If I have a child, why would I bring it up christian?

[shivvy]

Ok - I wouldn't mind believeing in a faith but I just find it sooo hard to buy the christian story.
I have been raised Catholic but have no connection to it the whole tenet being totally unbelieveable. In every other aspect of my life, I would expect/demand some kind of evidence before I would believe something but with christianity we are expected to believe what is in essence 'fokelore'.
I am genuinely interested in this question and am not looking for cheap responses.
What would be the detriment to a child to be brought up in no religion?

[oldfashioned]

In my opinion, no detriment at all.Good values are what a child needs. The difference between right and wrong. I am not religous but like to believe I am a nice honest person.If a child in later life seeks the "comfort" of a particular faith, so be it. Dont force religion on an innocent child, let them choose when sufficiently informed to do so.

[peppy]

Right then ,here goes. What do Christians believe in that Catholics don't, and vice versa ?? Don't want to appear a heathen but am really interested. ( Wasn't that difficult to ask in the end, but you just don't know who you are going to offend nowadays do you ? )

[stewey]

It appears obvious, by your question, shivvy, that you do not adhere to any particular religion, or "folkloric" belief. If that is the case, has that stance had any detrimental effect upon your life so far? If you can answer "yes" or "no" then you are well on the way to determining whether or not lack of religion will affect this "child" you mentioned.

[legend760]

no detriment.
you are asking a question that only you have the answer to.
anyine answering after me is wasting their time and yours.
follow your beliefs.
if you dont have any then youve just answered your own post

[redcrx]

I dont follow a religion. I find it hard to comprehend the reasons behind a God who takes young innocent lives and gives life to some of the evil we have born into this world.

My mother was brought up a catholic but her faith was lost after the slurry pile disaster in wales all those years ago.

I was not brought up to follow a religion and i do not feel deprived in any way and can make my own decisions on what id like to believe in.

My son will not grow up to follow any religious ideas but, should he want to, can choose which path to take when he is of an age where he can make those decisions for himself just as i did.

As long as a child is brought up to repsect others and have morals then you are not failing that child.

[Pippa68]

As a child I was raised a Baptist. We went to chapel every Sunday (twice) and I was in the church Girls Brigade.

I stopped going to chapel long before I was due to be baptised. I had always questioned Christianity and at a young age I drove my parents mad with my queries regarding other faiths...I soon realised that if there were people with other faiths then it must be ok not to have one at all! I waited for that special sign that people had told me about..the 'calling' so to speak, but it never came.

I respect other people's faiths ~ that may have come from my upbringing, or it may be the way I am anyway. I married in church to satisfy my family, but when I had children I didn't go through with a christening or a dedication ~ my husband was raised CofE and I was Baptist so there was a conflict of interests ;o)

My stepdaughter has been raised as Christian, and although I haven't raised my biological children to be Christian they are all the same in their way of thinking, morality etc. They all know right from wrong, and I have taught them to respect others. Actually my biological kids have more knowledge of biblical matters than my stepdaughter..so I don't know if that tells you anything!

[Goodsoulette]

There isnt, I think religion helped (in the past) form moral guidelines. Your children will no doubt be taught those same rights and wrongs with or without religion. I *groan* "lost my faith a couple of years ago, stopped attending church etc etc but couldnt deprive my children of Easter and Christmas. My eldest son is 5 and he is fascinated by the Easter and Christmas stories but he also came home from school asking if he died would he go to Jesus in heaven. What could I tell him? It was how he felt most comfortable, so I just blindly said yes.

[Octavius]

Can�t most religions just boil down to �folklore� as you put it? Why do you have to follow any religion at all? We are lucky. We live in a time and a society where we have the freedom to pick and choose what we want to believe in without any (real) fear of persecution. In many parts of the world such freedoms do not exist.

I am a Catholic but I don�t feel the need to justify myself or the religion I follow. My child will probably be raised a Christian, most likely in the Church of England. I know many people bought up in non-affiliated households and schools and they are exemplary individuals in their own right. If you find it so hard to �buy the story� of Christianity and find a faith, then exercise your liberty not to. The best schools are the ones with the best education, not the best church.

The answers to such questions come from within.

[Supernick]

You don't need a religious structure behind you to raise children with morality, confidence and happyness. End of!

I would always be open with them, and not unduly sceptical about it. Children will learn about religion, and it's an attractive idea to them. It helps explain things in their minds when they don't really have the comprehension of the arguments involved. They'll follow their own paths just like we all do.

[4getmenot]

I believe a child should have the right to choose when they are older, why put a religion on a baby when they have no choice in the matter.

