Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Defiant Heretic · 09-01-2002, 10:11 PM

I recently saw a story in the �Faith� section of a local newspaper entitled �Suitable for all ages�. It is about how one should go about indoctrinating young children into religion (Read: Judeo-Christianity) before they are capable of logical reasoning.

Quote:

Ronald Hecker Cram, associate professor of Christian education at Columbia Theological Seminary in metro Atlanta, says, �The introduction of the child to the community of faith starts before birth. It doesn�t start, like, age 2. That�s too late.�
Cram says by age 3 the child�s image of God is already beginning to form. By age 7, the child has the image he will refer to through life.

In other words, by the time the children are able to think for themselves, it is already engrained in their minds that �God� is real and shouldn�t be questioned.

The article also suggests that one should leave out certain information that might seem distasteful to the child until the primary message is secure in the children�s minds- like the story of Noah�s flood, for instance.

Quote:

When they�re little, she [Carol Garrison, a preschool and children�s minister] says, teach that God told Noah to build the ark and he did.

Quote:

Cram says it is wise to postpone some stories until the children grow older.
�The child will raise questions at the time when they are ready for answers. You don�t have to tell them about the gory details. From (newborns) to age 5, help them to learn that God is trustworthy, that God loves us and that God cares for us.�

So you have to wait until they�ve been brainwashed into believing that �God loves us�, and then you can tell them about how he drowned 99% of the population.

Anyway, what to all of you think about this?

case · 09-01-2002, 10:32 PM

Yep, hook em while they're young. Didn't we have another thread like this recently?

cydonia · 09-02-2002, 02:37 PM

"Any system of religion that has anything in it that shocks the mind of a child, cannot be a true system. "

--thomas paine.

Terracotta · 09-02-2002, 02:51 PM

My best friend is Baptist, although she never pushes it on me. She has a 5yo daughter and was telling a story recently about how the little girl "understands that there are Christians and there are sinners." She was telling it like it was a cute thing, but my stomach turned. I feel sorry for this child.

Starboy · 09-02-2002, 06:00 PM

How else could you get an entire country to believe in spirits, demons, ghosts, devils, angels and gods in the age of quarks, genes, molecules and galaxies?

Starboy

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09-01-2002, 10:32 PM	#2
case Regular Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Missouri Posts: 420	Yep, hook em while they're young. Didn't we have another thread like this recently?

09-02-2002, 02:37 PM	#3
cydonia Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: southern california Posts: 1,002	"Any system of religion that has anything in it that shocks the mind of a child, cannot be a true system. " --thomas paine.

09-02-2002, 02:51 PM	#4
Terracotta Regular Member Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Kentucky Posts: 369	My best friend is Baptist, although she never pushes it on me. She has a 5yo daughter and was telling a story recently about how the little girl "understands that there are Christians and there are sinners." She was telling it like it was a cute thing, but my stomach turned. I feel sorry for this child.

09-02-2002, 06:00 PM	#5
Starboy Banned Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Tallahassee, FL Reality Adventurer Posts: 5,276	How else could you get an entire country to believe in spirits, demons, ghosts, devils, angels and gods in the age of quarks, genes, molecules and galaxies? Starboy

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