Forced Religion

I didn't call it mental abuse, Richard Dawkins said that, for the record. go talk to him about it. because I cannot find a better term for this, this is what I'm using.

I just watched Jesus camp last night...
oh. my god.
has anyone else seen this? This is from the most extreme branch of Christianity, yes. I just feel bad for those kids that just so happened to be born into a family that just happened to be evangelical. This was sickening.

question
how do you feel if you heard someone descibe a 7 year old as 'Christian/Muslim/etc child" ?
do you think they have any right to call this child this?

evangelical christian here. and a liberal. so don't generalize.

Miley Cyrus:

evangelical christian here. and a liberal. so don't generalize.

never did.
I know the movie was about extreme evangelicals.

1. Were you brought up to follow this religion?

No, I am the only Christian in my family

2. Were your parents strict about it, or did they not mind you believing something else?
My parents don't mind I am a Christian, as they have seen a massive change in me since I was saved.

3. Have you ever questioned your religion?
Yeah I have, but God has always given me the answers I needed when I asked Him.

4. Have you ever thought of becoming a part of a different religion, or even no religion at all?
Nup, Never.

5. Do you feel that what your parents did was right?
You mean by letting me find my own way to God?
Yes I do :]

Bleach:

I didn't call it mental abuse, Richard Dawkins said that, for the record. go talk to him about it. because I cannot find a better term for this, this is what I'm using.

To be fair, most of us can't exactly go and talk to Professor Dawkins.
For those who have not read The God Delusion, it might be more helpful to summarise his arguments because I'm interested in knowing how this constitutes 'mental abuse'.

Bloodraine:

Bleach:

I didn't call it mental abuse, Richard Dawkins said that, for the record. go talk to him about it. because I cannot find a better term for this, this is what I'm using.

To be fair, most of us can't exactly go and talk to Professor Dawkins.
For those who have not read The God Delusion, it might be more helpful to summarise his arguments because I'm interested in knowing how this constitutes 'mental abuse'.

very true. XD
I did post link to a video where he was talking about this for a good 5 minutes... but dammit, I don't think it came up.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Vu7NEnw1B8g
I also have the book, so I can type up what he said

victoria and Geevampire... since the rest of your family doesn't follow your religion, what do you do when you want to go to church? I guess your parents just drive you? and what about the holidays?

so like i can see why someone can think its mental abuse like its saying that you have to belive something and alot of parents also use fear like "oh your going to go to hell if you dont belive in god"

Danny Callahan.:

so like i can see why someone can think its mental abuse like its saying that you have to belive something and alot of parents also use fear like "oh your going to go to hell if you dont belive in god"

good point.

Telling kids they could go to hell. like you've all said, "my parents didn't think this and they didnt mind me doing this and yadda"
but as far as I'm concerned, the two main goals of religion are to do what it teaches, and if you do what it teaches, you get a reward [heaven, etc], but if you don't something bad will happen to you, like go to hell. Kids are extremely susseptible to believe what their parents say.

i was raised Christian/Presbyterian. I'm still active in the church but i'm now an atheist.
i NEVER went to church until about 5 years ago when my granddad met his current girlfriend. i didn't even know what the fuck God was until then. i had no choice on going because if i didn't cooperate, my granddad would get all pissy and start to yell and scream at me, then causing my mom to wake up, adding on to the fight by yelling and screaming also, all the while i'm crying and yelling at BOTH of them to stop. there are a lot of flaws with every religion. l believe that religion should not be forced upon anyone at all. it should be their choice and no one should change their mind.

ZOID.:

Well, I wouldn't force it on them to practice and believe it but force it on them to atleast learn about it.

well yeah, of course. that's just like telling your kid that america (or whatever country you live in) is the only country in the world

Bleach:

victoria and Geevampire... since the rest of your family doesn't follow your religion, what do you do when you want to go to church? I guess your parents just drive you? and what about the holidays?

really late response, but on holidays my mom goes with me and on sunday i just have to walk like six blocks to get there

I don't believe anyone should be forced into a religion they aren't comfortable with.I mean my social studies teacher is a Jew but so he celebrates Hanakkah but maybe his gf he's dateing is a Christain.They don't have to go to the same church or celebrate the same holidays just cause they are together.I don't think so.

