Children growing up in religious families are thrust into the ways and belief systems of the church. Usually, children that are born into religious families are baptized before they ever have a chance to question the beliefs of the church they are being baptized into. Religion is based purely on faith in a higher omniscient power. No one has ever seen this power, but yet have complete faith that it exists. In order to continue this thought process, believers must get others to believe, the easiest of those being their children. Children are easily moldable and have an aspiration to be just like whomever their adult influence is. This, is perfect for the continuation of religion. While influence of the church on children can be a good thing, it can also create confusion and promote an intolerance of all kinds of people.
Starting in the book of Genesis the bible seemingly defines every general situation of life and how a good Christian should react to them. One of the main issues brought up by many when discussing the bible are the Christian views of homosexuality. Children are taught at a young age that homosexuality is a sin and is not acceptable. While the bible states that intercourse with another man is a sin, it also states that eating pork or wearing clothing woven from two different kinds of material. If "God" has set these rules
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One of these is that the Bible sets a basic guideline of morals for humans to live by. This is the Ten Commandments. The Commandments outlaw things such as theft, envy and slander. These are all basic morals that any good person should have, not just Christians. Parents can teach these guidelines to their children without the influence of church and be just fine but the fear of condemnation to hell is often enough to somewhat deter children from breaking any of the
... in extreme context like child sexual abuse, but also in everyday life. The most harmful effect is “the tendency of children to ‘believe, without question, whatever your grown-ups tell you’”. Indoctrination of religion is the kind of education that does not teach children to question but to believe. What is worse is that the rationality and validity of many religious concepts that kids are indoctrinated with still remain controversial. Thus, it is important to keep children free from religious indoctrination when they are not yet mentally and intellectually mature. To keep children free from religious indoctrination is not to be anti-religion, but to provide children with a mutual environment where they can develop critical thinking and form a relatively objective way of seeing this world, so when they grow up they have the ability decide their own religious faith.
Sixty years ago, a man named Lafayette Ronald Hubbard formed a religion that, to this day, has caused a rather large amount of controversy. With 500,000 members in 8,000 churches scattered throughout 164 countries, the church has been growing slowly but surely since formation. (Scientology.) The religion is based on a novel by Hubbard called Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. They believe that about 75 million years ago, an evil alien Warlord named Xenu banished 13.5 trillion aliens to Earth and those aliens’ souls have been latching on to humans ever since. (Rowley) Although this may seem rather ridiculous, there is a decent number of people who are members of the church and wholeheartedly believe every word they are told.
In today’s culture, dominated by being right and shunning anyone who dares to oppose that right option, society is in a constant game of who can convert the most people to their beliefs. Since there were people to debate about it, even before there were Twitter memes of Kim Davis to retweet or website articles like The Plan For Muslim World Dominance, religion has been a staple topic to be right about. As society appears to be falling apart at its seams, it is time to set pride aside and find common ground. As a nation of immigrates, Americans live side-by-side with Muslims, Hindus, Jews, and Jehovah’s Witnesses. No longer do public schools have Christian-based daily pray, and almost 10% of the 114th Congress consists of religions other than Christianity. It is time the world’s people found their
First, religion has often played an important role in people’s lives, however its significance continues to decrease in recent decades. Parents do not pass on faith or beliefs onto their children, because most parents do not have faith or beliefs. These parents believe it would be hypocritical to teach their children about being spiritual, when they are not spiritual themselves. Children often go to their parents with questions regarding matters such as death, life, and God, but "Western culture is so secularized that parents can evade or dismiss 'religious' questions without feeling that they’re merely getting themselves off the hook" (Brandt 193). In contrast wit...
To begin, children learned religion by force. Raised to believe the convictions of the church, the boys only retained certain lessons. "Ben Rogers said he couldn't get out much, only Sundays, and so he wanted to begin next Sunday; but all the boys said it would be wicked to do it on Sunday, and that settled the thing"(Twain 20). The boys were aware that Sunday was a Holy day. Although, they never knew killing in itself was wrong. After reading this, parents were probably more specific with their children about the church's values.
Religion has been a big issue with judging homosexual. Some Christians believe that the Bible speaks with one clear voice in condemning homosexuality. In many Anti-gay Christians groups see homosexuality as sinful. Using the Bible to justify their hate against anything they do not understand.
