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Originally Posted by OneofaKind  It's interesting the way in which people talk about indoctrination.
If you believe that something is good and right for your children you teach it to them and want it to be the guiding principles for their life.
If you believe in God, you teach your children about God and want them to live in line with the principles. Similarly, if you believe it is wrong to steal or to lie, you teach your children not to do so.
When they grow up, they deciede what to do. To share their parents believes - be it in God, not stealing etc or otherwise. |
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That being said, there’s a big difference between simply teaching your children your beliefs and keeping them completely sheltered. I don’t think it’s right to keep children from information. * They should be allowed (and encouraged) to learn all that they can. Parents should teach their children to be critical thinkers, that way they can come to conclusions on their own.
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Faydwyn took the words right out of my mouth (or whatever). Of course parents have the right to teach children what they beleive. What I mean by "indoctrination" is when parents not only tell children what to beleive, but telling them that they'll go to hell if they don't beleive it, punishing them if they question it, forbidding them to read books that present a different viewpoint, etc. That sort of thing can scar a child for life. I should know. I'll never forget the time my dad called me an "abomination" becasue I asked why I couldn't wear pants like the other little girls (I beleive I was 7 or eight at the time). All of the scary "end time" videos he made us watch (I still jump when I hear a train whistle - it sounds like the trumpet that's suppose to anounce the rapture.) The BS creationist "science" he taught me when I came home from school excited about something I had learned in science class. My younger siblings are still behind in school b/c my parents tried to take them out and homeschool them with some second hand christian "curriculum" someone gave them, even though they didn't have the time, just so that they could better screen them from "evil influences" (i.e., public school education). And yet, when I told them I no longer beleived in Jesus, they forbid me to explain why to my hurt and confused little sisters and brother, even though they asked me to over and over, for fear that
I should "brainwash" them! Which didn't stop them from telling them that I was an atheist behind my back.
Yes, this is the bitter ranting of a damaged adult. But here is the point: What is the difference between normal parents who make their kids go to Sunday school when they'd rather stay in bed and the mental abuse I described above? The former is based on giving information, and the latter on withholding it.