[melons]

I was brought up in a very very religious back ground which ended up making me fall out with my parents, The person i wanted to marry wasnt in their religion and it was s in not to marry somone of that religion. I hated being part of it and hated having to follow something i didnt believe or want to believe.
thank fully i am friends with my parents again, however sometimes they still push their relgion on to me. I have found different ways to cope with it though.
I think that bringing up a child with no religion is better, they can make their own choices and decide what they want to do. If they decide they want a religion they will do it, but wont hold you to blame for making the worng choice.

[jjaammeess]

I passed a church on Sunday and it had a quote from the Bible on the board---something like
''Only a fool does not believe in God''
I realised at that moment that a wise man believes in God without proving his existence
This belief without proof has a tremendous positive effect emotionally on every aspect of your life and this is what good religion is about..
This is surely something you would want to give to your children

[jenstar]

It's not even an issue! There is no detriment to a child to be brought up without religion. There is, however, a detriment in being brought up WITH a religion, in that it diminishes their ability to think for themselves.

[Octavius]

jenstar - Is that clearly evident from my post above? Is that your own individual thought process and assumption or are you just jumping on the cliched bandwagon?

[Hellion]

I have no religion, I don't believe in God, I wasn't married in church and my son has not been raised in any religion. I don't feel I've suffered for it nor has my son. I'm respectful and interested in other people's belief systems but like some other posters I believe religion has caused untold harm throughout history and the present day. Of all the religions I have read about startlingly the one that was closest to my 'spiritual' beliefs was wicca , which believes in kindness and care of others, preservation of nature, and that en and women have equal roles to play in society.

[RATTER15]

There is nothing natural about following any religion, we were never destined to believe in any God.
I never brought my children believing in any faith neither did I discourage them.

I think that you should just bring up your children with a good understanding of morality and real life values, neither of these things are related to any faith!!

I see faith as a shoulder to lean on when things are tough, if they are brought up without this crutch they will never need it and wont learn to rely on it just to be let down by it!!

Did faith help the vicar that was stabbed to death the other day, nobody looking out for him was there!!!

Reality is a far better thing to believe in!!

[jenstar]

Octavius, my answer had nothing to do with yours. But how amusing to hear a Catholic accusing others of "jumping on the cliched bandwagon".

[mullein]

I think the question you pose is an interesting one as the question should be, Is it truly about having real faith or is it just conforming to what society expects and the schooling education and life values you want for your child. Let me give you for example 2 examples of a life you could have with your child
1. A new age traveller living in a van or caravan. Drawing benefits and earning extra funds doing casual labour. A nomadic existence never really knowing your communtiy before moving on but getting a rich, real life experience. Learning to manage on very little but having an appreciation of the land and nature. You would school your child based on your values and In effect you would be living off the land.

2. Settled home life, the best schools tend to teach religion and expects pupils to have a religious knowledge and belief. They focus on trying to get you're child to the best grammar or comprehensive school, your child has to conform or obey or they will be expelled. If this should happen to your child, the better schools dont want to give your kid a chance. Your child might wander the streets and get involved in petty crime. If they do conform they are modelled to have religious values, and personal discipline. Individuality is discouraged and they 'dangle the carrot 'of education and achieving exam results to achieve and prosper in modern society. Do you see what the choices are 1 real life experiences. 2 conforming to the white anglo saxon principle of what the classess expect a person to be. If we are honest and we want the best for our kids irrespective of what we believe we will send our kids to any religious school so that they get the education and schooling to prosper. To believe or not to believe do we really have any choice.

[wizard69]

shivvy...my child is brought up in an atheist home with NO detrimental effects.In addition he is home educated.Part of the reason that I took him out of school was the religious claptrap he was being taught.On one occasion he went on a field trip to a mosque where he was told that if he wasnt a muslim that he would go to hell.sick.
As we live in an area with a high population of muslims a lot of his religious education was concerned with Islam and he was expected to participate in muslim festivals, but the christian teachings were no better and to be taught so many different myths as if they were true only added to the confusion.
My child is taught to use logic and reason, not to believe in fairy tales.He is far more emotianally stable than a lot of kids that are brought up in religious homes

[StudentGal]

My Mum tried to bring us up Christian but sort of lost the grip by children 3 and 4 (I am child 4). Not having a religious influence in my upbringing has not been detremental to me in a single way. I know right from wrong and have good moral values etc because I feel that there is no need for religious teachings in order to instill them into a child. You should try to educte your child as to different religions etc but ultimately, the child will decide if they want to follow a religion or not.

My Mum would have loved me to have been a good Christian girl but instead I have a love for science and unfortunately, I find it very difficult to believe the stories that religion are based on when there are so many glaring errors, omissions and contradictions in the teachings (like where are the dinosaurs?!). I believe the vales religions lay down are good and should be adhered to but apart from that, I'm just not interested.