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Parents who force their kids to go to Church are only making things worse. Too bad.
Parents who "force" their kids to go to school are only making things worse.
Parent who "force" their kids to have manners are only making things worse.
Parents who "force" their kids to eat are only making things worse.
Parents who "force" their kids to anything the child does not want to do are only making things worse.
It's too bad parents are so awful.
Why do we need parents at all if from the age of 5 children can be & should be totally self-sufficient & make all the decisions? I mean, we are only doing awful things to our kids supposedly when we require anything fromt them!
Parents who "force" their kids to go to school are only making things worse.
Parent who "force" their kids to have manners are only making things worse.
Parents who "force" their kids to eat are only making things worse.
Parents who "force" their kids to anything the child does not want to do are only making things worse.
It's too bad parents are so awful.
Why do we need parents at all if from the age of 5 children can be & should be totally self-sufficient & make all the decisions? I mean, we are only doing awful things to our kids supposedly when we require anything fromt them!
Those things are so completely different than religious beliefs. You simply cannot and should not dictate other people's belief systems when they are at an age to make the choice for themselves.
The child in question is SIXTEEN. Decidedly a long way from five.
Parents who "force" their kids to go to school are only making things worse.
Parent who "force" their kids to have manners are only making things worse.
Parents who "force" their kids to eat are only making things worse.
Parents who "force" their kids to anything the child does not want to do are only making things worse.
It's too bad parents are so awful.
Why do we need parents at all if from the age of 5 children can be & should be totally self-sufficient & make all the decisions? I mean, we are only doing awful things to our kids supposedly when we require anything fromt them!
Forcing religion on a teenager is not a good choice in my opinion.
If you want your kids to go to church when they are younger..so be it.
After a certin age the parent is just forcing their ideals on the kid, religion is something he/she should be able to decide for themselves.
Some kids will decide they still want to go, others will decide they dont want to..
Forcing people to do something they do not want to do will only lead to rebelion.
Same goes for adults as well as teenagers, history tells us so.
Forcing Kids to go to school, have manners, eating, is harldy the same.
In my opinion, as a 16 year old, you need to understand for yourself why you became an atheist. I myself had doubts as a Christian. But I didn't give up right away because i know I'm too young to fully understand the true meanings of a Christian life. We may think that our parents have the tendency to barge in on our beliefs and sometimes don't try to understand what we think. But they've been through life already and we haven't. They know how hard it can be and when it's time to call for help.
If you truly believe that you're mind is made up about God, then that's your life. But as for you're parents, sit them down and talk to them as a young adult. Let them understand what you feel. Talk to them respectfully and try and understand their side. Talk to them as a responsible mature adult.
I have been sort of a religious nomad my whole life. I grew up Protestant, dabbled in Catholicism and now I am a confirmed agnostic.
I never pushed my belief system on my kids. I just gave them all the information I had, encouraged them to learn more on their own and left it at that. My older son attended Catholic church alone for a few years and then decided he was atheist. I respect his decision and I honestly can't understand how some parents feel like they can force a belief system on their children.
Force them to go to school? Yes. Force them to eat their veggies? Yes.
But how do you force them to believe something????
I have been sort of a religious nomad my whole life. I grew up Protestant, dabbled in Catholicism and now I am a confirmed agnostic.
I never pushed my belief system on my kids. I just gave them all the information I had, encouraged them to learn more on their own and left it at that. My older son attended Catholic church alone for a few years and then decided he was atheist. I respect his decision and I honestly can't understand how some parents feel like they can force a belief system on their children.
Force them to go to school? Yes. Force them to eat their veggies? Yes.
But how do you force them to believe something????
I don't see how asking a teenager to attend church is forcing a belief on them; it's simply asking them to continue to be exposed to the religious beliefs of the parents. I'm sure some of the religious people out there will find this comparison flippant, but parents choose to expose their kids to things all the time: many of us try to bring our kids to museums, to the theater, to things that sometimes some kids or teens find "boring" -- just because a teen doesn't like [insert the blank] doesn't mean that it's not worthwhile to expose him or her to it, with the hopes of broadening the horizons and perhaps instilling some love or at least appreciation for it down the road. The teen in the original question may well be an atheist for life, but presumably his parents care deeply about him and believe it important to expose him to the family's faith; even if he doesn't end up believing it, at least he'll have a deeper understanding of the belief system of his parents. In any case, we all "force" our beliefs on our children, at least in the sense of instilling our own values, even if they aren't religious in nature.
