Should children be exposed to religon?

[atheistdebater96]

When a child is raised in a Catholic family, goes to church every Sunday, reads the Bible, attends Sunday school, all of this from the moment he was born, it seems very reasonable and logical to him. However, if a child is raised without religion at all, no church, no parental influence when it comes to the subject, then does it make as much sense? If you took both of these kids, sat them down and asked them about God and what they believe, what do you think the answers would be? Is this good, bad, what? Personally, I think it's bad. Kids grow up with this in their ears and that's what they believe to be true. The truth is that it can't be proven either way. I think it's all a load of crap, but have no hope of proving it until I'm dead and don't go anywhere. It can't be proven, nor disproven, so should children be exposed to it at a young age from a biased person, or should they be left out of it until they are old enough to decide for themselves?

[Abraxas]

That's what he says. That may even be what he remembers. Whether it actually happened is another question entirely. Memories of small children are not the most reliable source of information.

Just like the Gospel witness testimony is conveniently dismissed.

None of the Gospels were written by witnesses so your dodge is well taken. The point is and remains memory is prone to error and memory from early childhood is particularly prone to error.

[SailingCyclops]

How do you know your beliefs are right and others are wrong? BTW, calling my beliefs 'diseased' is a persona attack and against forum rules. Drop the name-calling and start debating.

I never called your beliefs "diseased". The disease I was referring to was the mental disease of irrationality, which ALL religions suffer from. That is; "my beliefs are correct -- all others are wrong".

I don't have "beliefs", I am a rationalist. Either I know something or I am ignorant of it. All religions are a fraud since there is no evidence for their claims. I know there is no god, no Santa, no tooth fairy, because there is no evidence of such. Believing something for which there is no evidence for is irrational, and therefor a dangerous mental disease/disorder. Teaching such to children is perverse abuse.

Bob

[East of Eden]

I never called your beliefs "diseased". The disease I was referring to was the mental disease of irrationality, which ALL religions suffer from.

That's a distinction without a difference. I could just as easily call you mentally ill because I disagree with you.

That is; "my beliefs are correct -- all others are wrong".

Don't you believe your beliefs to be right and mine wrong? BTW, I don't believe all other religions to be through and through wrong, but I do think that were they and Christianity differ, they are wrong. Therefore I actually have a much more liberal view of other religions than you. You think what most people now and always believe about religion to be 100% wrong.

I don't have "beliefs", I am a rationalist. Either I know something or I am ignorant of it. All religions are a fraud since there is no evidence for their claims. I know there is no god, no Santa, no tooth fairy, because there is no evidence of such.

Wrong, many intelligent people have come to faith in Christ because of the evidence.

[East of Eden]

None of the Gospels were written by witnesses so your dodge is well taken.

Wrong, they were written by eyewitnesses or people who interviewed eyewitnesses.

The point is and remains memory is prone to error and memory from early childhood is particularly prone to error.

Then that means that your reasoning and thought processes that led you to your beliefs could be equally flawed.

[Bio-logical]

Although I do not necessarily see taking your child to Church as child abuse, I believe that filling your child's head with fear is.

If a parent consistently tells a child that misbehavior will result in a severe beating, but only ever threatens and intimidates, never actually strikes the child, that is still obvious abuse. The same is true of telling your child that eternal torture awaits all those who do not accept Jesus as their personal savior and/or follow the commandments of god.

Teaching a child, not yet able to discern fantasy from reality, that they are inherently evil and worthy of fire, pain and torture from death to eternity unless they accept a certain faith goes far beyond healthy and is the purest form of indoctrination.

If this teaching is true, it would be child abuse NOT to make the child aware of God's offer of salvation through Jesus Christ.

I am not sure what you are saying. From what I gather, your argument is that in the case that Hell-fearing Christians are correct in their beliefs, it is abusive to not make the child fearful of eternal punishment, correct?

When I was a child, my parents made me understand that some things are right and some things are wrong. They taught me to tell the difference in what is safe and what is dangerous. They did so without describing to me in horrible stories or metaphors or threats all of the things that could possibly happen to me if I do not follow their directions. If my parents had told me that touching the stove is bad because I could burn myself, that was enough for me. If they continued along this line with giving me intense descriptions of how much severe burns can hurt, perhaps showed me photos of burned children, gave me anecdotal stories involving the goings on of burn units and continually drilled this fear into my mind, they would very likely have given me a phobia that makes me unable to even approach a stove.

