Children don't belong to religion

Because it's not logical to give up logic. Sure the old agnostic 'you cannot prove that God does not exist' argument can be trotted out, but there are an infinite number of things that could exist, but which we have no evidence for. Imagine any massless, invisibly entity and you cannot prove it doesn't exist. This is not something that a religious person can justifiably hold on to as proof that they are not being irrational.

To believe in a religion is to suspend logic. How would you get around that, when the religion is contradictory?

That is all a matter of opinion, to those who are part of a religion it is all very logical to them. You may not see the logic but it is there.
And any way, isn't it logical to give yourself something to believe in instead of living hopelessly each day and being scared of death?

I have managed to read all of this thread and agree with points from both sides of the argument. Teaching Children religon is not child abuse but i also don't agree that they should be taught something that ultimatly cannot be proven, I am religous just not a christian i am a Spiritualist with a small hint of wicca now moving in after reading books on Magick.

Children are like blank slates when they are first being taught on this plain. I am beginning to change my argument to they should be taught all religon rather than just one when i am looking at the replies on here and other religous threads. I used to think that they should only be taught bout them if they want to be

finding your own path is much more enlightening than being taught that you have to believe this or else!

Deciding that you want to believe is fine with me but being told that you have to believe is wrong

But you have not found your own path. You have a sense of 'spirituality' - which is a rather vague term which denotes a general sense of wonderment combined with an intellectual acknowledgement that we do not percieve all that there is through our senses - and you have latched on to pre-arranged constructs such as the wicca faith. It's kinda like a teenager thinking they are being a counter- social individualist by going to a highstreet store and buying off-the-rack goth clothes

I don't mean to seem offensive, it's just that you are not religious.

To the person who said it's not logical to live without the succour that comes with religion, that's a decent point, i'm just not so egotistical as to believe my continued existence matters.

Actually you are wrong. Spirutualist and wicca are parts of paganism if Iam correct and are just as much systems of fauth as christianity. Worshipped nature rather than God.....you can't mean not to be offensive if you clearly are

And what? You're saying you have to be brianwashed to be religious? That you can't have ANY logic at all. I'm sure I've said this before but that is why churchs have logical interpretations to the Bible. The Catholic church has the cathecism and the like for that simple reason - to apply our religion to a smarter more sophisticated and knowledgable human race.

I agree that religion has done a great deal of good. Even if you ignore all the atrocities and repression that has happened in the name of God, religions simply aren't necessary anymore for you to live happily. In developed countries, where people have an excellent quality of life, religion is quite unnecessary since people do not need the comfort and reassurance that religion provides. Most people in Britain are not members of any religion, yet they do not despair all the time and ask what the point is in living, because they have a good life anyway. But more importantly, religion is now getting in the way of important progress, in science and also in other areas such as human rights and equality. Soon even moderate religion will be unacceptable, just as 'extreme' religion has become unacceptable in the modern world.

As I have said before, it is naive to suppose that all non-religious people live in mortal fear and hopelessness simply because they don't follow any popular faith. In fact, it's more accurate to say that religious people live in constant fear of death, since they could end up being eternally tortured in Hell, whereas non-religious people don't really know what to expect.

Morality pre-dates religion, and a constant fear of spiritual punishment is not needed to behave morally, only the recognition of other peoples feelings is needed, and everyone is capable of that.

But it is certainly illogical to accept something which can't logically be true or even accurate. The religions that hold sway over billions of peoples lives today can not logically be true since they rely heavily on the concept of human free will, and also the idea of God as a judge. Neither can be true in a causal universe, which is apparently what God has decided to create.

if i'm truthfull
i would rather have my children studdyig the teachings of the bible then learning the silly beliefs of some silly hollywood fad..

i duno, i want to send my kids to sunday school, coz i like a lot of the moral stances that come from christianity, not lying, not stealing, not being unfaithful etc. But i can see why parent's who believe a certain religion teach their children.

As far as they can see their religion is the only possible to be saved from damnation, and because they care for their children they want to prevent it!

thats exactly what i said in another religous post about christianity being taught in schools about teaxching good morals etc...

ahh but i don't really like the fact they say you have to be well behaved or you burn for eternity.

meh,
i was thought very religiously in school.

they teach good morals but it gets all screwed up because of the source.
its like,

'you shouldn't lie'

'why?'

'because jesus wouldn't like it'

i think explaining moral behaviour like that to people is silly, and disregards the whole philosophical, psychological and social reasons why we shouldn't lie.

never give a rule to a kid without explaining why its there.

I can identify easily with this subject having been bought up with a strict religion until the age of 16. Luckily for me I have balanced parents and when I made the decision to distance myself from the religion, my decision was respected. Sadly this is not always the case. I can see the fors and against for children being raised with religion. I know from my own experience that it is very very difficult for a child to shoulder the responsibilities put on them by a religion and I also know that this can make them esy targets for school bullying etc etc.

However, a positive side of my up bringing has been that it has taught me to stand up for myself; not be afraid to express opinion, even if it goes against the crowd and it also protected me to a large extent as a young person from getting into trouble to early!

Of course a child brought up in religion is usually going to want to rebel somewhat (and that can be fun! )

In short I dont think it is wrong for a parent to guide their child under a chosen religion, so long as they remember that that child is a person in their own right and has the ultimate right to claim or refute that religion and should be able to take this option without fear of disapproval or shunning, which occurs a lot these days.