Children are harmed when raised into religion. (Page 10)

Geoff: It was more a question of; which way does the causal chain run. Does an intelligent person simply reject superstition more readily, or does the constant cognitive dissonance accompanying religious observance lead to permanent damage of the intellectual faculties?

quarks: Radical religious indoctrination is harmful. As would be most radical upbringings.

I am not convinced that believing in things I can not see, touch or know with certainty would be the worst thing one can leave childhood with. I can not see touch or prove love but have scars to remind me that hate, anger and unkindness is very much real. It is not bad to dream the impossible. This helped place men on the moon.

Not sure if there is any evidence at all that more intelligent people reject superstition. Some of the greatest minds throughout history have believed things that are now known to be nonsense. Hard to argue we would be better off had H.C. Andersen not given us the Little Mermaid, Snow Queen and so much more. H.C. credited much of his tales to his childhood; a mix or religions, hopes and sorrows, plus a window sill suited for a swallow to perch and sing a song.

wayne elliott: I would agree that children can be harmed when raised into religion, depending on the doctrines expounded. I have a problem with religions propensity to teach damnation and hell as threats to children. I also have a problem with the societal assumption that so-and-so is a better person because they "go to church." I have found some religious people and teachings to be particularly punitive, discriminatory, and gleeful when condemning others to hell in the name of they're particular god who happens to totally agree with them.

Religion is a part of our world and children should be informed of that. They should also be aware that religion was created and written by men for men. It was a set of rules relevant to the times. Times change. Children should be encouraged to question any aspect of any organised religion, particularly the many examples of hipocracy. They should also be encouraged to contemplate their own interpretations of what they read and hear, not just believe what they are told.

quarks: Wayne is correct. If a religion promotes supremacy this is harmful. It it promotes damnation and judgement this is harmful. To me it is not a simple a "religious" raised child is worse off. It all depends on what is taught and how. Very few children have good upbringings, extreme religious homes is just one of many things that harm children.

Also, all should discover what they wish believe and examine it as Wayne said. This and read any religious text and study the history behind it should be done.

Geoff: There is the ever inherent Us and Them element of religion. This is true/.

quarks: Geoff to me that is maybe most harmful aspect of religion. It seem people just like split up into groups. Common practice is kick (not always physically) everyone outside group. Seems this begins when tiny and gets worse as we grow.

Geoff: Yeah. Thankfully not everyone raised in a religion maintains that viewpoint, some even rise to high ranks in their religion without actually forgetting that we're all humans, and it's better to view this life like we're all in this together. But there are elements of religion + the human condition which make that a difficult viewpoint to keep hold of.

I actually believe that the teachings of Jesus try really hard to mitigate against this.

Corwin: I thought I'd re-post the original link that Ork provided to the study that was performed in regards to the original post:

http://www.bu.edu/learninglab/files/2012/05/Corriveau-Chen-Harris-in-press.pdf

The original premise which the data suggests, is that children that are taught at a young age to believe fantastic tales without question, have an impaired ability to distinguish a fictional story from a plausible one.
Or in other words... their BS-filters get damaged, and they are left with a limited capacity for objectivity... to me, that doesn't seem like a positive thing.

quarks: I deleted this post as it occured to me I do not care if people accept the study.

If the worst thing that parents do to a kid is raise them in a way where they believe the impossible, concider them fortunate.

classylady61: Yes and we can see Where u coming from.

lori100: Albert Einstein — 'If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.'

calybonos: "I cannot imagine a world without imagination".

- some inarticulate guy, who needs no eyes to see, no ears to hear, no hands to grasp things, no stage to shine, and no audience to applaud.

...of course, with no hands or eyes, it might have been a typo, and he was just trying to write a dirty limerick.

classylady61: If you want your child world to be hell raise them without religion.

wayne elliott: If you want your childs world to be difficult, raise them without education.

Geoff: Lori - Einstein never said to raise your children believing those fairy stories are real.

lori100: Idk if Einstein did say they were real but he felt they enhanced creativity which was necessary to finding solutions to problems....many truths have been hidden in myths, legends , and fairy tales...

classylady61: Mmmmmm Einstein need to listen to how u sound. Sad

SWlNE: Lori then you are acknowledging that religion is about fairy tales, myths and legends? -Good. That's settled.

lori100: Religious days and celebrations seem to have more to do with the seasons and the rebirth of spring and the death at winter....but Jesus, Buddha, other religious figures could still be real as spiritual leaders.....they may have been incorporated into the seasonal celebrations ...and religion still is separate from God...one hard core fundamentalist woman who had a near death experience learned God didn't care at all about church or religion...God only cared about what kind of person you were....that woman changed and became far less religious and far more kind and joyful...

classylady61: Lori there are always some people that don't get it. Don't waste your time time on them. One day when they realize what religous is it will be too late for them.

Geoff: lol

wayne elliott: Agreed, Geoff, all one can do is laugh. It never ceases to amaze me how the religious are so keen on punishment on all that don't agree with them. It is an excuse for ignorance. Anyway, I understand that according to Christian teachings any "sin" can be conveniently forgiven except denial of the holy ghost which will earn the "sinner" an eternity in hell. If you don't believe the invisible you are condemned. Hilarious.

Meanwhile, I agree with Lori's statement re: woman fundamentalist who discovered church and religion were irrelevant. I have read that account. Religion was invented by man to opress and threaten the masses. It has nothing to do with any loving god.

tix mascot: God can be anything you make him into. During the time of Moses, he was both a loving father and a vengeful despot. God is a handy tool used by religious leaders to express whatever they want people to believe and whatever suits their purposes.

davesdatahut: That is exactly what god has become, or maybe always was - a handy tool, a comforting illusion, or delusion, with imaginary powers bestowed on it by humanity, especially those looking to control the masses. A rather Machiavellian construction thought up by some pretty politically savvy people a long time ago. The structures built around this illusion became organized religion, a particularly divisive and insidious institution.
Fortunately, there are many who have divorced themselves from organized religion and lived true to the purest teachings of religion. Unfortunately, they are too few in numbers.
As Wayne said, if you want your child's life to be difficult, raise them without education. To amend that, I would add, if you want your child's life to be difficult, raise them on religion first, and everything else second.