Teaching our children what is important to us.

Of course things like "shower every day" and "education = success" are every bit as much indoctrination as religion is. The point is not THAT it is indoctrination, it's WHAT is being indoctrinated. If someone's religion involved believing that people of all other faiths were evil and needed to be destroyed, would you still respect their "right" to teach their children that? How about all the children in the middle east being taught that all Americans are tools of the devil and deserve to die painfully? Did their parents have a "right" to teach them that? Well, many Christian parents are teaching their children that anyone who is gay deserves to die and rot in hell, and a lot of other people see that as on par with teaching children that every American deserves to die and rot in hell. So, we have a problem with children (who are our future) being taught such things. And we do have problems with other beliefs (not just religion) being taught to children. We don't like the idea of neo-nazi skinheads teaching their children that non-whites are not human and don't deserve respect, for example. Also, most religious people do not teach their children ABOUT their beliefs. They do not explain that there are several belief systems, none proven, of which they believe this one in particular simply because they grew up under its influence and they are continuing the tradition...they teach the elements of the belief as though it were as true as 1+1=2, and don't distinguish between belief and fact in any way. (please note that I said "most" and not "every".) Of course, if you believe in god the way I believe 1+1=2, there is no resolution to this debate. You will believe you have the right to teach your children what you consider the truth, just as I believe that I have the right to teach my children the truth, and I guess only time will tell who (if anyone) knew what the truth actually is.

I think the most import is cultivating children free-standing ability.

I dont think that teaching our children our beliefs is the problem. IMO what IS the issue is teaching our children our beliefs and FORCING them to believe as we do. I think the problem is parents/caregivers who teach the kids their beliefs and telling them that anything different is wrong, unworthy, evil etc (whether its religious/spiritual beliefs or cultural or lifestyle or social status etc)..THATS when it becomes a problem and yes IMO even brainwashing to some degree..When a parent/caregiver behaves that way they are not only raising the kids to be negative and narrowminded but also hindering (potentially) their lives and futures.

As I am of the Protestant faith and my ex-husband of the Roman Catholic Faith. Our daughter was not baptised as a baby but exposed to both our religious beliefs. She chose to attend a Catholic School and when she was old enough she chose to be baptised in the Catholic Faith. Her father and I thought that was the best solution as we did not want to force any religion on her but just let her absorb her religious knowledge from both sides..

The woman that raised me did the ultimate...I am Jewish...she was catholic. She was anti semitic and made it very obvious. She made me attend catholic mass every sunday and daily as often as possible. I even had to attend catholic school from 5th grade thru 10th grade....From the age of 10 on I knew I would never be a catholic or a christian. I do not think you can really brainwash a kid that does not want to be brainwashed about religion....

Of course you should teach your children what is important to you, what you believe in. The only exception being the teaching of intolerance and hatred of people who have other customs and beliefs. In my mind it is reasonable to teach them to hate pedophiles, but not muslims, to be intolerant of lawbreakers, but not of considering opposing political views, to think for themselves, but to first lay the foundation with my own beliefs and standards. Everybody has to figure out where they draw the line, but hopefully there are some common standards that most reasonable people can agree on.

It is important that we teach our kids the beliefs and culture which we have got from our ancestors. If we do not pass on these things to them, somewhere we will lose the track and it cannot be continued. It is not necessary that kids will take everything we teach them, like we have done. It is understood that we are not carrying everything what our parents have taught us.

My parents raised me and took me to a Roman Catholic Church neither of them where extremely religious my Dad told me that he wanted me to get exposure to a Real Religion and what one feels like so that later in life I would stay away from Religious Cults. My parents let me and actually encouraged me to ask questions. They would give me truthful answers. They felt this was the best way to raise me. They basically treated me like I was an Adult at least at some level. So when I hit sixth grade I told my parents that I wasn't feeling that the Church was feeling my needs and mainly because they all kept telling me that my questions where just arguments like "How do you know the Bible is the true word of God?", "Why did God create the entire Universe?" things of that sort they couldn't give me answer. So I told my parents I didn't want to go they made me go until the church told them that I needed to be educated the right way and watch these videos. Which my dad was against having a religion tell him how to raise us (My Brother and Me) so he asked me if I wanted to go I said no and never had to go to that thing again. I now am a Practicing Buddhist. As for if and when I have kids I think it is the right of the partents to share their religious beliefs personally I don't even care if they have rules like we all go to church. As the Childs eyes will see what it sees and choose for itself if that is the right path for them. I know friends who where raised in a very religious home yet they now are either Buddhist some are Wiccan now so what parents teach their kids only some of it sticks and that is the parts that the child accepts or believes to be true. So you can Indoctrinate all you want the person has to accepted it. I personally more of the Question Authority and how you go about doing it needs to be taught to more and more of the next generation. They are already picking it up from the Music and Internet culture but parents also need to cover this as it is important for people to always Question and seek answers to those questions that is how you keep Dictatorships from rising is the continuous amount of people seeking information and finding that information. So please do go and teach your kids what you believe makes no difference to me. I personally think that you should respect their decision to not agree and go their own way though.

If you don't teach your children your own religious and spiritual beliefs, they have no basis for comparison when they are exposed to others. I certainly think that children should be taught the faith of their parents but should also have exposure to other faiths. I taught my children my Protestant faith but as they got older I also exposed them to other faiths. We talked about Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and various Christian sects such as Baptist, Episcopal, Catholic, etc. I also taught them about cults, Atheism and Satanism. They got all the knowledge they needed to make a decision for themselves. My sons don't currently attend a church but they are very spiritual and draw strength and inspiration from their beliefs. One of the things I taught them is that just because you don't attend a house of worship it doesn't mean you are not a religious person. Churches are support groups, not a test of whether you have faith. I'm very happy with how they've grown up. I think all children should have some religious training so that they can make intelligent, informed decisions about which religion they truly believe in. Not passing on your religion to your child is like teaching him to swim by throwing him into river with no flotation devices. It doesn't always turn out well.

I think it is important to discuss your beliefs with your children they have to learn about religion somehow and they can always believe what they want when they have grown up and learn their own way in life. We talk openly about such things to our children and we also discuss other religions with them too if they should have questions about them. We try to teach that while there are different religions and different beliefs it does not make any one else right or wrong.

Yes, parents will teach their children their religious beliefs. Can one really say this is a bad thing?? I would say no in that it's a parent's duty to teach their children. Every child must learn and grow beyond that which is taught to them as a child. We are all meant to think. I was raised a christian. After becoming an adult, I learned to question and search to discover the real truth. Teach your children to question and hunger for knowledge. They will seek out the truth regardless of what is taught. If you teach your children to accept blindly, then I question whether you have your children's best interest at heart.

Passing on what is important to us should be important to our children too. Our children do have the ability to think for themselves and to make their own decisions. It is what we do as parents that can help them to make right and important decisions for their own lives.

hi there friend. i think you're right at your views. i also raised by my mom that way, and i felt like it's been a part of my life routine now. it really is essential to the role of the elders to pass on what's good for the family, and nothing is wrong with that. my mom showed me how to put God first among other things, and i think she's right. though she's too much of a churchperson, i really do not appreciate her life and commitments yet that deep, i think i still tend to enjoy my youth. my mom also lets me choose freely and decide for myself. but not to leadme to the wrong path, but i think she just wants me to discover more things that life may offer and learn from them, then eventually apply what she had taught me.