Devil's Advocate

[suspectclass]

I find it interesting that in response to my little poll so many people said that they would leave religion up to the discresion of their children. So this brings up the question of when people are capable of making significant decisions for themselves. When are you capable of choosing a faith? When are you capable of choosing to modify your body? Is it possible that there is worth in being rasied within a religious tradition for the sake of culture, ethics and tradition? Does the presence or absence of religious and/or spiritual belief add to or detract from the worth of the ethical code? If you make the choice not to raise your children with religion because you don't believe it, feeling that they will make the choice later, isn't it possible that you've already made the choice for them?

Comments

in response...

[looking-4-god.livejournal.com]

I think that if I have children, I will more than likely take them with me to church, enroll them in Sunday School or send them to a private Catholic school so that they are educated in what I was educated in - mostly for the sake of tradition (and what worked for me) - however, by the time they are about 13 or 14 - whenever confirmation comes - then, talk with them about what they have learned, and about choices. I would like to believe that I would not force them to become an adult in a church that they were not happy in. And, sometimes, knowing what it is like to be disgruntled with the church as a teenager myself, teens need a chance to explore what else is out there. Even if it means making the choice not to go to church. Spirituality is a very important pary of my life right now - and I am not currently a member of any Catholic Parish (though it is my religion affiliation by choice) and it is only through my life experiences (which is by no means over) that I would now like to find a church community to belong to. But, it has been a long road to even come to the point of wanting to belong to a church. And, I believe that any child or teen or adult needs to be able to come to believe with a full heart, and not solely by what someone else tells them. Hearing other people's experiences is great, but the only way anyone learns anything is jump in and explore and ask questions for him or herself. I would be just as happy if my child converted to a religion completely opposite to my own - as long as they are happy.