I've never had any love for
religions that say 'you must believe this way', or that 'ours is the
only way to believe' or some other such nonsense. In an infinite
universe, having one religion and only one religion being the 'one
true faith' seems rather limited for an omnipotent being. I'm
reminded of the South Park episode where St. Peter tells the
character "The correct answer [to which faith was the 'right'
one] is 'the Mormons' ". With 7 billion names of God, and almost
as many religions in which people believe and have faith as strong as
any reader here may have, it seems rather chaotic and unlikely that
God would leave it up to us to figure out which is right unless the
simple and expedient method is that all are 'right'.
But religions themselves - especially those that are more cult-like such as the snake worshipers, Quakers, any radical Islamic sect, etc. - should be a matter of choice and not indoctrination.
Imagine a government indoctrinating your children in the secular world, keeping them from practicing any particular religion or faith, until they're legally allowed to vote. Now, imagine a government indoctrinating your children in one faith, even if it's not the one you practice.
Which is worse?
The fact is, a religion is an ADULT choice. Children are indoctrinated in whatever faith you happen to practice at the time because you practice it. In most cases, religions demand the indoctrination of your children in the faith whether you want to or not. This, of course, ensures a plentiful and endless supply of the faithful to fill the pews and coffers of the faith.
But what if we restricted religion to adults only?
There's legislation being considered to ensure that those religions which rely on faith for their medical treatment (and consequently experience a staggeringly higher than average death rate) must take children to see a doctor.
Good idea, you say. Why should children suffer because mom and dad are too whacked out on a cult to do the right thing and get them conventional medical treatment for life-threatening conditions?
So how is this different than the government keeping your kids from learning all about your religion until they're legally old enough to make adult decisions?
The fact is, it doesn't. And the point is, it SHOULD HAPPEN.
Religion shouldn't be about what mom and dad believe. It's SUPPOSED to be about a person's individual relationship with (insert your choice of deity here). How can a child make that kind of decision? More to the point, how would a child know that Mom and Dad are a bit too whacked to know what's right for any of them?
They don't. They just do what Mom and Dad do because that's how humans are hard-wired. And if Mom and Dad are idiots, the child will follow idiotic practices. Such is the way of the world.
I guess the bottom line is, if you want to save the children, you have to start by saving your own first and NOT indoctrinate them in your faith. Encourage them to find their own paths. Be objective and dispassionate about all faiths and answer questions honestly and without the 'do this or spend the rest of eternity - which is a REALLY LONG TIME - suffering endless torment' BS that keeps the sheep in line.
For those who say you can't teach morality without teaching religion, I say bullshit. You can teach a person to obey the law, treat others with at least a minimum amount of respect, to like one's self and to play nice with others without ANY religion at all. All you have to do is live the example you want to set. Your kids will turn out fine.
My parents had hypocritical tendencies when it came to religion, and the more I saw the contradictions between what they did and what the religion said, the less I liked the idea of the religion. My parents were equipped for the real world. The religion (like most today) was not. I ended up living their example and it took me a long time to find a faith with which I am comfortable. I really HATE hypocrisy. Were I to have kids (and if that ever happens, it will prove God exists and has a sadistic sense of humor to boot), they would not be taught my religion. I would answer any questions they have about any religion honestly and without bias and encourage them to make up their own minds as to what path to take.
This, by the way, is MANDATED in my religion, which is obviously NOT Christian, Islamic or Jewish. You can only walk one path - yours. It is a personal choice and if I deliberately interfered with another's life path, that's bad for both of us. Hence my distaste for evangelical religions of any kind.
So don't indoctrinate your kids. Don't expect them, let alone demand them, to follow in your faith's footsteps. I'd rather see a law passed restricting the practicing of a religion and/or imposing a religious dogma on another to adults only. An adult has a choice. Children, often times, do not. And when it comes to indoctrination, children will think they're doing the right thing only because everyone they know is doing the same thing, when, in fact, it's a very, very bad thing. Let adults figure out what religion (if any) they want to follow and leave the kids alone. In the end, making an informed choice in religion is better than paying tens of thousands of dollars in therapy to get over a childhood ruined by overly zealous parents and their fascination with a cult, or dying because the parents thought God could cure childhood diabetes or any other treatable, but eventually deadly ailment with prayer alone.
