We can all agree that indoctrination of religion, and teaching it as fact is a bad thing. But Richard Dawkins has claimed that forcing a religion on children without questioning its merits is as bad as 'child abuse'. What do you think about this?
Yes it is abuse. It is brain washing at a young age, by your parents, whom you trust. You look up to them an take it as truth. Would have been totally different if had told us that it was something that they believed, but we should always question everything.
Depends on the abuse. All things are subjective. If I had to to choose Jesus over a thorough beating and some "bad touch," I'm gonna have to go with Jesus. But just barely.
I think that, as an American, while this is a tough issue, America, with the 1st Amendment, allows parents to choose what to teach their children... I meet folks who argue vehemently that this is abuse that should be banned, and while we can all agree that there are aspects of religious belief that are abusive, I can't see America changing on this issue any time in my lifetime. In the meantime, the best we can do is enforce the 1st Amend which allows us to teach our own kids nonbelief.
been severely restricted by iceland and denmark. But that would make the tooth fairy the same . SO BE IT. although I do remember running under my kids' bedroom windows with a sleigh bell. guilty as charged
I'm not sure how bad it is on the child but I wonder how bad it is on society. What rights they want to practice are one thing but what about when people use religion to justify fighting to remove abortion right for other people, fighting to remove marriage rights for other people, fighting to remove rights of freedom from religion for other people.
Mmm.... I agree. Its child abuse. Ive seen young children crying and praying for forgiveness with their hands and arms in the air. My ex brother-in-law was exorcised at 16 because his mother couldn't get him to surrender to achieving the art of speaking in tongues. I found this out 5 years later. Good thing i didnt know this was going down. I'd whipped every one of them. I'm sure he still carries these mental scares of this abuse. Religion can distort reality. Look around and see if prayers saved the hurricane victoms of louisiana and Texas. Hmmm... religion can hurt children in some cases. In most cases its the people in charge of those children thats hurting them.