Forcing religion on people is wrong

Y

Yongy

New Member
Location
UK
I think it is abusive to try to get people to convert to a religion by using threats, especially if aimed at children and the vulnerable.

My parent's were 'born again' evangelical Christian Biblical literalists. My siblings and I had religion forced upon us, we were told we would burn in hell if we didn't get 'saved'. My sadistic paternal grandmother got her kicks describing the tortures of hell to me from the age of two! In the end I 'gave my heart to Jesus' when I was eleven. However the doubts about the faith soon became too great to ignore and I lost it by the time I married at 19, and left my home island to live in the UK. I certainly haven't missed it.

My husband, also a lapsed 'born again' Christian, and I firmly believe children should be permitted to make up their own minds about religion. Our three daughters are Christians, the eldest an Anglican Priest, but fortunately they are moderate in their beliefs and not Biblical literalists.

Have other posters had religion forced on them?
 

My parents aren’t/ weren’t religious at all BUT if there was an opportunity to ‘take advantage of’ then my parents were all for it and sending us to Sunday School was just what they did. After all, it offered them free baby sitting services for next to nothing at $0.25 per kid.

Did I find it absusive? Considering my parents were very abusive, if this was a form of abuse, then I wish my parents could have absused me this way everyday as opposed to their other sadistic forms of abuse. I liked Sunday School. We learned songs and did crafts. I got to offer a quarter and take back a dime to buy candy.

Whats not to like? :laugh:
 
Keesha said:
My parents aren’t/ weren’t religious at all BUT if there was an opportunity to ‘take advantage of’ then my parents were all for it and sending us to Sunday School was just what they did. After all, it offered them free baby sitting services for next to nothing at $0.25 per kid.

Did I find it absusive? Considering my parents were very abusive, if this was a form of abuse, then I wish my parents could have absused me this way everyday as opposed to their other sadistic forms of abuse. I liked Sunday School. We learned songs and did crafts. I got to offer a quarter and take back a dime to buy candy.

Whats not to like? :laugh:
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I take it you weren't threatened with the fires of hell?
 

I agree with you, not only threats of damnation, but the
"Do Gooders" in the street or that come knocking the door
to save me!

They all get upset when I tell them that I will go to church
if I want to, or not go either, but not to any church that is
trying to force me.

In the town center there are people who stand and shout
phrases from the Bible, or their version of it, that I disagree
with too, Religion is a private matter, like Politics, keep it to
yourself.

Mike.
 
My parents were non-thinking religious. They did things or believed things because that was what you did. They were totally unable to construct an argument as to why they should believe. I was sent to Sunday school where I was argumentative and dragged to church (Presbyterian) which I hated. It was no surprise that I turned against religion and brought up my own children in a non-religious way.

Oddly enough, my sister is very involved in the Baptist church and my brother is an Elder in the Presbyterian church. I was obviously the rebel in the camp!
 
I grew up in a religious church-going family and participated until I was old enough to make my own choices about such things.

I have my beliefs/moral compass but I avoid organized religion/church.
 
Keesha said:
No I was threatened with my father’s own ‘powers of hell.’ I was terrified of my father when I was a kid.
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Poor you, it can't be nice to be terrified of a parent. I wasn't scared of mine even though they were strict, I just did my own thing most of the time, which didn't go down well. My mother was still asking herself where she went wrong with me until the day she did us a favour and kicked the bucket in 2013.:D
 
I was raised Catholic, and kept waiting for that flash of "faith" that was supposed to visit me. It never did. Once I was able to make my own decisions, I stopped going to church and to confession, and felt so much better!

As an adult, I realized how much I disliked organized religion. I would sometimes go to the Wednesday night potlucks that my mother in law urged us to go to. They were harmless, and social events rather than anything actually religious. It took me many years to realize that religion and spirituality are different things. I am a very spiritual person. I raised my children non-denominationally. I encouraged them to check out the many different religions, taught them without the aid of the fear of God and Eternal Damnation to be kind, loving and generous spirited individuals. The Golden Rule was our Mantra.
 
If a god of some sort exists, I hope it is nothing like the one depicted in the Bible.
 
I am one of those who has given my life to Christ. Just a personal observation, but I think all parents (at least those who give one whit about their children) try to impart what they consider to be their more important personal beliefs to their children. Social beliefs. Political beliefs. Economic beliefs. Moral beliefs. Religious beliefs. As with all things human, the parents' ability to do this effectively varies greatly. Some elegantly, some clumsily, most somewhere in between.

That notwithstanding, once the child reaches their late teens or early 20s, young people tend to make up their own minds irrespective of their parents wishes.

