Indoctrinating Children in Religion

[Lek]

We all indoctrinate our children with our beliefs. Many atheists have stated in this forum that they wouldn't allow their children to be exposed to christianiy or other religions. Kids are being told by parents all the time that there is no God. We also send our kids to school whether they want to go or not. Most kids, if given the choice, would choose not to go. If I believe that we need God for our salvation and existence, why would I purposely withhold that from my children? Do you think I'm not going to tell my children to look both ways before crossing the street, but rather let them learn that for themselves or wait until they are sixteen? As for circumcision, I was circumcised and I had my son circumcised. We're both very happy about it. As far as I know, my brothers are all fine with it too. A friend of mine in the military had it done to him in his twenties, and he wished he had it done as a baby. I also made sure my children got their shots, which they didn't appreciate at the time.

[robvalue]

Strawman.

I don't think any atheists have said they would shield their children from christianity. Certainly not the majority. Why would we hide it from our kids? And we'd tell them there is no God? No. Strawman. You're either accidentally or deliberately misrepresenting us, in order to try and equate atheism with religion when they are nothing alike.

Why would we need to hide any religion from our child? Refusing to indoctrinate them is not hiding it from them.

Again, shots and circumcision, completely different. It's great that you all happen to be OK with it, but I would have been furious with you had you done it to me (circumcision).

[watchamadoodle]

Indoctrination reminds me of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers". Once the alien organism takes over a human host, that host brings its family and friends to be taken over.

[Norman Humann]

We all indoctrinate our children with our beliefs. Many atheists have stated in this forum that they wouldn't allow their children to be exposed to christianiy or other religions. Kids are being told by parents all the time that there is no God.

That is all nice and great, but telling children that there is no god isn't nearly as harmful as telling them that there is one who is sending them to hell for their nature.

We also send our kids to school whether they want to go or not. Most kids, if given the choice, would choose not to go.

Not indoctrination.

indoctrinate
verb in·doc·tri·nate \in-ˈdäk-trə-ˌnāt\

: to teach (someone) to fully accept the ideas, opinions, and beliefs of a particular group and to not consider other ideas, opinions, and beliefs

If I believe that we need God for our salvation and existence, why would I purposely withhold that from my children?

By ensuring their happiness in a very dubious afterlife, there's a chance you're ruining the life they actually have.

Also, why don't you teach them all religions? After all, yours might be wrong. What about their salvation then?

Do you think I'm not going to tell my children to look both ways before crossing the street, but rather let them learn that for themselves or wait until they are sixteen?

You can't possibly compare drilling ideas into children's heads to teaching them behaviors necessary for their well-being. That's ridiculous.

As for circumcision, I was circumcised and I had my son circumcised. We're both very happy about it. As far as I know, my brothers are all fine with it too. A friend of mine in the military had it done to him in his twenties, and he wished he had it done as a baby.

That's great -- for you and your kid. But what about those who regret it?

Don't you think it's a tad immoral to mutilate a baby's genitals?

Is it necessary to go to heaven?

I also made sure my children got their shots, which they didn't appreciate at the time.

Not indoctrination. Also, as above, you can't possibly compare bringing them up in a religion to a medical procedure.

[Clueless Morgan]

Teach your kids how to think, not what to think. Encourage questions. Provide them with good source material so they can learn to look up things themselves.

This is pretty much the attitude my mother has expressed in raising my sister and I, and even so, when I told her I was an atheist at 16/17 she responded that I was going to go to hell.

Just because you raise a child to ask questions and investigate the world doesn't mean you aren't also personally invested in whether they ultimately agree with your beliefs.

[Lek]

Strawman.

I don't think any atheists have said they would shield their children from christianity. Certainly not the majority. Why would we hide it from our kids? And we'd tell them there is no God? No. Strawman. You're either accidentally or deliberately misrepresenting us, in order to try and equate atheism with religion when they are nothing alike.

Why would we need to hide any religion from our child? Refusing to indoctrinate them is not hiding it from them.

Again, shots and circumcision, completely different. It's great that you all happen to be OK with it, but I would have been furious with you had you done it to me (circumcision).

I have my children get their shots and have them circumcised because I believe that it is good for them. I tell them about God because I believe it's good for them. If your kids asked you about God, would you tell them that most people believe in him and that they can make up their own minds, or would you tell them that you don't believe that there is a God? Of course we pass our own values and beliefs on to our children. We want what is best for them.