In short, I think that much of this debate has centered on whether or not the parents are forcing belief or forcing church attendance on the OP. I think those are two different things. Presumably the parents in question hope that exposure will lead to belief, but that doesn't mean that that this scenario counts as trying to "force" belief in religion.
I don't see how asking a teenager to attend church is forcing a belief on them; it's simply asking them to continue to be exposed to the religious beliefs of the parents. I'm sure some of the religious people out there will find this comparison flippant, but parents choose to expose their kids to things all the time: many of us try to bring our kids to museums, to the theater, to things that sometimes some kids or teens find "boring" -- just because a teen doesn't like [insert the blank] doesn't mean that it's not worthwhile to expose him or her to it, with the hopes of broadening the horizons and perhaps instilling some love or at least appreciation for it down the road. The teen in the original question may well be an atheist for life, but presumably his parents care deeply about him and believe it important to expose him to the family's faith; even if he doesn't end up believing it, at least he'll have a deeper understanding of the belief system of his parents. In any case, we all "force" our beliefs on our children, at least in the sense of instilling our own values, even if they aren't religious in nature.
In short, I think that much of this debate has centered on whether or not the parents are forcing belief or forcing church attendance on the OP. I think those are two different things. Presumably the parents in question hope that exposure will lead to belief, but that doesn't mean that that this scenario counts as trying to "force" belief in religion.
I think forcing attendance to a house of worship is a slap in the face to the person who doesn't believe and the religion itself.
In short, I think that much of this debate has centered on whether or not the parents are forcing belief or forcing church attendance on the OP. I think those are two different things. Presumably the parents in question hope that exposure will lead to belief, but that doesn't mean that that this scenario counts as trying to "force" belief in religion.
Mmmm...I don't know. I think it depends on the dynamic between the specific individuals. In some families I know it absolutely would be "you WILL worship the Lord Our God etc etc". In others it would be "I really want you to be firmly grounded and know what it is you're rebelling against, and I don't think you do yet". In some, it's probably "we do so little as a family these days I want us to continue to do this". I will say that, IME, the more conservative/evangelical the parents, the more likely teens are dragged off to church whether they want to or no.
But even that makes sense in a way. If you, as a parent, believe with all your heart that something your child wants to do is going to endanger his life, chances are you don't want him to do it. For people who believe in hellfire and brimstone and "God will get you for that", missing church on a regular basis is pretty dangerous. And not believing in what the preacher tells you is practically taking a header off a cliff without a bungee cord.
I don't know what the answer is in that situation, either as a parent or a child. I have strongly cautioned Pagan teens coming from that sort of family, though, that being disrespectful and/or arguing doesn't usually help their case. I know that's not the OP's deal, though, and am glad he seems to've worked out a compromise.
I grew out of just blindly accepting what the bible, my parents, the pastor and others had to say about Christianity and started researching everything on my own.
I'm always happy when I hear things like this. Blindly following something because it's what everyone around you believes is ridiculous.
My advice would be to continue going to church as you are 16 and until you are 18 and an adult you have to obey your parents. You don't have to believe in what the church is preaching, but you still should respect their wishes as their child. Once you're 18, by all means quit going to church.
I was the same way. My step mom went to church and wanted us all to go as well. I had decided from an early age that I didn't believe in Christianity (I've been a decided atheist since I was 12) and fought hard against going to church. I eventually won, but in hindsight I think I should have continued to go just to keep my step mom happy out of respect.
I agree it's ridiculous to have to go and sit through church when you don't believe in it, but you can just zone out. I would still make it known to your parents that you ARE atheist (there's NOTHING wrong with being so and there are MANY likeminded people out there) and you don't believe in the church, but are going out of respect for them.
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