Forced Religion

I attended Catholic schools from the age of 4-18. I don't mind that this religion was forced upon me, I don't believe in God, but it's a nice religion. It makes sense for kid's to have the same religion as their parents.

If someones not happy with the religion they've been given, theres always conversion.

In our Religion Education we were informed of other beliefs and views, and you would never get thrown out for saying you don't believe in God.

To call it mental abuse is reactionary and narrow-minded, as is the blanket view that 'religion is bad'. It's obviously 'cool' for you rebellious youth's to say so.

My grandparents tried to force us into believing, so me & my siblings were baptised (that's what it's called right?) so they could sleep at night.
My dad's an atheist and my mum's agnostic(?) so I wasn't forced into any religion at home. My parents would be open to anything I wanted to believe.
I did go to catholic schools, but they didn't force us into anything either.
I am in fact really happy that I was raised without a religion. To me being atheist is the only thing that makes sense.

But I get that some parents raise their kids religious.
Since they have that believe, they're doing what they think is right.. regardles wether it is actually right to do so. When you use religion to teach morals and don't take it too far there's no harm in it I guess. As long as they don't scare them with the whole "god will punish blablabla"

What bothers me more is that people can't seem to seperate politics and religion. Or that certain religious people can't accept the fact that non-believers can be good people too. But those are whole other debates

In my younger years I was raised by my Grandparents, They raised me to me a christain. I am an atheist however I am only so because I started to question religion myself and approached my parents about it as I spent more time with them.
I see why parents bring up their kids by their religious beliefs,
However I don't think it's right. I think that kids should be taught about different ideas and beliefs, So they can make their own decission.

When I was younger we celelbrated christmas and stuff and i counted myself as a christian because that's what my family was, I believed I was supposed to believe in God because that's what's expected, and I was supposed to be a good girl so I wouldn't go to hell, I'll add more later, I'm at school right now and have to get off.

I was baptized catholic when I was very young. I went to catholic school for about 8 years, I went along with it even though I hardly knew what any of it REALLY meant. Now for the past few years I've been atheist but too afraid to mention it to my family =/ despite that I've sort of hinted around the idea that I'm loosing (or have already lost) faith in any sort of god.

idk i don't have a problem with my friends being religious n all. Just sometimes its a bit awkward.

I don't think it's "wrong"
When you're a baby/ a young kid, you can't really make these decisions for yourself, and it makes sense for parents to baptize their kids when they're born, so if the kid dies the religious parent will have the peace of mind in knowing the kid went to heaven (whether you do or not doesnt matter, if the parents believe in it it will make them happy)
Once you become a teen (usually when you start to really think about things) if you don't like it you can just become an athiest.
As long as you have good moral values then you dont NEED religion.
I'm a born and raised Catholic, and I believe in God, mostly, but I dont get why some people get all freaked out over atheists. I dont think it makes them bad people at all, of that they 'need to be saved'

My parents or family were never really that religious. I mean, my grandma went to church every Sunday and I would go with her, but religion was never really discussed, I just went with it until I got old enough to develop my own opinion.

When I told my mom that I decided that I was an atheist, she didn't have a problem with it. I know some people have parants that wouldn't be accepting and i think that is wrong.

If i have a husband or partner who is religious and we decide to have kids i will let them grow up with that religion. But when they are old enough, i will let them know that they may choose their own religion and i will be supportive.

1. Were you brought up to follow this religion? I was raised Catholic.
2. Were your parents strict about it, or did they not mind you believing something else? My parents brought me to church every sunday, and sent me to catholic school. However, they encouraged me to find out about all walks of life, religions, etc.
3. Have you ever questioned your religion? Yes.
4. Have you ever thought of becoming a part of a different religion, or even no religion at all? I have considered converting to Judaism, but I love my Church, even if I disagree with certain teachings.
5. Do you feel that what your parents did was right? Yes.

The thing about religion is that it instills a basic set of values, and helps you learn the difference between right and wrong. If you look, all religions have the same basic set of rules to live by, and regard the same things as sinful. Growing up Catholic helped me learn the difference between right and wrong, how to treat the people around me, and how to live as a decent human being.

That being said, I am pro-choice and I am a proud bisexual. I question my religion, like anyone else, and I make my own decisions with the knowledge that perhaps someday I may have to answer for them.

To be honest, I think taking issue over being raised a certain religion is rather ridiculous. The point of having parents is for them to guide you when you are too young to make choices for yourself, and, for many people, religion is a very important part of their life. So naturally, they try to share that part of their life with their children, until such a time as the child is old enough to either embrace or disgard their parents teachings.

I dont think its wrong to raise a kid in church, or religion. Spanking isn't appropriate for the situation, I dont think..unless maybe the thing the kid does is against the parents' personal rules.
When it becomes wrong, I think, to force a kid into religion is when they are old enough to decide whether or not they believe in that religion. and even then, i dont think having the kid spend an hour or so sitting in a church is a huge deal, if its a family thing.

I'm a Christian.

1. Were you brought up to follow this religion?
Yes, I've gone to church pretty much since I was born.
2. Were your parents strict about it, or did they not mind you believing something else?
My family was strict about it. It makes sense though... I suppose having a child who begins to hold radically different views from you at a young age would be a bit unnerving...
3. Have you ever questioned your religion?
Yes. I went through various periods in my faith where I questioned without abandoning my faith altogether. One of these periods was about a half year in length wherein I began studying Wicca and paganism. (sorry if those are capatalized wrong.)
4. Have you ever thought of becoming a part of a different religion, or even no religion at all?
See above answer.
5. Do you feel that what your parents did was right?
Yes, I did. I beleive that Christianity is the one true faith, and I'm glad I was brought up in it. Had I never been a Christian, I would have never gotten to known my worship leader/future fiance.(:

I went to a christian church primary school when I was younger. As we all got older into year 6 which is when we're around 10/11 years old, some of us were more open about the fact we never really went along with it or truly believed it. The teachers said to us "We know you probably don't believe it but in this school you should", it wasn't our fault that we didn't want to follow the religion, but we still respected everyone who did follow this religion. We sang to the songs of christian stories and prayed with everyone else because everyone in that school was told to.

Like Bandersnatch said, I don't think it's wrong to raise a child in a church or teach them to follow the same religion because they won't know any different, they will be happy being brought up that way. But when they are old enough to make their own choices, people should let them make their choices and respect them. Or if someone was never religious and people tried to force the child into religion. I don't like the idea of people knocking on other strangers doors and trying to force them into a religion either. I'm okay with it if they're nice about it and are just asking politely but I think it's bad that they'll insult them if they refuse, I don't think that's polite.
/long rant.

My mother never forced and brought my siblings and I up in a religion,
I didn't even know about differen't religions until I was of age,
And my mother lets each one of us follow our own.
And we all chose a differen't one,
It's weird, not at all having the same religion,
But it's nice to be able to pick whatever.

I am an Atheast and my whole familey belives in God
and i used to just go along untill resently when i told my mom
there is no god up there

I went to a religious primary school, but my dad is a complete atheist. So ive always been brought up to have the choice.
I dont believe in God.

Im a christian but a fake one!
-i go to a catholic school and so did the rest of my family
- i say i believe in god every religion class, but really i dont, until recently i actually thought about things i dont believe in any of the crap my schools teaching about God, but i cant just say i dont believe in God when im in a frekin catholic school