But religions themselves - especially those that are more cult-like such as the snake worshipers, Quakers, any radical Islamic sect, etc. - should be a matter of choice and not indoctrination.
Imagine a government indoctrinating your children in the secular world, keeping them from practicing any particular religion or faith, until they're legally allowed to vote. Now, imagine a government indoctrinating your children in one faith, even if it's not the one you practice.
Which is worse?
The fact is, a religion is an ADULT choice. Children are indoctrinated in whatever faith you happen to practice at the time because you practice it. In most cases, religions demand the indoctrination of your children in the faith whether you want to or not. This, of course, ensures a plentiful and endless supply of the faithful to fill the pews and coffers of the faith.
But what if we restricted religion to adults only?
There's legislation being considered to ensure that those religions which rely on faith for their medical treatment (and consequently experience a staggeringly higher than average death rate) must take children to see a doctor.
Good idea, you say. Why should children suffer because mom and dad are too whacked out on a cult to do the right thing and get them conventional medical treatment for life-threatening conditions?
So how is this different than the government keeping your kids from learning all about your religion until they're legally old enough to make adult decisions?
The fact is, it doesn't. And the point is, it SHOULD HAPPEN.
Religion shouldn't be about what mom and dad believe. It's SUPPOSED to be about a person's individual relationship with (insert your choice of deity here). How can a child make that kind of decision? More to the point, how would a child know that Mom and Dad are a bit too whacked to know what's right for any of them?
They don't. They just do what Mom and Dad do because that's how humans are hard-wired. And if Mom and Dad are idiots, the child will follow idiotic practices. Such is the way of the world.
I guess the bottom line is, if you want to save the children, you have to start by saving your own first and NOT indoctrinate them in your faith. Encourage them to find their own paths. Be objective and dispassionate about all faiths and answer questions honestly and without the 'do this or spend the rest of eternity - which is a REALLY LONG TIME - suffering endless torment' BS that keeps the sheep in line.
For those who say you can't teach morality without teaching religion, I say bullshit. You can teach a person to obey the law, treat others with at least a minimum amount of respect, to like one's self and to play nice with others without ANY religion at all. All you have to do is live the example you want to set. Your kids will turn out fine.
My parents had hypocritical tendencies when it came to religion, and the more I saw the contradictions between what they did and what the religion said, the less I liked the idea of the religion. My parents were equipped for the real world. The religion (like most today) was not. I ended up living their example and it took me a long time to find a faith with which I am comfortable. I really HATE hypocrisy. Were I to have kids (and if that ever happens, it will prove God exists and has a sadistic sense of humor to boot), they would not be taught my religion. I would answer any questions they have about any religion honestly and without bias and encourage them to make up their own minds as to what path to take.
This, by the way, is MANDATED in my religion, which is obviously NOT Christian, Islamic or Jewish. You can only walk one path - yours. It is a personal choice and if I deliberately interfered with another's life path, that's bad for both of us. Hence my distaste for evangelical religions of any kind.
So don't indoctrinate your kids. Don't expect them, let alone demand them, to follow in your faith's footsteps. I'd rather see a law passed restricting the practicing of a religion and/or imposing a religious dogma on another to adults only. An adult has a choice. Children, often times, do not. And when it comes to indoctrination, children will think they're doing the right thing only because everyone they know is doing the same thing, when, in fact, it's a very, very bad thing. Let adults figure out what religion (if any) they want to follow and leave the kids alone. In the end, making an informed choice in religion is better than paying tens of thousands of dollars in therapy to get over a childhood ruined by overly zealous parents and their fascination with a cult, or dying because the parents thought God could cure childhood diabetes or any other treatable, but eventually deadly ailment with prayer alone.
