Thread: Do parents have the right to decide which religion their child falls in?

Parrents should decide, because we act on what were tought. If you don't learn to practice something, your just going to practice nothing. While if you are guided into a specific religion you still stand a chance of discovering its flaws and changing.

First of all, why should you practice anything at all? And why shouldn't you make up your own religion? In fact, why would you need a religion if you want to believe in God(s) whatever this word means to you?...

As far the spiritual and intellectual "survival" (as opposed to the physical survival) of a child is concerned, the only real obligation of the parental body is to present the child with the opportunities to explore different concepts. In other words, the parents should enable the child to see the whole variety and abundance of ideas and concepts in our world (as far as suitable for its age), in our existence as a human race. I believe this is called education, in its broadest sense.

"We are firm followers of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and since we believe in this, it is the only truth, thus obviously the only right thing to do is to shove our beliefs down the throat of our children, because we know better than anyone else what makes another human being happy."

I feel like parents have every right to share their beliefs with there children. If their children choose to adapt these as their own then awesome. If not then the parents should respect this and let them pursue which ever path they choose.

Though the odds of this ever being practiced is probably slim to none.

Originally Posted by ASUguy

I feel like parents have every right to share their beliefs with there children. If their children choose to adapt these as their own then awesome. If not then the parents should respect this and let them pursue which ever path they choose.

Though the odds of this ever being practiced is probably slim to none.

Pretty much this. It is inevitable that as parents you will have an effect on your kids beliefs. Also if you truly believe something then why would you not pass on your "wisdom" to your kids? Although this speaks more to the fact that I think every parent has the right to give their kids their insight into their own religion... but I guess the question is SHOULD we decide which religion we point them towards?

When It comes to the question on whether we SHOULD or not, I personally think pointing them towards a single religion will sway their view too much. I rather educate them on a variety of different religions and let them come to terms with one of their choosing all on their own. They are the ones that have to live the rest of their lives how they chose, and religions can have a big part in that.

Wow, good question.

Parents should educate their children on religions and allow them to make their own choices. Forcing anything, religion/career/lifestyle/..., robs of them of the chance to live life they want to, and to make their own choices and mistakes. If they make a choice you don't agree with, be supportive. If it turns out bad, support them on the way back to the right path.

I wasn't brought up with any religion. My mother attempted to bring me a few times when I was around 10 but I thought it was a scary place. I'm currently atheist and even when I was young the idea of organized religion felt very intimidating and cult-like. When I have children I'm not going to raise them in any religion. I had barely any exposure to it until my teens, and by then I was smart enough to conclude that the idea there of a god is too farfetched and abstract for a scientific person such as myself. I feel that it is up to the children what they should believe. By the time the issue of religion and god came up for me I was already so mature and adult-like that I used real reasoning to conclude it's best I not adhere to any religion.

Parents should not force a child to decide one way or the other. Lead by example and if they are interested, they will follow. If not, it is not your business to tell them what to or what not to believe.

Yes, they in fact do!
Children are hardly capable of making sound decisions and young people in general are very irresponsible.
It is not until they reach maybe their mid 30's that they begin to look back and see the error of their ways and say things like "oh mum I wish I had listened to you more when I was younger."

I have a friend who is very shy and she was not baptised Roman Catholic by her Catholic parents. Those parents assumed it would be a good idea to let their daughter choose for herself. The daughter yearns to be Catholic and constantly feels left out and especially so when she was at school and had to see her peers be confirmed and take first communion while she had to sit apart from them all. She constantly berates her parents for their stupid new age mistake! The problem with my friend now is that she is so shy with people she does not know and totally lacks self confidence that she is unable to bring herself to attend RCIA so she is stuck in a kind of limbo.

My parents did not have me baptised either as my father was in prison at the time (He's Irish Catholic) and mum had never been baptised either. It was not until I was an adult that I was able to correct the errors made by my parents when I was a child. Thankfully the line has now been reestablished and I am now Catholic, and am where I belong. I learned much from my parents mistakes and both my children were baptised Catholic when they were babies and I know that they will thank me for it and be proud of their heritage.

I say this often to people that I meet and even to people I have known for many years.
Even if I did not believe in God or in His Son Jesus Christ I would still be Catholic as the Catholic Church is the last and final bastion against all immorality in the West and above all Jesus is a perfect example for us all to follow.

My wife who is Armenian and Orthodox does not even believe in God but she is a leading advocate for all things Catholic and Orthodox and was more than happy to organise our children's baptisms. Our children also attend Armenian Orthodox school, again that was my wifes decision. My wife is proud to be Christian and Orthdox and she too believes that Jesus is a perfect example for us all to follow. There in my wife is a woman filled with wisdom, a woman that aspires to do her utmost best for her children by leading them in the right direction and if needed she will push them in the right direction. I thank God daily for such a woman in my life.

As a parent myself i know im there to guide my child, be it religion ,ethics ,morals ,school ,behaviour etc etc...

The key word though is GUIDE you cant force anything on them.