Religious Choice

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SilentLi89

Registered Senior Member
When do you believe a child is old enough to make a firm decision about what religion they choose to follow? A few years ago my younger brother declared that he was an atheist, I personally believe one can become an atheist at any age because you can stop or not believe in God at any age, but many people said that my brother was too young to really be an atheist. They said he was too young to know what he was talking about. That may be true in some cases with young children, but I was curious of what other people thought.
 
I think children should be free to make up their own minds at any age. It's not "firm" it's always subject to change. That being said, I do think they are too young to understand about religion until maybe 16 or so.

My disbelief started with Santa Claus when I was about 12.

Atheism isn't a religion. I think some healthy skepticism is a good thing.
 
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a "firm decision" made arbitrarily? i mean, shouldn't one's beliefs be based on knowledge that's acquired through experience? hopefully that doesn't stop or start at a certain age (other than birth and death).
 
SilentLi89 said:
When do you believe a child is old enough to make a firm decision about what religion they choose to follow? A few years ago my younger brother declared that he was an atheist, I personally believe one can become an atheist at any age because you can stop or not believe in God at any age, but many people said that my brother was too young to really be an atheist. They said he was too young to know what he was talking about. That may be true in some cases with young children, but I was curious of what other people thought.
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It's scary watching someone younger than you outsmart you.
 
spidergoat said:
I think children should be free to make up their own minds at any age. It's not "firm" it's always subject to change. That being said, I do think they are too young to understand about religion until maybe 16 or so.

My disbelief started with Santa Claus when I was about 12.

Atheism isn't a religion. I think some healthy skepticism is a good thing.
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Really, why 16? Why not 12, since that is when you stopped believing in Santa? I'm just curious. My brother was 13 when he decided to share his stance on religion and I was just suprised by the amount of backlash he received for it.
 
SilentLi89 said:
Really, why 16? Why not 12, since that is when you stopped believing in Santa? I'm just curious. My brother was 13 when he decided to share his stance on religion and I was just suprised by the amount of backlash he received for it.
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Because I don't think I really even started to grasp the issues behind it until I started to read more advanced books, which was around 16 for me. I just had an intuition that believing in God was the same as believing in Santa. I mean, if adults could lie about Santa, what else were they lying about? Jews say 13 is the right age. I would say between 12 and 18 is when people start to get the capacity to understand these things.

For sure I agree with Richard Dawkins that it makes no sense to talk about "Muslim children" or "Christian children".
 
SilentLi89 said:
When do you believe a child is old enough to make a firm decision about what religion they choose to follow?
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Since I will not indoctrinate my children with any religion - they'll be old enough to choose which one to follow the day they're old enough to support themselves!
Until then I can assure you that no decision they reach will be "firm"! ;)
 
Sarkus said:
Since I will not indoctrinate my children with any religion - they'll be old enough to choose which one to follow the day they're old enough to support themselves!
Until then I can assure you that no decision they reach will be "firm"! ;)
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Why? Following a religion doesn't have to cost much, if anything.
 
SilentLi89 said:
When do you believe a child is old enough to make a firm decision about what religion they choose to follow? A few years ago my younger brother declared that he was an atheist, I personally believe one can become an atheist at any age because you can stop or not believe in God at any age, but many people said that my brother was too young to really be an atheist. They said he was too young to know what he was talking about. That may be true in some cases with young children, but I was curious of what other people thought.
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I would leave it in the hands of God. God knows if a person is an athiest.


All Praise The Ancient of Days
 
SilentLi89 said:
When do you believe a child is old enough to make a firm decision about what religion they choose to follow? A few years ago my younger brother declared that he was an atheist, I personally believe one can become an atheist at any age because you can stop or not believe in God at any age,
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Well we start out having no knowledge of gods when we are born, so we are technically atheist, then. Belief in gods is thrust upon us.
Children do not however reach the age of discernment until about the age of twelve. that is the time they start to make a lot of decision for themselves. That is also the only time anybody should start introducing gods, when the child has the ability to comprehend and decide whether, gods exist or are worthy of praise. Fortunately the critical mind is anti irrational belief, hence why children are not given that option, they are indoctrinated from birth.
 
geeser said:
Well we start out having no knowledge of gods when we are born, so we are technically atheist, then. Belief in gods is thrust upon us.
Children do not however reach the age of discernment until about the age of twelve. that is the time they start to make a lot of decision for themselves. That is also the only time anybody should start introducing gods, when the child has the ability to comprehend and decide whether, gods exist or are worthy of praise. Fortunately the critical mind is anti irrational belief, hence why children are not given that option, they are indoctrinated from birth.
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This is what's known as taking the obvious hammer to the willfully ignorant.


WHAM!
 
According to the Qu'ran, children are naturally born with a clear understanding in a single Supreme being- it's humans who muddle these inherent beliefs with dogma.

I have raised my son with this belief, even though neither he nor I are Muslims because I believe the notion to be true.
 
jmpet said:
According to the Qu'ran, children are naturally born with a clear understanding in a single Supreme being- it's humans who muddle these inherent beliefs with dogma.

I have raised my son with this belief, even though neither he nor I are Muslims because I believe the notion to be true.
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Um...

Then he wasn't naturally born with it, was he? He was muddled by you raising him that way.




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When do you believe a child is old enough to make a firm decision about what religion they choose to follow?
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When they are able to learn about other religons that exist other than the one that their parents follow and can learn about why others believe the way they do.
 
lol...

i would have issue with the word Firm..

we make our choices on a daily basis..a child can believe in god one day and not on another..

it wasn't till i was 35 that i would consider my decision to believe in god as firm..

believing in god is not a state of being..it is a choice we make and as such is susceptible to our state of being at any given moment..too many ppl have turned their backs on god just cause they were mad at him for one reason or another..
 
Originally Posted by NMSquirrel
too many ppl have turned their backs on god just cause they were mad at him for one reason or another..
Neverfly said:
Do you assume that this is a major reason why many people stop believing in God?
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keep in mind neverfly that my statement is pretty generic..(ie one reason or another)

but yes..
i believe the emotional state of being of a person is directly related to how they believe in god..
 
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