Teaching children about sexual abuse is a reality in today's culture, but there is an age when all they need to know is that they need to tell mommy and daddy if somebody is too friendly, not all of the horrible things that these people could do to them. Children's minds are very imaginative, and a single story can turn into nightmares and fears that debilitate them forever.

The same is true with Christian beliefs. If one believes that one's child my suffer an eternity of torture for the most minor of sins, one would obviously be compelled to protect said child. If that person uses simple parenting techniques, he or she should be capable of making said child safe without giving said child a complex. A child does not need to know all of the reasons that you have to defend them from something, just that they should avoid it; anything beyond that could very well constitute abusive behavior.

[Flail]

How do you know your beliefs are right and others are wrong? BTW, calling my beliefs 'diseased' is a persona attack and against forum rules. Drop the name-calling and start debating.

I never called your beliefs "diseased". The disease I was referring to was the mental disease of irrationality, which ALL religions suffer from. That is; "my beliefs are correct -- all others are wrong".

I don't have "beliefs", I am a rationalist. Either I know something or I am ignorant of it. All religions are a fraud since there is no evidence for their claims. I know there is no god, no Santa, no tooth fairy, because there is no evidence of such. Believing something for which there is no evidence for is irrational, and therefor a dangerous mental disease/disorder. Teaching such to children is perverse abuse.

Bob

Although I agree with you for the most part, your analogies are inaccurate. There is evidence as to the tooth fairy and Santa, and the objective evidence upon which they 'live' is false. Eventually they die by mature analysis of their false evidence. The reason religions flourish is that they contain no evidence at all; indeed they are empty. Religion substitutes indoctrination, dogma and ritual practices for evidence yet refers to it as evidence. Santa can be disproven upon the very evidence upon which he was conjured. God cannot be proven or disproven because Gods, as supernatural undetectable beings, are beyond evidence; thus they are the ultimate fraud.

[realthinker]

How do you know your beliefs are right and others are wrong? BTW, calling my beliefs 'diseased' is a persona attack and against forum rules. Drop the name-calling and start debating.

I never called your beliefs "diseased". The disease I was referring to was the mental disease of irrationality, which ALL religions suffer from. That is; "my beliefs are correct -- all others are wrong".

I don't have "beliefs", I am a rationalist. Either I know something or I am ignorant of it. All religions are a fraud since there is no evidence for their claims. I know there is no god, no Santa, no tooth fairy, because there is no evidence of such. Believing something for which there is no evidence for is irrational, and therefor a dangerous mental disease/disorder. Teaching such to children is perverse abuse.

Bob

Believing something that is contrary to other established facts is certainly irrational. But what of believing something that is of no consequence? Does it matter what we believe of the human experience after death? Does it matter what we believe of God's judgment of our lives? There is no direct, recognizable consequence to those beliefs.

The effect of those beliefs upon human behavior, however, is real, and that is likely the value of religion that has made it persist, even if is entirely false and there are no direct consequences related to religious belief. In fact, those religions that are comprised of totally empty and unprovable beliefs but are effective at compelling beneficial social behavior are those that will be most successful over time. Any way that a religion can be held accountable for a correlation to verifiable facts is a risk. As understanding of the physical world grows that correlation would be revisited with a chance of its being refuted. Religions want to distance themselves entirely from any provable idea.

[Flail]

How do you know your beliefs are right and others are wrong? BTW, calling my beliefs 'diseased' is a persona attack and against forum rules. Drop the name-calling and start debating.

I never called your beliefs "diseased". The disease I was referring to was the mental disease of irrationality, which ALL religions suffer from. That is; "my beliefs are correct -- all others are wrong".

I don't have "beliefs", I am a rationalist. Either I know something or I am ignorant of it. All religions are a fraud since there is no evidence for their claims. I know there is no god, no Santa, no tooth fairy, because there is no evidence of such. Believing something for which there is no evidence for is irrational, and therefor a dangerous mental disease/disorder. Teaching such to children is perverse abuse.

