Comments on: Children afraid to tell their parents http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/2009/07/children-afraid-to-tell-their-parents/ Information clearinghouse for research and information about child religious freedom rights. Sun, 28 Feb 2010 14:51:48 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: Freedom of conscience is the root of all our freedoms | End Hereditary Religion http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/2009/07/children-afraid-to-tell-their-parents/comment-page-1/#comment-5203 Freedom of conscience is the root of all our freedoms | End Hereditary Religion Sun, 04 Oct 2009 23:13:43 +0000 http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/?p=660#comment-5203 [...] Children afraid to tell their parents (endhereditaryreligion.com) [...] [...] Children afraid to tell their parents (endhereditaryreligion.com) [...]

]]> By: Richard_Collins http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/2009/07/children-afraid-to-tell-their-parents/comment-page-1/#comment-3081 Richard_Collins Tue, 07 Jul 2009 21:42:57 +0000 http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/?p=660#comment-3081 No one thinks it is going to be their son or daughter and because there is shame attached to leaving, the problem remains hidden. This is why coming up with solid research is important. Exactly how many children walk away? From which denominations? How many want to walk away, but are stopped by their parents and forced to live a lie? Although numbers are important, the personal stories are even more so. It has to get to a point where people appear on Oprah and their narratives are printed in Parade magazine. The issue will eventually witness books and movies with apostasy as a central theme. Imagine the tears that will flow. Not only apostasy, but the tragic family fights that break out over religion. Religion is horribly divisive. Like Hitchens says, it poisons everything. No one thinks it is going to be their son or daughter and because there is shame attached to leaving, the problem remains hidden. This is why coming up with solid research is important. Exactly how many children walk away? From which denominations? How many want to walk away, but are stopped by their parents and forced to live a lie? Although numbers are important, the personal stories are even more so. It has to get to a point where people appear on Oprah and their narratives are printed in Parade magazine. The issue will eventually witness books and movies with apostasy as a central theme. Imagine the tears that will flow. Not only apostasy, but the tragic family fights that break out over religion. Religion is horribly divisive. Like Hitchens says, it poisons everything.

]]> By: hambydammit http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/2009/07/children-afraid-to-tell-their-parents/comment-page-1/#comment-3077 hambydammit Tue, 07 Jul 2009 18:56:34 +0000 http://www.endhereditaryreligion.com/?p=660#comment-3077 I wish I hadn't heard this story a hundred times before. Hell, it's part of my story, except I have been brutally honest with my family, and it didn't turn out very well. One thing that you didn't mention is the horrible dilemma a parent would feel even if they knew for certain what would happen in the future. I wonder, if my mother had known with certainty that religious indoctrination would eventually lead to a nearly complete split between the two of us, what would she have done? Would she have converted to atheism to save our relationship? I doubt it. Instead, she would have faced a hard, painful decision -- do what she herself was indoctrinated to do and knowingly lose a son, or go against her own indoctrination and feel guilty for "letting god down." It's a horrible catch-22, and there's probably nothing that can be done for this generation of atheists who are facing their own horrible choices. I wish I hadn't heard this story a hundred times before. Hell, it's part of my story, except I have been brutally honest with my family, and it didn't turn out very well. One thing that you didn't mention is the horrible dilemma a parent would feel even if they knew for certain what would happen in the future. I wonder, if my mother had known with certainty that religious indoctrination would eventually lead to a nearly complete split between the two of us, what would she have done? Would she have converted to atheism to save our relationship? I doubt it. Instead, she would have faced a hard, painful decision — do what she herself was indoctrinated to do and knowingly lose a son, or go against her own indoctrination and feel guilty for "letting god down."

It's a horrible catch-22, and there's probably nothing that can be done for this generation of atheists who are facing their own horrible choices.

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