Would you allow your children to explore and study other religions?

I would, simply because of the fact that I was brought up with the expression "you learn from your mistakes". I was born and raised a catholic, and there's alot of times I wanted to change religion because there was things that catholics believe in that i don't agree with, and other religions seemed "better' in a sense. My parents allowed me to search within myself and decide if I wanted to stay a catholic or convert to something else. I have since decided to stay a catholic, but if my children wish to study other religions and see if taht's what better suits their personality, then I'll be fine with it, as long as they don't come with the thinking that one religion is better than another and try to force their views down anyone's throat so to speak.

..hi.. for me, yes.. But I have to caution them that all religions are different and that in every religion, there will always be weaknesses.. no religion is ever perfect.. and I have to make it clear to them that religion is not the way to go to heaven (I believe in heaven).. It is our own personal relationship with God.. that's why I myself don't believe in religions preaching that their religion is the real one because I never encountered any religion in the Bible that God designated as the true one.. It's not bad to explore so that they will know where they want to fit in..

Hi,

16, 17, 18 are quite ripe age and children are much comprehensive these days. Hence allowing them to explore other language and study as well would be most reasonable venture.

Yes, I would allow it. I have gone to catholic schools all my life. But because my parents weren't devout catholics, the religion was not forced upon me. That made me open-minded to learning about other religions. Exploring is not a bad thing. It actually makes our children more aware and knowledgeable about what's out there. It makes them not be so close-minded, like saying that "my religion is the right religion". I think we all should be given a choice as to what religion we want to follow, that is, unless it has cultic influences. I, myself, have tried to learn about Buddhism and Taoism, even New Age. But it has brought me full circle and now I am a Christian.

I consider evolution a type of religion because it was the belief of one man. This was forced on my children while they were going to school. I just tired to see that they had a firm foundation based on the Bible. Actually, one time when my wife got tired of my daughters nasty bedroom she took everything out of the bedroom except the Mormon Bible. My daughter was in about the 5th grade. I don't know why my wife decided to do that since she doesn't believe in that religion but she did. After reading a few chapters my daughter commented that a 3rd grader could have written that book. Funny thing was from what I gathered, Joseph Smith did drop out of school when he was in the 3rd grade. The Catholic church says that if you give them your child until he is 8 years old he will remain a Catholic. I truly believe that if you raise your child properly in your faith he will remain. The BIG word here is properly. If it is done wrong, he will leave.

Its better that they do something that theyre truly passionate about, rather that just pay lip service to the church that they have inherited from you. Its natural for teens around this age to start to question what theyve been told for so many years, and chances are if you allow them to explore their options, they will either find one that they can find harmony with, or they will realize that the religion that you chose is truly the best fit for them

You are talking about middle to late teens, so the answer for me is YES... with a proviso...

IF YOU HAVE GIVEN THEM A FIRM GROUNDING IN TRUTH FIRST. Here's where the fur starts to fly. Truth can only be found in the Bible, (I can feel the wrath of many already). By the time a child is in their teens, a solid foundation should have already been established.

My nephew, who is really like my son, told me that he wanted to explore all the world's religions to compare them. He was about 10 at the time, and I encouraged him to do so but insisted that if he was going to seriously consider them, that he should start with Christianity.

After all, if you are going to delve into comparative theology, shouldn't you use the one that was given to us by the one and only living God through His Son Jesus Christ? If you have a sound Biblical foundation, you can easily defeat all the other world religions. In fact, usually they will defeat themselves if you know how to properly evaluate them.

If you had a third grade class go out and draw straight lines in the dirt so that you could compare them to see which was the straightest, wouldn't you need to KNOW what a straight line was supposed to look like?

God Bless

I would appreciate if they would study other religions. When I was in the mentioned age my Roman Catholic church dominated all my religious understandings, but didn't give me real answers. Nowadays my children learn "ethics" at school instead of "Roman Catholic lessons". But they don't really take advantage of this broader spectrum; focus goes to the materialistic aspects of this world rather than the spiritual mission in life.

Rather you allow them to are not, kids will be kids. It's not what they do when they are around you that gets them in trouble, but what they do when you are not around. The Bible says train up a child in the way that he should go and he will not depart. This is so true, I grew up going to a Pentecostal church, I have studied other things in the past, but the{ebntecostal way sticks in my head. It's ok for them to stidy other things, because it maybe God's way of putting a person that knows the way, into a lost church, it may be a saviour in the midst.

Yes, its always be a part of there growing to study more about religion. It is just like learning history when you explore to study religions. It is better then for them to study but you we have to guide them.