Bob

Believing something that is contrary to other established facts is certainly irrational. But what of believing something that is of no consequence? Does it matter what we believe of the human experience after death? Does it matter what we believe of God's judgment of our lives? There is no direct, recognizable consequence to those beliefs.

The effect of those beliefs upon human behavior, however, is real, and that is likely the value of religion that has made it persist, even if is entirely false and there are no direct consequences related to religious belief. In fact, those religions that are comprised of totally empty and unprovable beliefs but are effective at compelling beneficial social behavior are those that will be most successful over time. Any way that a religion can be held accountable for a correlation to verifiable facts is a risk. As understanding of the physical world grows that correlation would be revisited with a chance of its being refuted. Religions want to distance themselves entirely from any provable idea.

Indoctrinating children into a belief system that judges their Muslim, Jewish and Bhudist classs mates to Hell is serious business.

[realthinker]

How do you know your beliefs are right and others are wrong? BTW, calling my beliefs 'diseased' is a persona attack and against forum rules. Drop the name-calling and start debating.

I never called your beliefs "diseased". The disease I was referring to was the mental disease of irrationality, which ALL religions suffer from. That is; "my beliefs are correct -- all others are wrong".

I don't have "beliefs", I am a rationalist. Either I know something or I am ignorant of it. All religions are a fraud since there is no evidence for their claims. I know there is no god, no Santa, no tooth fairy, because there is no evidence of such. Believing something for which there is no evidence for is irrational, and therefor a dangerous mental disease/disorder. Teaching such to children is perverse abuse.

Bob

Believing something that is contrary to other established facts is certainly irrational. But what of believing something that is of no consequence? Does it matter what we believe of the human experience after death? Does it matter what we believe of God's judgment of our lives? There is no direct, recognizable consequence to those beliefs.

The effect of those beliefs upon human behavior, however, is real, and that is likely the value of religion that has made it persist, even if is entirely false and there are no direct consequences related to religious belief. In fact, those religions that are comprised of totally empty and unprovable beliefs but are effective at compelling beneficial social behavior are those that will be most successful over time. Any way that a religion can be held accountable for a correlation to verifiable facts is a risk. As understanding of the physical world grows that correlation would be revisited with a chance of its being refuted. Religions want to distance themselves entirely from any provable idea.

Indoctrinating children into a belief system that judges their Muslim, Jewish and Bhudist classs mates to Hell is serious business.

Not really. Most individuals and just about every society gets over it. Just give some time.

[East of Eden]

How do you know your beliefs are right and others are wrong? BTW, calling my beliefs 'diseased' is a persona attack and against forum rules. Drop the name-calling and start debating.

I never called your beliefs "diseased". The disease I was referring to was the mental disease of irrationality, which ALL religions suffer from. That is; "my beliefs are correct -- all others are wrong".

I don't have "beliefs", I am a rationalist. Either I know something or I am ignorant of it. All religions are a fraud since there is no evidence for their claims. I know there is no god, no Santa, no tooth fairy, because there is no evidence of such. Believing something for which there is no evidence for is irrational, and therefor a dangerous mental disease/disorder. Teaching such to children is perverse abuse.

Bob

Believing something that is contrary to other established facts is certainly irrational. But what of believing something that is of no consequence? Does it matter what we believe of the human experience after death? Does it matter what we believe of God's judgment of our lives? There is no direct, recognizable consequence to those beliefs.

The effect of those beliefs upon human behavior, however, is real, and that is likely the value of religion that has made it persist, even if is entirely false and there are no direct consequences related to religious belief. In fact, those religions that are comprised of totally empty and unprovable beliefs but are effective at compelling beneficial social behavior are those that will be most successful over time. Any way that a religion can be held accountable for a correlation to verifiable facts is a risk. As understanding of the physical world grows that correlation would be revisited with a chance of its being refuted. Religions want to distance themselves entirely from any provable idea.

Indoctrinating children into a belief system that judges their Muslim, Jewish and Bhudist classs mates to Hell is serious business.

Hence the Great Commission. Differing religious beliefs can't be equally true.