People who know me will know my views on this issue but my opinion aside what do you think about the teaching of religion to children. Should parents who are religious teach their children about religion and encourage them to follow their lead or should it be left to them to decide?
The article below is an interesting one and as I agree entirely with what Dawkins says it should be obvious what my view is.
I love Alcohol Induced Altruism(Laura) I still say a church steeple with a lightning rod on top shows a lack of confidence - Doug McLeod Those who believe in absurdities will commit atrocities - Voltaire
I think it is perfectly possible for parents to teach a child the scientific facts of life alongside educating the child on their chosen religion.
I was brought up a Catholic. However my parents never tried to pass off "intelligent design" as a scientific theory. I had books about dinosaurs, fossils and an amazing picture book describing the big bang theory to kids. Alongside this I had illustrated bible stories and prayer books for kids. But then again my parents were educated liberals as well as being Catholics. I was taught about faith and religion as being a personal relationship with God and the Church as a community. My catechism teacher was also someone who would view the creation stories of the bible as a "metaphor", or an attempt to describe how life on earth started. She didn't see there being a conflict between the two views, in fact she said that "let there be light" fits very well with there being a big bang and that the fact that the earth was created in 7 days didn't neccessarily mean 7 human days, just 7 periods as god probably didn't run on human time. Knowing what I know now she would probably have been considered blasphemous by certain sections of the church.
So yeah I think parents should be free to educate their child about their faith. But they should also be taught science alongside this. They should also be taught about other faiths. My mum currently works in a Catholic school and they only assign two weeks of the year to teaching about other faiths. This years fortnight was about Islam and a visit to a mosque was arranged. Over half her class weren't allowed to go by their parents, some of the one's who were didn't go because they were scared because "muslims shoot people". I was talking to one of the parents who didn't allow their kid to the mosque as they're related to me and it was a family wedding type thing and she kept her daughter home because her brother is fighting in Iraq and "she might get confused with the people her brother is fighting over there and think her brother was killing good people if she met muslims at the mosque". I was appalled to hear all of this! Ignorance is the greatest force for spreading prejudice and intolerance. If a child is in full possession of all the facts about different faiths and different theories for the earth's creation they can draw their own conclusions as they learn and mature.
I think that raising a child to be religious is one of the most sick, disgusting things a parent can do. Its extremely close-minded, dangerous and sets them up with pre-concieved ideas that are just pure unsupported crap. I honestly believe that it makes them gullible and [flameshield] stupider.
I think they should be taught the theory of evolution and be exposed to every religion equally and make up their own mind about it.
Personally, i'd be happy if my kid wanted to be a monk or a scientologist, as long as he found his own way into it, has done his research and its what he feels will make him happy and I didnt channel him into it.
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I think it is perfectly possible for parents to teach a child the scientific facts of life alongside educating the child on their chosen religion.
This.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Heidi Tiger
So yeah I think parents should be free to educate their child about their faith. But they should also be taught science alongside this. They should also be taught about other faiths. My mum currently works in a Catholic school and they only assign two weeks of the year to teaching about other faiths. This years fortnight was about Islam and a visit to a mosque was arranged. Over half her class weren't allowed to go by their parents, some of the one's who were didn't go because they were scared because "muslims shoot people". I was talking to one of the parents who didn't allow their kid to the mosque as they're related to me and it was a family wedding type thing and she kept her daughter home because her brother is fighting in Iraq and "she might get confused with the people her brother is fighting over there and think her brother was killing good people if she met muslims at the mosque". I was appalled to hear all of this! Ignorance is the greatest force for spreading prejudice and intolerance. If a child is in full possession of all the facts about different faiths and different theories for the earth's creation they can draw their own conclusions as they learn and mature.
& this is really quite horrific. I'm sorry, but this is just genuinely shocking. I suppose, if you aren't allowed to challenge it, it doesn't risk your opinion being wrong?
I think that religion and upbringing can go quite nicely together, however I disagree with the idea of morality being religion-based, or more importantly, that somebody is somehow a better person based on the fact that they're religious.
I grew up in a CoE school, and I equally was taught about evolution and dinosaurs and we didn't believe that the world started 4,000 years ago - but, there was an element of faith in there.
Personally, I'm fascinated by faith, and I find the idea of faiths and different religions to be really, really interesting, so my hope is to teach my children the basics of the major ones, but not make them conform to any particular one - that is their choice.
I'm a humanist, and do struggle greatly with the idea of faith (or more accurately, of a faith based on a book written by humans), but I do want to have a huge amount of respect for people who are religious, and I think to say that being raised in any religion is stupid is just as closed-minded as raising somebody within a religion. People should be allowed to make their own choices (but then, here I'm trusting people to actually be intelligent enough to make wise choices).
I think that raising a child to be religious is one of the most sick, disgusting things a parent can do. Its extremely close-minded, dangerous and sets them up with pre-concieved ideas that are just pure unsupported crap. I honestly believe that it makes them gullible and [flameshield] stupider.
