Is it better to raise children without religion?

[honey badger]

I bought a kids bible for my 6 year old which he enjoys reading. We also say prayers at night before bed which he loves doing. Sometimes, he will want to go to church and sometimes he won’t but I don’t force it on him if he doesn’t want to go. He knows that some people don’t believe in God, he tells me that he does.

religion is the crooked path of a serpent which Jesus made straight ...

 

[Sunflower39]

religion is the crooked path of a serpent which Jesus made straight ...

Are you following me honey badger?

 

[honey badger]

Are you following me honey badger?

being a minute ahead no ...

 

[2PhiloVoid]

This article says studies show it is.
According to multiple reports, research has shown that a secular upbringing may be healthier for children. According to a 2010 Duke University study, kids raised this way display less susceptibility to racism and peer pressure, and are “less vengeful, less nationalistic, less militaristic, less authoritarian, and more tolerant, on average, than religious adults.” But the list of benefits doesn’t stop there.
I'm suspicious of the study. While I think that the religious right might be promoting vengeance, nationalism, militarism, and authoritarianism, and while I think that all those character traits are negative, I think that a kinder, gentler, more progressive religious faith provides a good ethical framework for adulthood and beyond.
What do you think?

Raising Children Without Religion May Be A Better Alternative, Suggests New Research

Gone are the days of the unyielding God-fearing mother as the archetype of good parenting, suggests a recent article from the Los Angeles Times. According to multiple reports, research has shown that a secular upbringing may be healthier for…

www.bustle.com

I think we all know that the appropriation of this single study doesn't establish much of anything where Christianity is concerned.

In my more sociological estimation, I think the extent to which a child's upbringing is healthy or unhealthy has more to do with "how" Christian teachings are taught and exemplified in the household by parents/guardians than it does with the essential ideological substantive of Christianity itself. In other words, it comes down to the extent that parents/guardians are themselves educated and are open to the exploration of various tropes of study within the household, as well as doing so without imposing an overly strict, dismissive, reactive, cultified and/or authoritarian psychological environment upon the child.

 

[Reasonably Sane]

Actually, it doesn't depend on the religion at all. Per the title, it's definitely better to raise a child without religion. All else being equal, religion can only serve to make the child worse... never better.

I disagree, on both counts. But, of course, opinions vary.

 

[partinobodycular]

I disagree, on both counts. But, of course, opinions vary.

The question is... what does religion offer a child's moral character that can't be achieved without it? I.E. loving thy neighbor, thou shalt not steal, the golden rule, these are fairly universal tenets with or without religion. So it would seem that religion has nothing positive to add to that. It can only reaffirm it. But what religion does often add is dogma, and dogma is quite often negative in nature, as it serves to praise some and vilify others, not based upon those universal tenets, but based solely on its own particular doctrines.

Thus I would argue that religion, although positive in theory, and generally positive in practice, doesn't really add anything to what can be attained without it, and thus when raising a child one needs to ask themselves if introducing them to the potential negative effects of dogma is really a positive thing to do? Love thy neighbor, is still love thy neighbor, with or without religion.

If a parent can raise a loving and wholesome child free from the potentially negative effects of dogma, isn't that by default the better path to take? I realize that you believe otherwise, but tell me, is Hamas' conviction that Israel has no right to exist... is that based on those universal tenets, or is it based on dogma?

 

[Larniavc]

I bought a kids bible for my 6 year old which he enjoys reading. We also say prayers at night before bed which he loves doing. Sometimes, he will want to go to church and sometimes he won’t but I don’t force it on him if he doesn’t want to go. He knows that some people don’t believe in God, he tells me that he does.

I wish my 8 year old would read a book. Getting him to read is like pulling teeth.

 

[Sunflower39]

I wish my 8 year old would read a book. Getting him to read is like pulling teeth.

Awww haha, maybe he will get more interested in reading as he gets older.

 

[Larniavc]

Thus I would argue that religion, although positive in theory,

That kind of depends. If it's the be nice to people, care for the poor, sick and oppressed yeah, great.

But all to often (in America it seems) it's the partisan judgement focussed "stop doing what I don't", legislate what people can read, who people can love, what a person can be, what a person can learn version.

So, yeah, in theory; but it's who's theory that matters.

 

[o_mlly]

What is a positive definition of a "secular upbringing"?

 

[Sunflower39]

I’m not sure how it is in the US. I am based in the UK and my son goes to a mainstream non-religious school and they teach him about the important Christian events like Easter and what Christmas is really about. They also sing songs about God/Jesus sometimes. Learning about it in school also prompts him to ask questions. He already knew the story behind Easter before I even told him about it as he learned it in school.

 

[Bradskii]

What is a positive definition of a "secular upbringing"?

What is an upbringing that is not specifically based on religious beliefs.

$400 on Movie Classics please Ken.

 

[Reasonably Sane]

The question is... what does religion offer a child's moral character that can't be achieved without it? I.E. loving thy neighbor, thou shalt not steal, the golden rule, these are fairly universal tenets with or without religion. So it would seem that religion has nothing positive to add to that. It can only reaffirm it. But what religion does often add is dogma, and dogma is quite often negative in nature, as it serves to praise some and vilify others, not based upon those universal tenets, but based solely on its own particular doctrines.