well depends on how much it's forced.
i mean you could be raised as a christian then one day decide to believe otherwise.
if you're younger and you have a religious family then you'll obviously get taken to church and so on
unless you're just COMPLETELY brainwashed by extremist parents who disown you for having your own beliefs...THAT i don't agree with.
but being raised with religion isn't really a problem if they let you have your own opinions and beliefs

1. Were you brought up to follow this religion?
I was brought up Catholic until I was about 10, but then started questioning God for myself. I wanted to know God for myself. My life started getting bad and I wanted peace and clarity.
2. Were your parents strict about it, or did they not mind you believing something else?
My dad is pretty strict about it and I'm persecuted a lot for it.
3. Have you ever questioned your religion?
Sometimes, but I know in my heart I have peace and something tells me I'm doing something right.
4. Have you ever thought of becoming a part of a different religion, or even no religion at all?
Not really to be honest. Jesus supplies all my needs and I'm always satisfied in Him so I've never really wanted anything else.
5. Do you feel that what your parents did was right?
Sureee. I don't see anything against what they did.

I think loads of kids are born into religious families and loose their faith whilst growing up, which is alright. The thing that annoys me is the loss of religion itself because I think these days there's a difference emerging between faith and religion. Religion has almost become purely cultural, unconnected to spiritual beliefs due to the emergence of science.

In this way, I am Buddhist and a Christian, even if I don't believe in the contemporary, conventional idea of God. I feel that the two religions are a part of my cultural heritage. Dara O'Briain puts it very well, he says he doesn't believe in God, but is still a Catholic.

So yeah, I don't blame parents for imposing religion on their children, as it's more to do with tradition, heritage, and culture than faith. It's merely extremist religion that bugs me, and chances are, most kids these days grow out of it anyways.

Anji:

I think loads of kids are born into religious families and loose their faith whilst growing up, which is alright. The thing that annoys me is the loss of religion itself because I think these days there's a difference emerging between faith and religion. Religion has almost become purely cultural, unconnected to spiritual beliefs due to the emergence of science.

spirituality is a very cool thing. I never see so many spiritual people. You (obviously) can have a religion and be spiritual. which kinda stinks, because I definatley think spirituality has alot more meaning to it than religon.

how are they both getting disconnected from each other with science? I thought it was more that people are getting cut off from religion alltogether because of science.

Science is pretty much my favorite subject, but I'm not the kind of person that is going to look at everything scientifically. Being spiritual with something such as nature is something that I could do, and science can't disprove or prove it. reliion can be proven immoral, wrong, or just plain stupid, but spirituality can or may be a different case.

Bleach:

Anji:

I think loads of kids are born into religious families and loose their faith whilst growing up, which is alright. The thing that annoys me is the loss of religion itself because I think these days there's a difference emerging between faith and religion. Religion has almost become purely cultural, unconnected to spiritual beliefs due to the emergence of science.

spirituality is a very cool thing. I never see so many spiritual people. You (obviously) can have a religion and be spiritual. which kinda stinks, because I definatley think spirituality has alot more meaning to it than religon.

how are they both getting disconnected from each other with science? I thought it was more that people are getting cut off from religion alltogether because of science.

Science is pretty much my favorite subject, but I'm not the kind of person that is going to look at everything scientifically. Being spiritual with something such as nature is something that I could do, and science can't disprove or prove it. reliion can be proven immoral, wrong, or just plain stupid, but spirituality can or may be a different case.

Especially in Christianity, there is growing evidence againt Biblical accounts of the history of Christianity which are being backed up by science. Things like evolution and the Big Bang, which have disproved many previous theories in the Christian faith have caused some people to not completely revert to science, but take a more sceptical view of the Bible, and use religion as more of a connection to culture than to God, if they do or do not believe in God. So, for example, you end up with these scientists who believe in God, say they are Christian, but have no spiritual connection to the religion because science has cast doubt on the religion.

I suppose likewise you can have people who use religion for a purely spiritual reason, but doubt the historical accounts on which the religion is based. So religion has little cultural appeal, but they use it to connect to God. Like those who have no Christian heritage but revert to Christianity later in their life and get baptised and stuff.

So that's how people are getting disconnected from the spirituality of religion. I'm not saying that the people feel spiritual towards the religion, I'm saying that religion initially has an aspect of spirituality which gets dismissed when science proves the reasons and stories behind the religion, wrong.

I never mention spirituality seperate from religion, when I say 'spiritual beliefs' I am referring to those beliefs present in religion, not like mysticism or whatever kind of 'spirituality'.