Wow. I found that quite offensive. I was brought up a Christian...I don't feel that this has hindered me in anyway whatsoever. I went to church as a baby, Sunday School as a child and then carried on in my teens through my own choice. My parents were never pushy about it, but I would definitely say that they brought me up religiously and then let me make my own mind up about it.
I personally think my parents did a good thing for me. They brought me up in their faith and then let me have the choice as to whether or not I wanted to believe that also. I'm not gullible and I'm certainly not stupid, nor are my parents.
As to the question, I think it's possible to do what you feel best for the child religiously (i.e. religious parents will naturally view sharing their religion with their children a good thing) without 'forcing' it on them. I was never discouraged from asking questions about the world, 'God', other religions and how science ties it all together.
I think the 'how' is a lot more important than the 'what' when it comes to religion and children.
teach them both. let them make their own decisions when they are old enough to actually understand.
i don't believe parents should make their kids follow their religion, but then i think if i had a kid i would have a tough time not saying to them "well x religion teaches us this, etc etc but imo it's all bullshit." (to paraphrase).
i went to a CofE school too and i don't remember ever learning anything about other religions. we were taught the bible was truth and i was a pretty confused kid concerning religion / faith (although i didn't really care that much) growing up because my parents are athiests / buddhists and i went to temple and prayed but i think mostly that was / is out of tradition more than faith.
(rambling).
Wow. I found that quite offensive. I was brought up a Christian...I don't feel that this has hindered me in anyway whatsoever. I went to church as a baby, Sunday School as a child and then carried on in my teens through my own choice. My parents were never pushy about it, but I would definitely say that they brought me up religiously and then let me make my own mind up about it.
I personally think my parents did a good thing for me. They brought me up in their faith and then let me have the choice as to whether or not I wanted to believe that also. I'm not gullible and I'm certainly not stupid, nor are my parents.
As to the question, I think it's possible to do what you feel best for the child religiously (i.e. religious parents will naturally view sharing their religion with their children a good thing) without 'forcing' it on them. I was never discouraged from asking questions about the world, 'God', other religions and how science ties it all together.
I think the 'how' is a lot more important than the 'what' when it comes to religion and children.
Word!
And Im not more gullible or stupid than someone who wasnt brought up to believe in a certain religion thank you very much. I find that incredibely closed minded.
There are times to stay put, and what you want will come to you.
But there are times to go out into the world and find such a thing for yourself.
I aint no abacus but you can count on me.
I think there is no harm in bringing a child up and teaching them about your religious values, but i think it would be unrealistic also to expect them not to explore other avenues for themselves, and is unfair to try an suppress that.
i think that the problem is that if you are brought up to believe x religion as TRUTH for your whole life then it is difficult to break free from that. for instance, with christianity if you are taught from the moment you are christened that jesus died for our sins, god made the world, jesus is the son of god, heaven and hell exist, etc, and especially since it is coming from your parents and teachers (who are probably the main educators in that period of a kid's life) then it would be really really difficult to question that or even to have any doubts about it, you know?
i know that amy said that when she grew older she chose to proceed with it but there's no way that those previous experiences / teachings could have not impacted on that decision. (sorry for singling you out amy).
Of course they had an impact, it's hard for something like that not to, but it's not forever. Like...I'm not in the least bit religious now. See, I never really thought about it as truth, which I suppose makes all the difference. I guess as a kid I maybe thought about it as truth, but I also believed in Santa and the tooth fairy, so I'm not entirely sure how much that stands for.
These days I look at religion more as opinion than fact, truth or knowledge. But I'm glad that I grew up with the church and I've benefitted a lot from it.
Oh, I also want to add that I wasn't baptised until I was old enough to make that decision for myself - my parents wanted it to be our choice etc etc and my brothers never were.
As a small kid I always thought life was something mysterious. I intuitively never felt I was getting good answers about life so I just let stuff go in one ear and out the other until I could work from my own self education
Religion as presented kind of bored me but I wasn't averse to it either. In uni I started to read books like Bible on my own (as an art history student you read a lot of religious stuff) without the template that is usually applied by one sect or another.
I realised what the books were saying and what was being taught are significantly different in ways. A lot of adherents of a religion have never looked into the sources of the religion themselves - and neither have most of the critics.
I think it's ok to talk to kids about religion and then give them room to explore it on their own as they grow up. Most kids under 12 are more innocent than adults and don't need religion as much. I think it takes until around 21 or more for people to get at a place where they can transcend the static from supporters and critics alike and measure ideas against experience.
There is an old expression "first of earth - then of spirit". People have to grow their own ego first and wreck themselves a few times before they become more searching. That's when things get interesting.
