I love my parents, certainly wouldn't wish any harm on them, and know that they meant no harm in teaching me about Jesus as I grew up. But nonetheless, I believe it is wrong to do that... and all I wish was that they and other theists would understand why. Children are both trusting and lack the mental competence to make informed decisions about what they hear, therefore information imparted to children at a young age is implanted rather than coming as the result of a reasoned, rational decision making process. Either way produces beliefs, but the former slips them in by the back door. I wish theists could understand that... it is as if theists have no respect at all for how someone comes to believe something... as if an extreme example, where belief comes about through hypnosis - the ultimate in slipping beliefs in through the back door - would be perfectly acceptable to them.
So that's the question I'd ask theists; do you believe that when the Bible says 'whoever believeth in me will have eternal life', it means 'whoever believeth in me, by whatever method, informed and consenting or not, will have eternal life'? Or do you think it means 'whoever believeth in me, through their own will and endeavours, will have eternal life'? I'd opt for the latter if I was a theist. It also seems a moot point anyway for theists to spend all this effort priming/indocrinating their children into their faith; not only does it diminish the child's say in the belief that results, but theists are always going on about how perfectly acceptable Abraham's attempted sacrifice was because the child was innocent and would therefore go to heaven anyway. Likewise, supposedly anyone who does not know about Jesus would also go to heaven by default. These being the case, why not just let the child grow up and make an informed and uninfluenced decision, sans any emotional baggage/indoctrination/bias, when they reach adulthood and can competently think for themselves? By your own logic they wouldn't go to hell anyway as children and/or not knowing about it. Then the belief, if one results in adulthood, would be entirely of their own making and not someone else's, which I personally think, if god exists, would be what he'd want.
So that's the question I'd ask theists; do you believe that when the Bible says 'whoever believeth in me will have eternal life', it means 'whoever believeth in me, by whatever method, informed and consenting or not, will have eternal life'? Or do you think it means 'whoever believeth in me, through their own will and endeavours, will have eternal life'? I'd opt for the latter if I was a theist. It also seems a moot point anyway for theists to spend all this effort priming/indocrinating their children into their faith; not only does it diminish the child's say in the belief that results, but theists are always going on about how perfectly acceptable Abraham's attempted sacrifice was because the child was innocent and would therefore go to heaven anyway. Likewise, supposedly anyone who does not know about Jesus would also go to heaven by default. These being the case, why not just let the child grow up and make an informed and uninfluenced decision, sans any emotional baggage/indoctrination/bias, when they reach adulthood and can competently think for themselves? By your own logic they wouldn't go to hell anyway as children and/or not knowing about it. Then the belief, if one results in adulthood, would be entirely of their own making and not someone else's, which I personally think, if god exists, would be what he'd want.