As to trying to "force" ones beliefs (social, political, economic, moral, religious) on others, I agree it can be very irritating but increasingly it seems to our nature. Print, broadcast, an internet "news" content has become largely an endless stream of folks loudly proclaiming that their own (social, political, economic, moral, religious) beliefs are the only "right" ones.

Mercifully, at least for now, we still have the right to make up our own minds on these matters.
 
Tommy said:
I am one of those who has given my life to Christ. Just a personal observation, but I think all parents (at least those who give one whit about their children) try to impart what they consider to be their more important personal beliefs to their children. Social beliefs. Political beliefs. Economic beliefs. Moral beliefs. Religious beliefs. As with all things human, the parents' ability to do this effectively varies greatly. Some elegantly, some clumsily, most somewhere in between.

That notwithstanding, once the child reaches their late teens or early 20s, young people tend to make up their own minds irrespective of their parents wishes.

As to trying to "force" ones beliefs (social, political, economic, moral, religious) on others, I agree it can be very irritating but increasingly it seems to our nature. Print, broadcast, an internet "news" content has become largely an endless stream of folks loudly proclaiming that their own (social, political, economic, moral, religious) beliefs are the only "right" ones.

Mercifully, at least for now, we still have the right to make up our own minds on these matters.
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It is very important to teach children the difference between right and wrong, you don't have to be religious to do that. In fact there is more that is wrong in the Bible than right, imo. The god depicted there comes over as a psycho, and that guy Jesus was very human with failings just like the rest of us, if the gospel accounts of his actions were correct.
 
Tommy said:
I am one of those who has given my life to Christ. Just a personal observation, but I think all parents (at least those who give one whit about their children) try to impart what they consider to be their more important personal beliefs to their children. Social beliefs. Political beliefs. Economic beliefs. Moral beliefs. Religious beliefs. As with all things human, the parents' ability to do this effectively varies greatly. Some elegantly, some clumsily, most somewhere in between.

That notwithstanding, once the child reaches their late teens or early 20s, young people tend to make up their own minds irrespective of their parents wishes.

As to trying to "force" ones beliefs (social, political, economic, moral, religious) on others, I agree it can be very irritating but increasingly it seems to our nature. Print, broadcast, an internet "news" content has become largely an endless stream of folks loudly proclaiming that their own (social, political, economic, moral, religious) beliefs are the only "right" ones.

Mercifully, at least for now, we still have the right to make up our own minds on these matters.
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Well said, Tom.

I went to Sunday school as a child and to church later when I married. We also took our kids through the same pages and I don't think any of us were ever harmed by it. Mom went to church, mostly to get me to Sunday school I think. In later life my folks didn't attend church regularly and neither did my wife and I, once our kids were through with Sunday school.

We have not been a family of church-goers but I see no harm with people that do. Their time may be better spent there on a Sunday morning than at a bar on Saturday night, but I make no judgement on whether folks are actively religious or not. None of my affair and in the few times that someone has tried to "lead me to the paths of righteousness" I've managed to fend them off with offending them or being offended myself.

I'm far more annoyed by the political crackpots who have recently appeared on the scene. Something that I had never encountered in my previous 80 or so years.
 
BlueDragonfly said:
I am in agreement. Forcing anything, even religion, on someone is wrong. God gave us free will to make the choices ourselves.
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Hmmmm if it exists god obviously enjoys watching it puppets screwing up, maybe that is how it gets its kicks!
 
So right Yongy.I was dragged off to Catholic Church every Sunday as a child.I rejected everything by age 14 and am an atheist.Kids have to be left to make up their own minds up on this-which doesn't mean they shouldn't study the worlds religions.But no indoctrination.
 
Yongy said:
Hmmmm if it exists god obviously enjoys watching it puppets screwing up, maybe that is how it gets its kicks!
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"Youngy", you've been here a few years ago, at least twice, under 2 different names, with the same rant. You were banned at least twice.

Who do you think you are, undermining people's faith and happiness in a truly insulting way? Keep your insults to yourself! You keep sneaking back here, ranting the same things for several years now; you seem to be obsessed.

I've also seen you on another site spouting much the same vitriol.
 
radishrose said:
"youngy", you've been here a few years ago, at least twice, under 2 different names, with the same rant. You were banned at least twice.

Who do you think you are, undermining people's faith and happiness in a truly insulting way? Keep your insults to yourself! You keep sneaking back here, ranting the same things for several years now; you seem to be obsessed.

I've also seen you on another site spouting much the same vitriol.
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yawn!
 
RadishRose said:
"Youngy", you've been here a few years ago, at least twice, under 2 different names, with the same rant. You were banned at least twice.
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This may be a Matrix, SB or computer whiz question.....I'll admit to knowing absolutely diddly squat about running a web site but if a person registers under more than one name and uses the same computer / ISP address doesn't it show up ?
 

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