The mind of adolescent goes through a psychosocial stage learning a morality and developing ethics (Erikson, 1963, p. 245). Erik Erikson's theory of psychosocial development emphasizing a child learning to trust or mistrust caregivers on early age (Broderick, 2014) and growth of faith is somewhat sensible in my view. During my middle school and high school, I was living with Hindu and Buddhist friends, only couples of us were Christian among thousands of students. Since I was engaged in such religious exercises during my early growth stages of faith framed a deep-felt and individual spiritual life, and social pattern that I stick to my parents' religions and Christian principle though I was tested so much living among the children who practiced other faith and had much different
The topic of homosexuality has been a very hot topic over the past several decades. The term homosexuality can be defined as the “sexual desire or behavior towards a person or persons of one’s own sex” (“Homosexuality”). There are many people who either agree or disagree with the aspect of homosexuality, and there are others who are indifferent. Many Christian churches around the world, especially in the United States, have stated their opinion against homosexuality. They based their beliefs in the verses in 1st Corinthians 6: 9-10, which says, “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor man who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God” (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version).
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines puritanism as the beliefs and practices of people who follow very strict moral and religious rules about the proper way to behave and live. Puritans based their beliefs off the idea that God was morally right and supreme above all others. In Anne Bradstreet’s “To My Dear and Loving Husband” and “Upon the Burning of Our House” and Jonathan Edwards’ “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” it is very evident of this idea that the Puritans had believed. With the access to the Earl’s library, Anne Bradstreet used it to help educate herself. Marrying young, Anne Bradstreet left England and sailed to America with her husband. Enduring the harsh conditions of her new life in America, Anne Bradstreet used her faith in God and poetry to help her survive in her new home. Jonathan Edwards, a child prodigy had experienced a religious experience while at Yale University that had made him want to follow in the path of his father and grandfather and become a minister. After the passing of his grandfather, Jonathan Edwards became a pastor and eventually, an influential preacher. Using sermons so powerful and influential, Jonathan Edwards actually helped trigger the Great Awakening, a religious movement
Homosexuality defies the laws of nature, social norms, and has many adverse side effects. Today we live in a society that promotes homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle. Many homosexuals that live this lifestyle like to justify their behavior by twisting God’s truth. They make claims like “God is a God of love”, “the bible does not condemn homosexuality”, and “I am not hurting anybody, so it is ok.” God has clearly revealed to us in his Word that homosexuality is an abomination. Leviticus 20: 13 says, “If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.” (ESV). Sin is serious and God’s Word tells us that there are grave consequences for such sin. Homosexuality is not only a sin that is committed against oneself, but is also contrary to God’s divine design of marriage and family. God created holy matrimony to be between one man and one woman and not between the same sex. Right from the beginning God says in Genesis 2:24, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” (ESV). God designed marriage for procreation and tells us to “be fruitful and multiply.” A homosexual couple, on the other hand, is unable to reproduce and have a family. That is only one of the many negative side
A child is like a sponge that absorbs ideas and beliefs. Beliefs are taught to a child in subtle ways such as just listening to the parents and their opinions from everything including politics, social problems, moral issues and even opinions about how others behave. It is within the family unit that a person learns their moral values. It is from their parents that a child is taught right and wrong. Often this is through religious training. Religious beliefs or the lack of religious beliefs has a great influence on a person's beliefs and values.
The topic of homosexuality in religion has many sides. There are those who believe that it is a sin in God’s eyes and according to the Bible, and there are those who believe the God and the Bible are not specific to homosexuals. It is a tough debate based on whether you are a religious person, how you were raised, and where your morals and ethics stand. You cannot truly believe one way without taking into account the other side and have valid proof to back it up.
¨ Over time we have come to find out more of God, and religion. Many
A child only knows what it is taught, so if a child is only taught that their religion is the correct religion, they will believe that only their religion is correct. Children acquire the concept of religion before they can even think on their own. Children start going to church pretty much once they are born, that is if their family is religious. They are preached the stories of their religion from a very young age. So they learn to accept the stories, no matter how extreme the stories are. People believe what they’ve been surrounded by their entire life. They are told that there is a God and they don’t have the knowledge to question it, so they believe it. God then becomes unquestionably accepted, like waking up every day is. Ideas that are formed young typically have a great influence throughout a person’s life, this is why religion targets children at such a young age. Children are encouraged to come to church and participate in gatherings for young kids. It is easier to convince a naïve child than an educated adult.
Many Christians have never fully read the bible and base their understanding of it on word of mouth. Looking at it closer, one would notice that many parts of the bible are not of any use or are mostly rejected in today’s society, which is why we should reevaluate its teachings and revoke any that are no longer needed. Even the Pope has gone against scripture that is unacceptable in our world today. “If they accept the Lord and have goodwill, who am I to judge them?” This is a quote from Pope Francis, stating that as long as a person does good, who is anyone to judge them. In the Old Testament it says, “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination.” (NKJ, Leviticus 18:22) and “If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.” (NKJ, Leviticus 20:13) Not only do these quotes condemn homosexuality they illustrate the lack of equality due to the lack of representation of women in the law. In the New Testament, Jesus never directly mentions homosexuality, but instead condemns all forms of sexual immoral behavior. “What comes out of