I’d even give her a ride - in fact I’d probably go with her. The only way I’d try to talk her out of it is if it’s one of those “Fundamentalist” religions which greatly restrict the role of women. If she decides to limit her life to her household when she’s 30, then OK. But if she tries to make that decision when she’s 15 we’re gonna have words.
Or else I’d ask them to prove it.
And that forces them not to believe how?
As for me, I think there’s a difference between forcing your kids to believe and raising them in what you believe. The former is bad, the latter good. Kids respond unfavorably if they feel they are being forced into something. So even though I think I’m right, I would do my best not to force the issue.
First off, I would not commit child abuse by dragging a child under 18 into a church. If they wanted to go to a church, I would explain to them that churches are part of a religion and religion is a lie. If they still wanted to go, that would be their problem.
I pushed this (learning the fundamentals, as it were) not only because it would help them make informed decisions, but because the history of religion gives great insight into the history of mankind. For good or for evil, they are very closely intertwined (please, if you respond to that last sentence, remember that we’re in IMHO, not GD).
Because they cannot prove it. I’m confident in my debates against religious people in general. It can’t fail against a little kid.
Well, I’m Baha’i, my husband is an atheist. Our oldest daughter, TheThreadPirateRoberts is whatever she says she is right now, not really sure; she made her Baha’i declaration when she was 15, but since, has been Christian, Wiccan, and I’m not sure what else. She’s 22YO. Our middle daughter EtherealFreakOfPinkness is Baha’i. My youngest daughter, mudgirl proudly proclaims herself to be “half Christian, half Baha’i”. It’s all OK.
In the Baha’i faith, you can’t really be Baha’i (meaning to be beholden to all the rules, etc) until you’re 15, anyway. When you are 15, you can make your declaration, which means you sign a card that says “I am Baha’i, and will try to fulfill my obligations as such”, and then send the card into the National Spiritual Assembly. Then you’re ‘on the roles’ as being Baha’i.
But one of the major tenets of our faith is that there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ religion. They are different paths to the same God.
So, mudgirl goes to a Christian church on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings, I’m guessing because she likes the fellowship there. But if she decided tomorrow she wanted to be Jewish, Hindu, or atheist, I’d be cool with that, too. I don’t think that atheists can ‘choose’ to believe in a higher power any more than a theist (like me) can choose to not believe in one. It is what it is.
If she wanted to join a cult, or if she wanted to practice her chosen religion in a way that interferes with the household, we’d have to have words about it.
So how many Christians have you converted? You might think you’ve won every argument, but if they walk away from the argument still believing in God, you haven’t changed anything.
Fact is, you can’t make your kid be an atheist. You can teach them, you can indoctrinate them, you can shame and belittle them, you can scream and threaten them, but you can’t make them believe anything.
My dad is a minister and he still let me choose - I ended up being an agnostic. I owe my (as yet nonexistent) children the ability to make that same choice, regardless of what they end up choosing.
You know you’re completely, absolutely predictable, right? I knew this post was coming (although I’m a bit surprised that it took so long), and I knew exactly what it would say, right down to the “child abuse” bit.
Same here.
It’s easier to argue against someone who hasn’t got a head full of lies already from decades of Christian indoctrination. You really think it’s impossible to convince a kid you’re right if you use facts and reason? It may not work on everybody, but don’t assume parents have no way of influencing their children’s beliefs. And that’s what I plan to do, influence them in a way to make them dislike religion.
[Moderator Note]Please try to remember that this is a poll, not a religious debate. If you wish to discuss how you voted, go right ahead, but if you wish to debate, take it to Great Debates. Thank you.[/Moderator Note]
I am letting my children choose, as my mother did, as her mother before did before for her. I don’t know about her mother, but I know her father was Catholic and her mother was not.
Are you me? I could have written this post, if you change six-year-old to seven-year-old. 
When you say child, what ages do you mean? Obviously you cannot force someone to believe in something, and once they are an adult, you can’t force them to go to church any more. I attend at our local UU church regularly and the kids go with me. If they choose another religion when they are older, that’s fine by me, but I would like to be able to attend services with them once in a while; on the other hand I wouldn’t want to have to drive them somewhere else every Sunday - but that could be because I’m not used to having teenagers yet; I imagine a large part of being the parent of a teenager is driving them places.
Obviously I tell my kids, if they ask, that I’m an atheist and there is no God. They can decide for themselves later on if they agree with that or not.