Does anyone else beleive it is incredibly wrong for a parent to force their religion on their children?

Question

Shouldnt kids be left to find their own religion? and if they dont find one, then maybe they dont need one?

Answer 1

I believe it is wrong to Force a religion, yes. Educate about religions? No, that is not wrong.

I am a pagan/wiccan/christian mystic, etc. etc. etc (getting tired of explaining my religion) and I do talk to my kids about nature based religions, but I have also exposed them to Christianity, (my youngest is getting Christian education through sunday school now), and they have also been exposed to Buddhism, Native American religion, and a smattering of Hinduism.. I encourage them to ask questions, to think about religion, to question, etc.

My 16 year old recently told me one thing he loves about our family is that discussion about religion is encouraged and no idea is rejected.

I want my kids to find their own path, no matter what it is.

Right now one of them is an atheist, one is a Christian/pagan, and one is sort of Buddhist, perhaps Agnostic.

In my eyes, that is beauty and it means I am doing my job of letting them think for themselves.

Answer 2

You are 100% correct on that answer. Parents should never force their beliefs on anyone, especially their children. But then look at the way that Christians, for example, describe God. That you are forced to follow him and love him (even though you have never met him) or else he will punish you for the rest of eternity. So really no different than what theist parents do to what God supposedly does, forcing themselves on their children.

Answer 3

Its good to show your children what religion is, but never force it on them. My father was the type that forced religion down our throats and now that all the kids are grown. No one goes to the same church he does. Its a good way to make your kids hate you. Religion is a personal issue

Answer 4

I think it is wrong. I don't have kids... but my brother decided, after going to church for years, that he doesn't believe in God. My mom keeps asking him why and it's so annoying. I think we should all be able to find out what we believe on our own rather than having it forced upon us.

Answer 5

first, in my mind, religion is not something to be looked at as needed, but as wanted, which are two seperate things, you look at the evidence, and its kinda like a huge jury, some people believe the evidence, some don't, for those who believe it, like me...we don't "need" religion, but since we believe it then we "want" a relationship with God and Jesus, which is actually different from religion, God "hates" religion, he has laws and rules, but they do not go hand and hand with religion, anything that makes something to difficult to have a relationship with him is considered "religion" and God does not want those things, examples..prayers that have to be said at certain times, rosaries, confessionals, songs that have to be sung at required times, etc etc etc. so that being said, yes I believe that forcing religion on a child is wrong, why? because its pointless, if you are following God and Jesus because your being forced to, then you don't have your heart in it, your not following him on your own, and its pointless, if its not true in your heart then your not really following them, so, my family and I go to church on Sundays, we discuss the stories, and my husband and I actually have some different thoughts on what the stories are and what they mean, where they came from,etc, so we discuss them, he tells our children what he believes and why, I tell them what I believe and why, and then we let them make up their own minds, if they have questions we are more then willing to answer them, and if we don't have the answers we simply say so, we let them know, they won't ever be able to know everything, they won't ever be able to find proof on everything, its not all about clear evidence, but that alot of it relies on faith, and then we let them make their own decisions. I don't think it would be reasonible to expect your thoughts and views to never touch your children, after all, they do live in the same house with you, and most likely if you are going somewhere on worship days they are probably going with you, depending on their age. and what about those who are not religious, or non believers, which to me is a religion itself, after all do non believers have solid proof that God is not real? (and that would be any God or belief, not just the christian one) what do they do when their child comes home with books from the library on religion? if the child asks them a question on it and they can't answer it? or they tell them its not real, or its just made up stories? is that not forcing a view on the child? so what happens for those children? are they able to make their own decisions? are they able to have somewhere to go to get their questions answered by more than one person, to have the evidence from all sides presented to them to be able to make their own decisions?

Answer 6

Definitely. I am agnostic. My4 year old daughter has a childrens bible that was her dads when he was little. She likes to look at it from time to time. Do I rip it out of her hands and tell her it's all a bunch of crap? I would like to. But I don't. I will let her make her own decisions about religion or lack there of.

Answer 7

If parents did not feed their children, they would be hauled into court, sentenced to jail.
If they did not clothe their children, they would be deemed outcasts.
Why insist that the responsibility of parents is simply physical?
Aren't parents also responsible for their child's emotional needs?
Mental needs?
And, if yes, why not spiritual assistance?

Answer 8

I don't, I think its terribly wrong not to offer the truth and hope of ones faith to their children.

Answer 9

No, it is not wrong. That is one of parents' most important task in bringing up their children. "Teaching them the way they should go." Maybe the children don't think they need it, but usually later in life they will be glad about it.

Answer 10

I am totally convinced that it's child abuse. It completely squashes human potential and creativity. It teaches children to be opposed to new ideas and it makes them fearful and encourages low self-esteem.