Is teaching religion to children a form of child abuse?

Question

"Innocent children are being saddled with demonstrable falsehoods," he says. "It's time to question the abuse of childhood innocence with superstitious ideas of hellfire and damnation. Isn't it weird the way we automatically label a tiny child with its parents' religion?"

"Sectarian religious schools," Dawkins asserts, have been "deeply damaging" to generations of children.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=48252

Why or why not?

Is the fear of god embedded deeply into the psyche of children and adults who were reared by religionists?

Galahad: you're making an awful lot of assumptions about my character based upon a simple question. . .

Hairypotto: I read Cambell years ago and am still a fan of his ideas.. although I wish some of his writing was more succinct.

I am Jack's . . . : I personally have not read Dawkins apart from a few snippets here and there.

PS I rarely give thumbs down to anyone, regardless of differing opinions.

Answer 1

it depends on how its presented. If one faith is hammered into a child under threat of corporal punishment that's child abuse plain and simple. If children are positively reinforced for answers that parrot only certain beliefs that's brainwashing. If children are exposed all belief systems (including atheism) in an unbiased fashion that's education!

read The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales by Bruno Bettelheim
And
The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell
Bettelheim posits that if children are allowed to read about the trials, tribulations, successes and failures encountered by the heroes of fairy tales, this will better prepare them for the trials, tribulations, successes and failures that they will encounter in their own lives. The role of the hero figured largely in Campbell's comparative studies. In 1949 The Hero with a Thousand Faces introduced his idea of the monomyth (borrowed from James Joyce), which outlined some of the archetypal patterns Campbell recognized. Heroes were important to Campbell because, to him, they conveyed universal truths about one's personal self-discovery and self-transcendence, one's role in society, and the relationship between the two. All this is true of Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Harry Potter, I assume the Qur'an, Book of Mormon, Vedas and the Bible.
IMVHO

Answer 2

I believe that forcing a child to 'believe' in the doctrines of a specific religion is indeed a form of abuse. The main factor I use to form my opinion is the threat of eternal punishment. It is irrational and immoral to threaten a child with such a gross injustice. I wish it was not forced upon me when I was a child and I have never forced it on my own children. I believe that most religions create an intellectual and spiritual weakness that many people have a difficult time overcoming when they mature enough to know it's all a bunch of lies based on fear tactics and that moral behavior is innate in a normal human being so the need for religion to act as a moral compass is ludicrous.

Answer 3

Since the Government does nothing but take from my family they have no say what I do or do not do for my children. The Government cannot even balance the budget or get a firm hold on crime and World situations so I think they need to stay out of the home.

Seems everyone blames the parents no matter what is done. We spank our children and you tell us we cannot then the children grow up and have no discipline or morality and many end up in jail or on death row. Yet these same concerned people will allow women to kill their inconvient children in wholesale murder.

Freedom of Religion and separation of Church and State means the State cannot tell me how to raise my child. I would sooner see my children in the ground than raised by godless Government officials.

Answer 4

If it's true, then no, it's just teaching them about the world, and can provide comfort and a foundation against spiritual attacks.

If it's false, only if telling kids about Santa is child abuse. The worst you can do to them is waste their time, either for just their childhoods or the rest of their lives. But I think people will choose for themselves how involved they want to be once they reach a certain age.

True or false, it's ALWAYS child abuse if you stress legalism over grace, forgiveness, freedom, and God's love. If you use scare-tactics with kids (or anyone else), you are not doing it right. There is a right and wrong way to teach your children about anything. Most parents avoid long discussions of hell or the devil, simply to save their children from stress and nightmares. Even so, what do they have to fear if the parents assure them that they are saved, either because they have not yet reached the age of accountability, or because they have "accepted Jesus" into their hearts. As a child, my mom told me about Satan, but it never scared me and I never felt forced into believing in Jesus. I just took it as a fact like "the sky is blue". "2 and 2 is four." "Daddy loves me". "Jesus loves me and I won't go to hell". Simple, non-threatening, and fine, at least until I reached the age of questioning it.

I've read Dawkins. I don't think he's a good source for atheism. He ignores a lot of evidence, and only uses what he agrees with or wants to see. He strikes me as smug, and kinda blind to what actually goes on in the Christian world, no offense. Just reading his book and his points makes me shake my head and wish he'd look at the other side before he set his refutable ideas out into the world for uneducated people to believe.

Just because you have a personal vendetta doesn't mean a child is going to go crazy if exposed to it. You might, but kids like it unless they are forced against their will. Kids crave stability, comfort, assurance, and answers. Christianity provides that.

As you pick your best answer, I would like to see you pick one that honestly challenged you, made you think, pissed you off bc it hit a nerve, or struck you as insightful, not just the one that repeated your prior knowledge or opinions. I find that most people in this section give thumbs up and down not based on answer quality, but on agreeing or disagreeing. This annoys me. If you are free-thinking and open-minded, show it.

Answer 5

And the alternative? Billions of children globally in vast federally-funded complexes where they are raised to be scientists after being forcibly deprived of parents because a tiny percentage of hard-core atheists don't like their parent's beliefs? I think you've been brainwashed. By the way,I did read Dawkin's book. It's junk. It's the epitome of psuedo-science. It's perfect for tv and I expect he's on tv constantly. I'm sure it sells well - with the kind of people who watch tv morning,noon and night. Personally,I believe in freedom of thought,freedom of expression and freedom of religion. Most people in the this country and on this earth are religious and they are entitled to raise their children in accord with their beliefs,whether they be Christian or Buddhist or whatever. Your kind of atheist reminds me of the smug and inhuman superiority of the 19th century missionary. They also felt that Buddhist or Hindu children should be removed from their parents,lest they be brought up to the Wrong Beliefs. That attitude is almost indistinct from yours. There is one difference,though. Christianity outgrew it. Atheists didn't.

Answer 6

It depends on the teaching - a friend of mine went to a 'christian' school where speaking in tongues was actively encouraged and the students were told they were going to hell if they did not follow Christ. I know of others that have been home schooled and kept away from 'damaging' and 'corrupting influences.'

People should be encouraged to learn about the world and be able to form their own opinions. They should make the right decisions based on their own moral code not because of fear of retribution.

Answer 7

Oh, it's from World Nut Daily.

Then, Dawkins must be right since John Farah has always lied.

What Dawkins refers to are the public schools in Scotland and Northern Ireland, where you are assigned to a school according to faith. Tell me the positive results. You already know about N. Ireland but I doubt you know Scotland has the same problems over sectarianism simmering below the surface, even with pro soccer teams for Catholic and Protestant fans.

Answer 8

Teaching "religion"....well, that's wrong, but I would not call it abuse. Teaching children to have a personal relationship with God, the creator of the universe? That's not religion but a relationship and it is abuse to NOT teach them that.

Answer 9

Definitely. Most religions are based on fear of eternal damnation. How can a child know that as parents we will always love and accept who they are without judging them if we are filling their heads with garbage? How can he feel good about himself if he is gay? You don't teach a child that god if the almighty and forgiving but hey, there is still a chance you will rot in hell. Definitely damaging to know that you don't cut the grade.

Answer 10

It depends. You should expose your child to many beliefs but without pushing it on them in any way. If the parents force it on the child then the child may suffer some "damage" but the effects would mostly consist of being a closed minded hypocrite that refuses to question their faith as well as many things in our reality.