion is good for little people, just like the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. It can then be outgrown in the same fashion. Otherwise, the chold may end up joining the worst of cults in an attempt to find out what they've missed.
2007-10-20 19:49:35 · answer #2 · answered by nora22000 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm atheist, my wife is Buddhist. We never had children, but I would not be opposed to some Buddhist education. (Granted, Buddhism is probably the religion I have the fewest problems with.) It is important to keep in mind that atheism is not a package belief system, but a lack of belief. Atheism is not "indoctrinated" into people the way religion is. For most atheists, myself included, atheism was not taught to me but rather was the end result of rational, logical, scientific thought. Religion is concerned with WHAT you think; reason is concerned with HOW you think. So my wife could send our hypothetical child to Buddhist Sunday school, and I would raise my child to be a rational, logical, empirical thinker. I like to think that our child would take away the good moral teachings of Buddhism, while not embracing the supernatural & mythological components. If my wife were a strong believer in one of the Abrahamic religions (islam/xtianity/judaism), well...they say opposites attract, but I'm not quite sure that's true. Hard to say if she would have been my wife, or if we would have driven each other crazy. (More so than we do now. :-)
2016-05-23 23:12:54 · answer #3 · answered by dona 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You should raise your children any way you damn well please, and equip them to make intelligent, informed decisions when they are old enough. Teach them what you believe, and then let them figure it out for themselves.
BTW, I don't think children are naturally atheist, as someone previously stated. Children are very obviously naturally animist. They attribute the qualities of living things to non-living things such as a favorite blanket or stuffed animal. They also have a natural tendency to anthropomorphize animals in their interactions with them -- assuming human emotions and human relationships. They are not taught this. It is simply the way the human mind develops. If you wish to encourage a child's natural religious instincts, bring them up animist.
2007-10-21 02:01:39 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think that an atheist should raise his/her children to look at the world from a logical/objective point of view. Regarding religion, there is no proof for it, so I don't think an Atheist should encourage something for which there is no evidence.
2007-10-20 16:31:17 · answer #5 · answered by mannzaformulaone 3 · 4⤊ 1⤋
A parent should expose their child to multiple points of view as that's the way the world is... many different perspectives. Of course it's also a parent's prerogative to teach the child what they feel is the most logical, rational viewpoint. A parent out to raise their child in REALITY. If that means raising them as atheists, so be it, but again, don't shut them off from everything else.
2007-10-20 16:29:54 · answer #6 · answered by ZER0 C00L ••AM••VT•• 7 · 8⤊ 0⤋
Well according to some of the atheists on here indoctrinating your children with your personal opinion is child abuse, so I wonder what they would say.....
But I think it is important that the parent does pass on their worldview. I think they are being a responsible parent. Even if I don't agree with what they are teaching at least they are doing their best to allow their children to be productive in society by giving them a worldview.
2007-10-20 16:39:00 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
Children should be raised the way the parents want to raise them.
They will make their own decisions about religion anyway....if they have been raised right.
2007-10-20 16:34:27 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
well, i think that everyone has a right to believe in whatever they want. but when you're kids...you dont really know which way to go. thats why parents guide you. so i think when children are at a younger age..parents should teach their children the options about this religion or that...or no religion at all. and then when they get older and know more. they should decide on their own and find their own way. and believe in what they want.
2007-10-20 16:32:08 · answer #9 · answered by j yanks 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Most atheists strongly believe in the non-existence of God so I guess they would most likely raise their kids as atheists unless they're agnostic.
2007-10-20 16:29:14 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