Children

[Machu Picchu]

For those who don't believe in God/practice a religion, do you plan on exposing your children to any religions? I'm still a little undecided about what I want to do. When they're young, I might take them to church on Sundays until they're old enough to decide what they want to belief. I won't discuss my own religious beliefs with them until they're older, either. However, I'm still undecided if exposing them to Christianity will benefit them. I'd like to here what others plan on doing!

[Aucune Raison]

Nope. I'd rather not have my child's brain molded that way. I mean, if someone doesn't grow up in that sort of environment, they'll pretty much find it absurd later. Unless of course fundamentalists manage to take over education, in which case I'll move to a different country to have a family.

[keybladelegacy]

Im going to teach my child my religion. I cant force them to believe in it though. So pretty much teaching them at a young age.

[Chevalier Sombre]

I plan to not expose them to anything when they're particularly young.

When they're old enough, I'll basically tell them to try and find out for themselves what they want to believe in. Make sure they have all the resources so they can do that.

[Alaude Drenxta]

Nope.

No brain-washing in my house thanks.

[Ordeith]

I would teach my children religion only if I was certain that they would truly benefit from it, instead of being hindered by it.

Perhaps I'll explain to him or her the basic beliefs of each of the major religions, Atheism included, and allow them to choose from among those.

[Azrael]

I would teach them the Catholic religion only for the morals and basic rules at a young age yet not press it on them. I would make sure there are books available on other faiths such as the Torah, Koran, etc.

So they can be tolerant of both the theists and anti-theists.

[brave little toaster]

Well, I will teach them the basics of Christanity when they're younger, however, I'm atheist. My parents are Christian, so if I didn't baptize them/teach them about the Christian faith, they'd get all worried they'll be sent to hell or something. But in the end, instead of forcing them to practice Christianity, like my parents do to me, I'll let them choose what they bieleve. Wouldn't matter too much to me, since I'm atheist.

[∞]

If they ever have questions about a religion, I'll do my best to answer and inform my children of it.

But I'm certainly not going to force them into it in any way. And if they want to pursue a religion, I won't stop them, unless I think it's one that's a total load of crap.
See: Scientology

[Vossler]

I am going to teach them the relgion that I follow. Christianity

[RTP49]

in during like the same replies almost ten times over dude THEOLOGY CIRCLEJERK I WORSHIP DIS

[Ulti]

Instead of being fair, I am gonna let my offspring decide when they leave what they want to be. Why make it easy for them and just give them a religion?

[Bangkok Superpussy]

This partially relates to a post I made in a different thread, which I will quote below:

Originally Posted by Sam

On whether or not parents have the right to dictate their child's religion (and authority in general):

I think the issue here is that all too often parents do not show, but tell. Instead of attempting to teach their children critical thinking, they merely read them the "facts" out of a book of their choosing (usually either Darwinian or theological) and leave no room for questioning or personal searching.

Do parents have the legal right to control most aspects of their child's life so long as they are minors? Yes, but it isn't quite so black and white as that; what happens once the parents lose control and the children, now adults, are sent out into the world with years of resentment on their shoulders from being treated as subjects and not individuals? Not only are they at a disadvantage having never developed the ability to think for themselves, but they are also several years behind the rest of their generation when it comes to developing their own identity. Bottom line, you aren't doing your offspring a favor by dictating them. Be a guide, not a master...

So if you want your children to be [insert religion/belief here] in their adult lives, do not tell them to be [insert religion/belief here]; show them why it is the correct path and let them make the decision for themselves after providing them with what they need to make an informed decision.

You know that expression about giving a man a fish or teaching him how to catch fish himself? :)

I will teach my children to be rationalists, not Atheists. If people are told what to believe and not shown how to decide for themselves what to believe, their belief is superficial in the first place and mired in an inability to think independently. And to me that is a form of child abuse.

This also applies to theists. Don't teach your children to be members of your specific religion; teach them how to think theologically, not merely to behave theologically.

I think I will tell my kids that if they want to live under my house and my rules, then they will indeed attend church every sunday; however, i will not concur that if they decide to become atheists or anything other than christians, and i might look down upon them if they are not christian

however, i will still like them regardless of their decisions and i will respect their choices should they become anything other than a christian.

[Alaude Drenxta]

I'm going to beat Jesus into my kids so they'll hate him when they grow up. When they see a picture of Jesus, they will cringe and scream.[/sarcasm]

But seriously, I think the most important thing for a child is to present them with all the facts, even when it doesn't concern religion. Thought is mankind's greatest weapon, and each person should know how to do so.