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Post by Subuatai on Sept 13, 2009 9:39:49 GMT -5
Please, share your thoughts on this.
Should religion be taught to children, what if a child is born of two different religions - and one that is fundamentalist against the other?
Also, lets say the old technique of "Agree to disagree" worked between two individuals, but what if they had a child? How to solve religious/spiritual disputes when it comes to children?
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Shock
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Post by Shock on Sept 13, 2009 13:21:22 GMT -5
Should religion be taught to children, No. Children shouldn't waste their time in such horrible things. what if a child is born of two different religions - and one that is fundamentalist against the other? If I was that child, I would chose a third not-fundamentalist religion like paganism. Also, lets say the old technique of "Agree to disagree" worked between two individuals, but what if they had a child? How to solve religious/spiritual disputes when it comes to children? Idem. |
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scott
New Member
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Post by scott on Sept 13, 2009 13:24:28 GMT -5
I think this is too general. To be honest, I am uncomfortable with people using the word "religion" as if all religious beliefs are the same, which appears to be how you're putting it. I don't know if that's how you feel about religion, but it is a generalization and it's rather ignorant.
"Should religion be taught to children"? Well, everything that counts as "religion" is extremely diverse and has endless varieties, so I don't see how one can answer that without being an atheist who generalizes others people's beliefs.
Even if you were to talk about one belief system, Christianity for example, it would still be a generalization to ask "should Christianity be taught to children?" because Christianity is so diverse and not all Christians agree on everything. A devout Protestant marrying a devout Catholic is a potential conflict, even though they're technically both Christians.
What I am trying to say is, I feel you should be more specific.
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Post by betahat on Sept 14, 2009 14:41:19 GMT -5
I think it's fine to teach kids religion as a set of stories and cultural practices, but I would not feel comfortable making them believe in an omnipotent God with the power to intervene in their lives. Hopefully my kids will have a wide enough context - which means exposure to many different religions, beliefs, cultural practices, etc. - to judge for themselves what is good and bad about each religion. I wouldn't want to indoctrinate them in any particular way or make them believe literally in any religious texts. So I'm comfortable with my kids going to, say, Hebrew school, but I would encourage them to be questioning and skeptical about what they learn (and it would be better to learn modern Hebrew than biblical Hebrew). And of course enourage the values of tolerance, understanding, compassion, etc.
I think that is one of the trickiest issues with having kids in a "mixed" marriage. I am fortunate that my wife and I are basically atheists who still have an appreciation for some religious traditions, holidays, and values, so that we're basically on the same page. But there are still issues on which we disagree (on another thread I mentioned that I drew the line at circumcision).
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Post by Subuatai on Sept 18, 2009 7:22:28 GMT -5
Thanks for your replies people  ShockHaha! PAGAN and PROUD ;D scottHeh, I'm hoping to keep an open topic here, but if you wish specifics, let's use one example, a Tengriist/Shamanist/Animist/Semi-Atheist/Spiritually-confused man with a Protestant Christian wife who has her own unique views but still wishes to be involved with the church communities. As much as both have settled the issue of beliefs between each other, conflict seems to be arising when it comes to discussing the type of environment suitable for raising their child. Yes there is an age when children should and will be able to think for themselves but at young age when the mind is merely developing, should the child be exposed to a church environment for example? As for the type of church, the father would only agree to a smaller church community where he isn't always labeled as the pagan dude, while the mother always likes to choose the bigger church communities for reasons that the father can simply not understand. betahatInteresting, I do have a question however in regards to this quote: Just curious, what would you use as re-assurance? Reassurance that your child will be attentive to your particular advice rather than to the advice of a much larger community which doesn't particularly support your views. Would you allow your child to be raised in such an environment? Thanks in advance |
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