Should parents teach their kids to follow their religion?

Question

Or would it be more ethical to let kids decide their own religion once they're old enough? forcing your kid to go to church with you is exactly the same as brainwashing... I don't think you should choose a religion until you've studied them all and made an educated decision.

And in response to czekoskwigel,

Yes those things can be brainwashing, unless you teach them WHY it's wrong, and they choose not to do it on their own. If they do it anyway even though they were taught good reasons not to, then that's their decision.

And kids don't always do what their parents want and then later make their own decision, most of the time (not always) they follow only one religion and don't even bother to study the others. I mean, out of respect for other religions you should at least have the decency to consider them.

Answer 1

No
They should expose them to many religions
and
prove why theirs is the right one to follow

Answer 2

I totally agree with studying EVERY religion. I was raised Catholic (yes, by my parents). I now have two adult grown sons. I had the same opinion a long time ago -- to not bring my kids to church so they could decide what they wanted -- and yes, that ALMOST makes sense. I ended up at an Episcopalian church and grew up in my own head -- realizing that yes it is a good idea to allow your children to decide what they want BUT IF YOU DON'T GIVE THEM ACCESS TO IT AT ALL, how are they going to make a decision or even think about studying which religion best suits them?? There has to be some access to a church for a child to at least THINK about it.

Answer 3

No, not necessarily so.
Would you deny a child an education - to read, write, do maths, etc. - until they were old enough to "decide" whether or not they wanted one?
Would you allow a child to eat whatever they wanted, because its their choice, without guiding them?
Would you allow a child to ride its bike, or drive a car without giving instructions and making sure it was safe?
This is no different. By introducing a child to a religion at the start, you are giving the child a basis to work from. How can a child compare religions if they have no knowledge of any?
My children were raised in my religion, and one has chosen another, and that's OK by me. But at least she had something to base it on, and in comparing the two, we both saw differences, but there were also a lot of similarities.
Too many children now days are adrift, feel abandoned, floating like jetsam on the sea of life because they have no spirtual anchor that holds them steady in the storms of life.

Answer 4

I'm all for letting kids decide what they want to follow and belive instead of forcing your beliefs onto them. You don't want them to be scared into a religion. As long as they understand fully about a religion before they decide that is what they want to follow, I see no reason to keep them from making their own decision. Growing up, I was forced to go to a Catholic church and school (only 2 years on the school) and I went to other churches when I was with friends. I was never comfortable with Catholicism, because it wasn't right for me. I tried other Christian churches, but none of it worked for me either. I decided to start reading about Wicca, which is not Satanic because Wiccans do not believe in Satan, nor is it evil. I found that out of all of the religions that I read up on, which have been a lot, it is the one that I relate to the most, but I still do not know if that is the way I want to go. I'm still deciding because this is a big choice. It shouldn't be taken lightly, and kids need to know that if you decide to let them choose their own path. I know that I'm going to teach my children all about different religions, from Wicca to Catholicism to Buddism and whatever else.

And to cHoIcHoI, you can still be a good person and not be a Christian. If you are a Christian, you can have just as much fault as someone who is an Aetheist. Hitler was raised Catholic and look what kind of person he was!

Answer 5

Yes they SHOULD teach them their religion and also teach them to be open minded and question things.You can believe the truth about something but if you cannot defend it, or explain how and why you came to believe in that truth then it is just hear say and nothing more.However if you believe in something that is true and you can explain why it is true, defend it by showing WHY it is true then there is nothing wrong with teaching it to others.If the child asks how do you know what you believe is true, as long as the parent can tell them why in view of any other questions they have concerning it then fine, if not, then maybe the parent should seek answers.
Kids need moral absolutes, otherwise chaos is the only option left and everyone does what is right in their own eyes.

Answer 6

I agree. My wife goes to an Episcopal church, and I'm agnostic.
She takes our daughter to church, but we're already clear in that she will make her own decisions regardless of what we believe personally.
Of course, a child's parents *are* the role models, and will likely be the kid's idea of what's normal, and I've known many folks who remained with their parents' religion long after leaving home.
I was a bit rebellious, however, and when my questions were either answered with "Faith" or avoided... I decided I'd rather show up at the Pearly Gates with an honest "I don't know" than having faked 'salvation'.

Answer 7

Here the problem. Religion teaches morals values as long with tradition. Also most religions feel the other religion is wrong so parents don’t want their kids following the wrong one. Then what is a parent supposed to do for 18 or more years if they have more kids not go to Church ,temple, mosque etc because they have kids. They need to take them. What about holidays and rituals. ( like Christmas, Easter, Ramdedon (sp), Honinka (sp)) Are you just to ignore them. Now my parents did raise me Christian but in one denomination but said I was free to choose which ever one I was comfortable with when I got older. Notice they did not say go become a Jew. People who are religious don’t want to do that. Then also lots of people identity’s are wrapped up in their religion. It is part of their heritage and they want to pass it on to their kids

Answer 8

I think its a very hard decision to make. Leaving it until such time as children can decide for themselves as to what religion they want to follow is all well and good only if they learn about all religions. But how do you learn about all of them? A good way to learn one for a start is obviously to start taking them to your church, chapel, synagogue whatever so they get to know your religion then can decide if they enjoy or agree with that. They have to experience for themselves before they can decide whether the family religion is the one they might like to follow.

Answer 9

I think that spirituality is an individual journey and that every person has a right to discover their own path.

But I also think that if a parent genuinely believes that their religion is the one true religion, it would make perfect sense that they would pass it on to their children as the gift that it is. It would be uncaring of them not to.

Letting them learn about and experience parts of other religions is important too though, because spirituality is all about understanding truth and coming out of ignorance.

Answer 10

I must respectfully disagree. I understand your point; however, I think the fact that the parents love their own religion enough to want to pass it on to their children is a good thing. I think once children are old enough to decide, parents should allow them to explore their options. It's not brainwashing to take children to Church; it's educating them about what their parents believe and hopefully dedicate their lives (at least a portion of them) to -- what their parents would like to pass on to them.

Answer 11

Well I was taught that the bible says train up a child in the way it should go.So I plan on taking my children to church with me & raising them the way I believe.It is not going to hurt them to go to church with me & learn the way I live.When they get old enough,they can decide if they want to continue in my religion or go a different way.But until then,they will go with me..They are my children & I will decide what is best for them until they get reach the age where they can make their own decisions..I don't care if anyone agrees with my opinion or not.