Forcing faith on children

Forcing vulnerable children into a religion is an archaic unethical practice because it co-opts the child’s freedom to make a future choice unencumbered with dogma. A child knows nothing of racism or religion. Their minds are a clean slate. The only way they become racists or accept religious dogma and superstition is if they are indoctrinated when they are too young to have any mental defenses.

Hereditary religion exists because of family and cultural pressure. Everyone needs a belief right? Moreover, religious institutions market themselves as centers of moral teaching which amounts to promoting the central dogma that a supernatural God punishes wrongdoing in an afterlife. After many centuries of this scheme, it seems few people worry too much about such nebulous threats.

The bad thing is, parents force their small children into a religion that they themselves may only have a slim grasp on. Ironically, no more than 15 or 20 percent of the religious take their religion seriously, meaning they participate in regular attendance at services, tithe, and seriously study their bibles. Surveys show the other 80% might make it to church once or twice a year and this is usually during a major holiday such as Christmas or Easter. So says USA Today (Americans Get an F in Religion):

“Sometimes dumb sounds cute:  Sixty percent of Americans can’t name five of the Ten Commandments, and 50% of high school seniors think Sodom and Gomorrah were married. Stephen Prothero, chairman of the religion department at Boston University, isn’t laughing. Americans’ deep ignorance of world religions — their own, their neighbors’ or the combatants in Iraq, Darfur or Kashmir — is dangerous, he says.”

The most recent studies show these casually churched Christians cannot even name the gospel writers (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). They are in church for cultural reasons or social support, or because someone at one point in their life probably forced them into Sunday school and they could not veto the plan.

Many children forced into religion figure out soon enough that they cannot believe what they are commanded to believe. If only they were allowed the option to opt out. Most have to wait until they leave home or go to college. That’s when they learn to their amazement that many people manage very well with no religion. The worst thing the newly emancipated can do is reveal a pious religious streak to their peers in college because they quickly get pegged as backward and unsophisticated.

Faith is undeniably on the defensive these days. But, this is a good sign because hard-eyed scrutiny should weed out the sects that prey on vulnerable minds. Maybe some critical challenges and the loss of adherents will finally convince the old line sects to think in more modern terms.