Do you think a 13 year old should be forced to go to church

What is my answer to this? Well while it is a choice as to whether or not someone accepts Jesus Christ as savior, in order to make that choice one needs to be given the information so a choice can be made. while it took me a while to come to the place of decision, by the time I did, I had adequate information and was ready for the decision I made. Remember, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

The 13 year old has been given information already as he has probably been forced to go for the majority of his life. You're right in saying that faith comes by hearing but there is a difference between telling someone about God's love and forcing it down their throats. He doesn't need an altar or a preacher to save him. He just needs to have one encounter with God and his life will NEVER be the same again. He can't be forced to know God. I wasn't saved by a church, I didn't give my life at an altar. Forcing someone to go to church isn't going to work. One day he will make his own realizations and the love of God will change him.

I think that is such a good idea thanks

Wow Raven way to leave the rest of us ABSOLUTELY NOTING ELSE TO SAY!

Good Job!

I pray that more parents will teach their children about Jesus Christ. Our world is in a mess right now simply because people are turning away from God and that is the biggest mistake anyone can make.

I pray all the time that children who are not raised by godly parents will come to know the Lord Jesus Christ from someone who truly cares about them.

God bless.
~Spring

Springlady our world is in a mess but we are the ones who will fix it and it's not because people are turning from "GOD".

We can fix it? Yeah, we've done really well so far!

No, friend, only the Lord can truly heal our nation. We need to acknowledge that and turn to Him for forgiveness and repentance.

Read II Chronicles 7:14

God bless.

I pray all the time that children who are not raised by godly parents will come to know the Lord Jesus Christ from someone who truly cares about them.

so you are implying then that parents/caregivers who DON'T believe in god or force ANY religion on their children dont truly care about them??

You say rightly that it is a parent's responsibility to provide education, morals and ethics. The education teaches a child to think for themselves and form rational opinions and to discount organised religion is one of the outcomes of a free thinking mind which constantly questions and has been broadened by education and reading. Morals and ethics are not exclusive to a certain church or religion, but the narrow minded teachings of religion disclude the possiblity that a person who decides on atheism therefore has no morals or ethics. This is a total nonsense. This boy has probably already been subjected to his parents religion and has made his own well thought out choice, an active thinking brain embraces originality rather than following herd mentality.

I live in the Caribbean and probably my opinion might me different." The term forcing" him to go to Church. At thirteen years. I see it as he is still a minor, and as it was stated, church is only one day and a least two hours. Why drain himself so much, the time passes quickly. I am not saying that the parents are wrong. They are training up their child the right way, so if he chooses to find other ways of spiritual guidance or discipline when he becomes an adult, at least he would have gathered or learnt so knowledge or shared in what his parents believe. People give children too much levarage. As soon as they show smartness or maturity for their age, some people say they have a mind of their own. Then why are parents/guardians given the role to support children from baby to age eighteen years. Or is the age span earlier in certain states?

Children are far more intelligent than people give them credit for. They can often see things adults simply refuse to see and their minds are far more open to new ideas and possibilities. I do not mean to offend you here, but this "I'm paying the bills, I'm providing for you, you do as I say" way of raising children is something that belongs back in the middle ages. This is the 21st century and people are finally starting to liberate themselves more an more from the choking grasp that religion had over them throughout the course of history.

No one should be forced to go to church or having his parents' beliefs shoved down their throat. I have nothing against religious people as long as they don't force it on people and throw it in their faces with every chance they get. Christianity and Islam excel at this though.

Thea,
There a few things I'd like to address in your comment. Before really getting into it I do want to say that I respect your opinion on things even if I don't agree with them, so thank you for adding your point of view.
First I'd like to point out that I deliberately separated the responsibility parents have to teach morals and ethics from religion. One does not solely hing upon the other, that isn't to say they cannot be effected by the other.
Second, I am curious as to where you received your information that religion "disclude[s] the possibility a person who decides on atheism therefore has no morals or ethics." I've heard this claim before, but never from a Christian. Nor was I ever exposed to this point of view in church. What I have heard, and this is from literature not doctrine, is the question of what is the ethics and/or morals of derived from or based off of and what validates those morals/ethics.
Let me illuminate this with a modern historical example. The eugenics movement in the 1900s. Eugenics is validated by the Darwinist idea of survival of the fittest which led to the idea that only the fit show be allowed to reproduce. Eugenics in the US led to over 60,000 people being sterilized. Literature in the US written by those endorsing eugenics was used by the Nazis as evidence to support some of their ideas. If you're interested Wiki has much more on this subject and how it was used in multiple nations and supported by various governments, universities and very well known individuals.
Back to the subject of the post; the boy is a child who hasn't even been taught anything other then the basics in science, history and literature; just a few of the subjects that would enable him to make a well thought out choice. Exactly how long would he have been looking into, researching and trying to understand atheism exactly? A month, a year, maybe two at the most? Which means maybe he started thinking about it when he was 11. And we all know how intelligent, reasonable and contemplative an 11 year old is.
If he chose to rebel and create strife within the family over this matter it would, in my opinion, illustrate his immaturity and lack of respect for his parents. Because in the end it would be him creating the strife in the family, not his parents.
And there is one last matter to address Thea, and that's the idea that being a part of a religion, especially in the US is following the herd mentality. First that gives the misconception that the people don't think for themselves. Personally I've met and read about people from all walks of life that are now religious. Some come from a religious backgrounds, some went away from that background before coming back to it on their own, others never knew much about it til they were adults and really the list goes on. Some have never completed high school and others have a PHD. Are all these people really following the herd mentality? Then there's the matter that atheism and agnosticism is not just acceptable, but looked upon as enlightened. Not having a religion is becoming the norm, especially if you're educated. Which means that you get opposition from all ends regardless of your belief.

Yes, parents need to provide for the children's spiritual needs as well as their physical needs. It is just as important if not more important.

Good morning happy phantom, will try for a third time to put a response in here to you, each time I've tried it has disappeared into cyber space. As we are both responding on someone else's discussions we do not receive notifications when we address each other in the middle and it is only by chance I saw this well thought out answer above. If you see this put a note below and I will answer later as have a busy day ahead. I do like to see proper discussions which bring out diversity of opinion, don't you?

Thea, I've love to have a discussion that really digs into the matter. I'm sorry you had a hard time with posting a response, I've experienced that and retyping everything can be horrible. Maybe we could start another discussion?

Hi happy phantom, we'll do that if you can keep your responses shorter, the typing back and having it disappear is happening more and more often. If you start I promise to respond, just stick a note on here where you've put it and title and I'll check back here.

This is crazy, I'll send you a friend request then I'll receive notification, easier all round!