Quote:
Originally Posted by kwoldtimer
In my own family, I've had non-religious relatives tell me that they would leave their childrens' religious choices for the children to decide when they are adults. My response, sometimes successful and sometimes not, was to enquire on what basis their kids could ever take a sensible decision if they had not been exposed to "Christian 101".
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Your logic is a little bit flawed. If you wanted your kids to make a sensible, well thought out decision, you'd have to expose them to all religions. Theology 101.
Unless you think the "sensible" choice is to pick Christianity over the other nonsense.
Exposing kids only to the basics of a single religion is nudging them in that particular direction, at which point the whole notion of them choosing of their own free will goes out the window.
It irritates me when people "know" their religion is the right one, because they "chose" it. The reality is that society and your family nudge you heavily in a particular direction, and your religion depends on the arbitrary circumstances of your birth. If you grew up in Saudi Arabia, chances are you were raised as a Muslim, and so on.
Ensuring children make the "sensible" choice by exposing them to "Christian 101" is just passively indoctrinating them. It's better than forcing it upon them, but not by much. Parents have the right to make many decisions for their children, but choosing what they believe shouldn't be one of them.