Forcing religion on people is wrong

Here is the problem for those who think that children must be left to make their own minds up so far as religion goes. You might as well say the only religion that can be promulgated is atheism because as I used to tell my own child when she said she didn't believe in god as a young child, that she didn't understand what she didn't agree with, so could make her mind up, at least in an informed way. The good news for those who are adamantly opposed to children being educated in churches to unde stand the issues raised there, is that eventually they will of course make their own minds up. I'd prefer that to the alternative of a nation of young people devoid of any religious influences.
 

When my children were born I was an atheist. Even so, I had them baptised to please other members of the family who saw this as a traditional rite of passage. I was fully aware that baptism that was not followed up with some sort of education process would be utterly meaningless.

When the children went to school they received the obligatory 30 minutes per week of religious education. Provided the instructors were not completely irrational I saw no harm in this because I had experienced the same as a child, plus Sunday school. Learning the stories about Jesus, some parables and OT myths is little different to learning about the voyages of Captain James Cook and some Greek and Roman myths. They are part of the culture in this country.

I never attempted to impose my atheism on my children but I did educate them about the natural world and the cosmos. I was, after all, a science teacher.

Eventually each of them expressed interest in church activities. My daughter joined a softball team sponsored by the local Salvation Army congregation but did not wish to attend that church. My son attended an Anglican private school for grades 7 to 12 and for his outward bound activity chose CEBS, a religious club. By this time he was very interested in religion and in year 7 had started to read the bible from cover to cover. I would look at the bookmark from time to time and I think he gave up around Leviticus. I neither encouraged nor discouraged him.

While still an atheist I scored a position in a Catholic Girls HS. No-one tried to influence me but I was impressed by the way the school tried very hard to live by the gospel values they believed in. In my second year I experienced the Spirit of God as a call and I responded. However, I did not become a catholic. It took me at least 18 months before I even ventured inside a church. I chose the local Uniting Church for several reasons. One was that my children had asked to attend Sunday school there and the other was that it was a community minded congregation with age care units and a long daycare centre on site. I liked this but I was ready to bolt at the first hint of too much religiosity. I'm still there 40 years later and I am now woven into the fabric of this church community.

The above ramble is designed to illustrate that indoctrination of children is not as effective as some think. Regardless of the instruction children receive, as adults they tend to find their own path. My worry was that if they received no religious instruction at all there would surely be someone eager to fill the void. I hated the idea that they might become vulnerable to a cult and I was very watchful of the people and organisations that might lead to this outcome. That is why I preferred mainstream religious influences to nothing at all.

My passionately religious young son is now an atheist and my daughter, who also had her last two years of schooling in a religious girls' school, is a non church going Christian who seems to have internalised much that is good including generosity and inclusivity. However, she has always exhibited these characteristics so the best her religious education has done is affirm them.
 
Yongy said:
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.
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Do you think we necessarily know what is right or wrong all the time?

For example would it be wrong to declare a book as complex as the bible in the way you've chosen to do, when most of us would probably admit we only understand a tiny fraction of it?

It is perhaps odd such a focus upon someone alive two millennia goes on today, but connecting humans to a deity in the way Christianity has tried to do is perhaps behind it. So Jesus being like the rest of us is one intrinsic element, as is the paradox of not being like us at the same time.
 

i go on facebook to look at my grand children--i notice it is getting a lot of verses from the bible and people preaching--my oldest daughter(that doesnt speak to me) is in that group--they need to practice what they preach
 
Do you think we necessarily know what is right or wrong all the time?

For example would it be wrong to declare a book as complex as the bible in the way you've chosen to do, when most of us would probably admit we only understand a tiny fraction of it?
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That same logic could apply to any ancient book of magic. Maybe it's party right and partly wrong; we clearly don't really understand it enough to make a decision about it? Well-meaning as that reasoning may be,
it's a copout. Any bit of nonsense can be viewed as non-understandable by us.

The thing is, the burden of proof is on whoever (or whatever book) makes a statement. And if the book is not understandable by most people who read it, that is the book's fault, not the people's. The fact that an ancient piece of writing is not understandable is definitely not an argument in its favor.
 
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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I agree.
 
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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So well put, this should be copied to every page of this thread

(of course that's just my opinion, and wouldn't try to force this on anyone)
 
"Spread the Word" is a fudemental of religions so it is expected and demanded of those that believe. As annoying as it is I understand their wanting to share what they believe is the only way to live. Anyway, don't worry because the internet has replaced religion. Don't agree? Well, the next time you are outside check how many people are staring at their phones and how many are praying?:cool:
 
fmdog, spreading the word can be done in various ways. As St Francis of Assisi advised his brothers,

“Preach the Gospel at all times. When necessary, use words.”

More people are drawn to religion by kindness and acceptance than are ever converted by being preached at.
Christianity is closest to the teachings of Jesus when it is expressed in concern for the neighbour who is in need.
Taking care of those needs is explicitly required of all of his followers. Preaching is not. It is a specialised vocation.

A more modern saying is that Christianity is caught, not taught.
 
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