You said that you don't think most atheists would shield their children from christianity. If your kids came home from school and said that someone had been teaching them about christianity, would you be okay with that? I think we all try to shield our children from what we believe to be harmful to them. Also, teaching children about christianity doesn't preclude not teaching them about critical thinking.

[Crossless2.0]

Teach your kids how to think, not what to think. Encourage questions. Provide them with good source material so they can learn to look up things themselves.

This is pretty much the attitude my mother has expressed in raising my sister and I, and even so, when I told her I was an atheist at 16/17 she responded that I was going to go to hell.

Just because you raise a child to ask questions and investigate the world doesn't mean you aren't also personally invested in whether they ultimately agree with your beliefs.

True. I admit that I would have been unhappy if my son had gone in for some form of Evangelical Christianity or Islam. I wasn't neutral when it came to the outcome. But I did encourage him to read the Bible (and had read many of its stories to him when he was young enough for bedtime reading); I encouraged him to check out other religious systems; and I exposed him to science and history from an early age. I was also up front with him about my atheism but always spoke of it in his presence as my opinion -- one with which most people (including most of his extended family) disagree. And if he had chosen a religious path, I would have supported him in his decision regardless of my misgivings.

[Ravenshire]

We all indoctrinate our children with our beliefs. Many atheists have stated in this forum that they wouldn't allow their children to be exposed to christianiy or other religions. Kids are being told by parents all the time that there is no God.

Personally, I allowed both my kids to learn and decide for themselves. They've attended various churches as well as hearing from me that "I do not believe in gawd(s)" (not a declaration that there are none). They have determined on there own that they see no reason to believe in gawd(s). One is a self proclaimed atheist, the other a self proclaimed agnostic.

We also send our kids to school whether they want to go or not. Most kids, if given the choice, would choose not to go. If I believe that we need God for our salvation and existence, why would I purposely withhold that from my children?

There are demonstrable reasons for having our children taught a variety of tangible skills (reading, writing, arithmetic) but no tangible evidence that teaching them that a specific gawd (or any gawd at all) provides anything but the illusion of comfort in their lives.

Do you think I'm not going to tell my children to look both ways before crossing the street, but rather let them learn that for themselves or wait until they are sixteen?

Again, tangible evidence that teaching you kid to look both ways has merit.

As for circumcision, I was circumcised and I had my son circumcised. We're both very happy about it. As far as I know, my brothers are all fine with it too.

Neither of you know anything else. Condoning an unnecessary medical practice performed on someone who cannot give consent is despicable. Doing it to a defenseless child should be considered child abuse.

A friend of mine in the military had it done to him in his twenties, and he wished he had it done as a baby.

Good for him. He made a conscious decision to mutilate his own body. So do people who go in for tattoos, branding, scarification, piercing and any other type of body modification. The point is, they were able to and gave consent to the procedure. Hell, in order to get my ear pierced, I had to sign a consent form. I believe it's codified into law here for any type of body mod.

I also made sure my children got their shots, which they didn't appreciate at the time.

Again, something with a tangible evidence showing the advantages of immunization over getting diseases.

Your gawd and your religion have no tangible evidence of providing anything other than a sense of comfort.

[Norman Humann]

I have my children get their shots and have them circumcised because I believe that it is good for them. I tell them about God because I believe it's good for them. If your kids asked you about God, would you tell them that most people believe in him and that they can make up their own minds, or would you tell them that you don't believe that there is a God? Of course we pass our own values and beliefs on to our children. We want what is best for them.

Except what is factually good for your children -- shots, for example -- cannot be compared to indoctrinating them with ideas and beliefs, which does not bring them any factual good and can do quite a lot of harm which is difficult to reverse.

[Ravenshire]

If your kids asked you about God, would you tell them that most people believe in him and that they can make up their own minds, or would you tell them that you don't believe that there is a God?

I told them the truth, not the partial truth you state above. When they asked, This is essentially what I told them: There are many (no where near most) that believe in the gawd of the buy-bull (without the antagonistic spellings ) but that many also believe in the god of the Koran. There are also a shit-ton that believe in Buddha, Krishna and many others. There are some who believe in many and many who believe in none at all. It's up to you to figure out what makes sense to you.

Would I have been disappointed if one of them had fallen for the bullshit? Sure. Would I have disowned them as many "Good Christians" would have done. Absolutely not. That being said, I really am glad that my kids will never fear a mythical place in an imaginary afterlife made up by someone else!