ANSWERS: 16
  • Agree pretty much but I think the issue is a bit deeper than the statement suggests. I don't think a baby has any notion of religion (or many other issues and ideas for that matter) until educated in (indoctrinated in, if you will) or at least exposed to the concepts. That seems fairly obvious. I can't think of any 6 month old child who would class themselves as libertarian or marxist for example as they have no idea these concepts exist let alone what they mean. That said I think depending how far you stretch 'child' the statement can be false. A child of 12 or 13 may well have beliefs that are different to their parents as they will have been exposed to many different ideas by then. I was (very mildly) raised christian I suppose but by 7 or so had completely given that up as I could read for one thing and had been doing so, vociferously, for some years at that point. In fact I think I probably influenced my mother's religious beliefs or lack thereof as much as she influenced mine but that's the way I was brought up. So it depends on how you define child I think. A child can have there own opinions certainly as they grow older they invariably will. So for older children, hmmm I think it is a bit more complex than that. But for babies and so forth I would agree completely.
  • Agree. However, it's equally true of indoctrinating children to be anti-religious.   Every personal view we pass on to our children is an indoctrination. To teach them there is or is not a god are both indoctrinations. Neither can be proven; thus, both are merely personal opinion.   To teach 5 year olds to salute a flag and pledge allegiance is an indoctrination into nationalism, state worship.   To teach them that certain behavior is or is not polite are indoctrinations, since that is all a matter of opinion depending on culture and personal views. One person's polite is another's rude and obnoxious.   What I don't understand is why some feel that their particular form of indoctrination is upright while that of others' is wrong.
  • Agree.
  • I agree and it applies to all religions. It is not just the parents that do it. Society does a large share of the indoctrination. Consider, if you were to look at a map of the world and had each different religion (Christian, Muslim, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc) colored in a different color you would see that they are in groups. For instance you would see the USA as Christian, the middle east as Muslim, India, as Hindi. How many people in these societies really want to know about the other religions? Therefore, ideologies are grouped and permeate each location. Now, I realize that there are other religions it each group but they are in a vast minority in each group.
  • Religion is a generational disease that God Himself rebukes in the very last book of the Bible!
  • Agree. evolution dictates we are all products of our environment.
  • I am Islamic and according to our religion everyone is born Islamic. That is why when people decided to become Muslims they are not converting but reverting.
  • This applies to all creeds and belief systems, not just religious ones. I know many people think that the main difference between religious indoctrination and secular indoctrination is the "fear" factor associated with religious teachings. (if you don't accept Jesus, you're going to hell. Nobody wants to go to hell.) However I would argue that *all* ideologies have some sort of a fear factor associated with them. For example, many people teach their children to recycle and be "green". Why? To do otherwise contributes to global warming and will someday destroy the planet if we don't change. Nobody wants to destroy the planet. Others teach their children to question everything they are taught. Why? To do otherwise means you are close-minded, or bigoted, or you are unable to think for yourself. Nobody wants to be labeled a close-minded idiot. We teach (indoctrinate) our children with principles and beliefs that we, as parents, believe are right. Even the refusal to teach a belief is indoctrination. You can't avoid it.
  • agree :)
  • Within a given religion there is such thing as a Christian child (or Muslim, etc). And rightly so if one of the tenets of said religion is that you can't enter heaven (or similar) without 'being' a member. . As a practical matter they all look like children to me.
  • disagree, agree for all other religions though. As a Christian I beleive (and observe)this; all children follow after light and fear the darkness. Christians follow after Christ who is Light (John 1:9) I would say that all children are Christ like in a sence. Your condemned when you embrace the darkness and reject the light. (John 3:19)
  • That is such a biased statement. What, someone can speak for EVERY child? There are many children who accept Christianity at an early age just as there are many children who choose an occupation (doctor, scientist, policeman) in their early years.
  • . Wow, so many different responses and all agreeing with each other! What a rush. . Here are the points to which I also add my stamp of agreement and some new ones to consider. . I agree that there are a host of socio-environmental factors contributing to any religious or irreligious enculturation, although these may not be considered exclusive. I also confirm that the practice of infant baptism in Christianity was not part of Biblical baptism as practiced in the early Christian church or in the time of Jesus and His disciples. . However, many religions have some means of recognizing the children of believing parents as umbrellaed under the believer's faith, at least until intelligent informed personal choices can be made or until manifest rejection of that belief system is displayed. Some religions even extend this temporary inclusiveness to the spouse of a believer. . In this sense, in the traditions of those faiths, there are children who are legally, ceremonially, and/or religiously considered as a part of that faith. So, some would conclude that there can be "Christian" children or infants (via baptism, child dedication, or parental vouchsafing, etc.) and also "Jewish" children (at least for males through circumcision) and so forth in other faith traditions. . Finally, for the spiritually minded or aware (those who believe or recognize that there are supernatural influences outside of man's current scientific or technological abilities to empirically test or prove them), there are factors outside the parental and other observable environmental influences that are recognized as the "workings of the Holy Spirit," the influence of "good or evil angels" or other of “spirit beings” malevolent or benign, or a direct epiphany or manifestation. These may supersede and either further or counter the factors within the observable realm. Such have been the experiences of many who have testified to divine intervention on the one hand or demonic influence or possession on the other end of the spiritual spectrum. Pastor Ken
  • I only know enough to speak for myself, but I know that I would not have even been a Christian if I had not been trained to be one from the age of three.
  • Absolutely. Children are born free and atheist. * But Alas! "washed brains are like raped minds, often damaged beyond repair…” "washed brains are so dirty, even holy communion, confession to Original Sin, Zam-Zam water, or Ganga-jal wouldn't clean them!" * Mind is like a parachute. It works only when it is open. “If mind were a six-sided box subject to gravity, the best door to ‘open’ it would be the floor, so there would be no room for any [irrational superstitious] junk to be left behind!!”

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