Oh - one thing I do want to add is that whilst I do agree and can understand people being raised as religious, I think that morality shouldn't be religion based - so teaching people not to murder is important because of the impact that it has on the friends and family of the victim, and the removal of that person's life - not because your religion told you so. Does that make sense?
I agree Jo. After all religion is something that most people question from time to time and if all their morals are founded on religion, well why would people continue to have the morals if they were solely held because it was what they thought God wanted from people.
I also think religion can be used to undermine people's achievements. For example "I came top in my class in a math's test so God must have wanted it to be so"."God gave me the gift of music which is why I'm good at playing the piano". How can someone have pride in their achievements if they don't believe their own efforts count for anything and that skills are solely determined by some higher power.
But people do have pride in their own achievements. I (personally) dont tend to put my achievements down to God, but thats due to my own beliefs etc....but I do know people who do and I dont think they feel any less proud of their achievements.I think its more undermining if someone else does it! Like if you say....'I got 4 As at A level' and someone says 'well God must have a plan for you' and its kind of like....yeah but I did it myself with the help of God. If that makes sense?
I dont know....im pretty closed with how I feel religiously because I find whenever I try to talk to people they either tell me Im stupid or that Im 'ramming religion at them' even though theyre actually forcing their opinion on me and I never call them stupid :P But yeah I do worry about how to raise my children, particulary as my boyfriend is athiest. I will take my children to church and get them baptised etc....weve even talked about catholic primary school, but I will give them all the facts etc, its what my parents did for me.
Also I agree on the morality issue, I think morals should be based on knowing right from wrong etc but not using religion. I believe you can still tie religion in afterward if you so wish, but if you are brought up with those morals based on religion and you lose some faith they can be very easy to break.xx
There are times to stay put, and what you want will come to you.
But there are times to go out into the world and find such a thing for yourself.
I aint no abacus but you can count on me.
Both my parents were brought up strict catholics though in very different families. They had it properly drummed into them. Now they're both atheists and I'm sure they meant very much so to bring me and my sister up being very open about our beliefs but basically my dad being my dad did his 'it's all a load of nonsense' thing, I remember sensing that as a small child.
So I was brought up kind of believing in no God and when I became a christian for a short period of time a few years ago I was sort of angry with them for what I thought was setting my beliefs so strong in my head - them being to question everything and to see the world as being as just this very old rock where religion is a bit stupid and science explains away any higher power... (That's how it came across to me as a child) Things are black and white, you think kind of simply.
I still wonder if how you are brought up effects significantly what you believe and how much.. how do I put it.. freedom you have in exploring your beliefs? Strange concept, I know. Obviously, my parents believe it was easy to separate themselves from their childhood religious upbringing. I'm not so sure.
But then again Jack makes an interesting point about how kids (including me!) need time to grow up and match ideas against experience. I don't, now, see my times with this evangelical church as being naive or childish (though I was in many respects just not my choices) even though I now don't think I believe in a few important parts of their teachings. It's understandable. Exploring is a good thing. Explore a lot, if you like. That's what I want to teach my kids.
I have to go now, so if that makes no sense or I've contradicted myself, please forgive me. :)
x
The Mole was bewitched, entranced, fascinated. By the side of the river he trotted as one trots, when very small, by the side of a man who holds one spell-bound by exciting stories; and when tired at last, he sat on the bank, while the river still chattered on to him, a babbling procession of the best stories in the world, sent from the heart of the earth to be told at last to the insatiable sea.
Wind in the Willows.
Neither of my parents are religious in the least bit, we don't go to church or any of that, even though I know for a fact my mom believes in God. My parents left it up to me and my brothers and sisters to decide what we believed in. Neither parent ever said there wasn't a God, and left it at that. When I was younger, I didn't believe in a God, but as I've gotten older and looked more into it, I do believe in God, but I don't believe in a lot of the stuff that goes with it- such as I don't believe what's written in the bible and a lot of what the church says. I've looked into all different types of religions, and I really like concepts from almost of them. So, I think growing up in a non-religious home helped me to be more open minded to other religions, and eventually I found my own opinion on the matter.
I think it's fine to teach kids about religion. Most kids who are brought up in religious households, where taken to Church/temple/whatever, and read the texts of their religious and such aren't taught extremist views that discount scientific fact and the like; religion is simply a part of their cultural and spiritual life. There's nothing wrong with that. I do, however, have a problem with people who raise their children to ignore scientific fact because it contradicts a literal interpretation of a religious text. That's really only a small minority of people though. For most people religion is about tradition, cultural, morality, spirituality, etc., and isn't an alternative to reality -- I don't see anything wrong with that.
Emily
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Very few people who are brought up with a 'decide yourself' parental mentality actually go on to pick a religion. If you're trying to bring up a kid, telling him/her 'believe what you want', it's almost bound to end up biased one way or another eventually anyway. Children copy what they see, not what they're told, so you need to give them something to copy.
However, I am against the teaching of religion in schools.