Thus I would argue that religion, although positive in theory, and generally positive in practice, doesn't really add anything to what can be attained without it, and thus when raising a child one needs to ask themselves if introducing them to the potential negative effects of dogma is really a positive thing to do? Love thy neighbor, is still love thy neighbor, with or without religion.

If a parent can raise a loving and wholesome child free from the potentially negative effects of dogma, isn't that by default the better path to take? I realize that you believe otherwise, but tell me, is Hamas' conviction that Israel has no right to exist... is that based on those universal tenets, or is it based on dogma?

Well, you do get into why I don't think kids should be baptized. I see it as a post-puberty thing. But it should be noted that Jesus said very plainly to not prevent children from coming to him. I think a lot of this hinges on what a person means by "religion". I never told my children there was a Santa. I did tell them about Jesus. I told them about a lot of things they could not yet see, e.g. the Atlantic ocean

 

[MehGuy]

Due to my negative experience with religion, I'd prefer not to raise any potential children with it. The psychological scars stemmed from it will probably never fully heal. I'm well away that my negative experience with religion is probably uncommon and on the extreme end of traumatic. I believe some of this is genetic and that any potential children I have are at a greater risk of falling into the same pitfalls I did.

I was a very spiritual person and was actually a kid who loved going to church. My spiritual experience was pretty great, but that came with huge psychological consequences when I lost my faith. I'm of the mind that the world will gradually become more and more secular. I don't want to set up my children with unrealistic expectations. Instead, I want them to be as down to earth as possible.

I wish I was raised my atheists. My father ironically was an atheist and become a Christian around the time I stopped being a Christian and became an atheist. I'm sure I might have still been spiritual at least when I was younger... but I do wonder how much healthier my mindset would be if I wasn't raised in an ultra-religious household.

 

[2PhiloVoid]

The question is... what does religion offer a child's moral character that can't be achieved without it? I.E. loving thy neighbor, thou shalt not steal, the golden rule, these are fairly universal tenets with or without religion. So it would seem that religion has nothing positive to add to that. It can only reaffirm it. But what religion does often add is dogma, and dogma is quite often negative in nature, as it serves to praise some and vilify others, not based upon those universal tenets, but based solely on its own particular doctrines.

Thus I would argue that religion, although positive in theory, and generally positive in practice, doesn't really add anything to what can be attained without it, and thus when raising a child one needs to ask themselves if introducing them to the potential negative effects of dogma is really a positive thing to do? Love thy neighbor, is still love thy neighbor, with or without religion.

If a parent can raise a loving and wholesome child free from the potentially negative effects of dogma, isn't that by default the better path to take? I realize that you believe otherwise, but tell me, is Hamas' conviction that Israel has no right to exist... is that based on those universal tenets, or is it based on dogma?

For my part, I have to admit that, as a kid, I found Christianity had something to add over and beyond the anemic moral lessons I learned from various secular media. I'm just waiting for someone to ask me to put my finger on what precise benefit I got from "reading" Jesus that wasn't already in my engagement with Aesop's Fables, Stan Lee's comics, George Lucas's movies, or Hugh Hefner's magazines; no, no one as yet has asked, but I'm sure someone out there will. Because I just know that it's so difficult to discern these things.

 

[honey badger]

I’m not sure how it is in the US. I am based in the UK and my son goes to a mainstream non-religious school and they teach him about the important Christian events like Easter and what Christmas is really about. They also sing songs about God/Jesus sometimes. Learning about it in school also prompts him to ask questions. He already knew the story behind Easter before I even told him about it as he learned it in school.

as you know the awnswer to the OP question in the broader sense of it is that it is both good and bad ...

 

[o_mlly]

What is an upbringing that is not specifically based on religious beliefs.

$400 on Movie Classics please Ken.

Meeep.
Incorrect.
Anyone else care to try?
No?
We were looking for a positive definition.
Contestant #2, you still have the board.

 

[Larniavc]

What is a positive definition of a "secular upbringing"?

You don’t have to worry if your breaking some obscure religious ban that’ll get you ostracised from your in-group or sent to Hell.

 

[o_mlly]

You don’t have to worry if your breaking some obscure religious ban that’ll get you ostracised from your in-group or sent to Hell.

Still a negative definition.

 

[Larniavc]

I’m not sure how it is in the US. I am based in the UK and my son goes to a mainstream non-religious school and they teach him about the important Christian events like Easter and what Christmas is really about. They also sing songs about God/Jesus sometimes. Learning about it in school also prompts him to ask questions. He already knew the story behind Easter before I even told him about it as he learned it in school.

Same here. C of E school (so as near to unreligious as I think you can get here). My son (8) has been taught about various religions (Christianity first) and at 6 he came home and told me he believed in God. I asked him which one? He was very confused.

He came home a few months ago saying he did not believe in any god. I asked how so? And he said they were fairy tales for grown ups. Funnily enough he still believe in Father Christmas.

My friend’s son goes to a local Catholic school and is 9. He’s only been taught about God and firmly believes in God.