I need some advice regarding religion and raising a child. I have a 2 month old girl. My wife is religious (christian- evangelical) and wants to inflict awful christian nonsense on our child, as she grows up. She wants to bring her to church and eventually enroll her in sunday school and bible studies and all that crap. This indoctrination tactic was inflicted on me, as a kid, and I hated it. My thoughts are that I will not steer my daughter toward or away from any religion. I want her to make her own choices but I want those choices to be made when shes and adult. Children are easily manipulated and brainwashed and I don't want her to be indoctrinated into anything. My wife doesn't see it this way. Her and her entire family are very small town religious types. This is going to be a source of conflict as my child gets older. Has anyone else gone through this? Any tips on how to keep the peace among the family without giving into religious brow beating for trying to shield my daughter from christianity?
For those of you who are going to say that we should have discussed this prior to getting married and having kids, you're probably right but I need some advice to deal with the situation at hand.
Subscription Note:
Choosing to subscribe to this topic will automatically register you for email notifications for comments and updates on this thread.
Email notifications will be sent out daily by default unless specified otherwise on your account which you can edit by going to your userpage here and clicking on the subscriptions tab.
Here are some other topics on the subject I found for you which offer some advise, ideas and general input:
http://www.atheistrepublic.com/forums/atheist-hub/raising-children
http://www.atheistrepublic.com/forums/atheist-hub/raising-children-atheist
http://www.atheistrepublic.com/forums/atheist-hub/advice-needed-how-prot...
There are also many sties for atheist parenting.
You can google the subject.
Here is one: http://raisingfreethinkers.com
sites*
Dang, I really miss being able to edit!
should I post what I posted in the public forum here WicketTeek?
well... since there are no laws prohibiting it Il just do it:
Brainwashing works only when there is everyone agreeing thus the hammering of repetition becomes fact.
If there is you who will correct and explain every absurdity they will be teaching the kid, the brainwashing would not work at all.
I think that your daughter might need to understand your wife position rather then completely dismiss it because of your choice.
Even though I completely agree with you, coming from a christian background myself, I know the feeling of being forced not to question or doubt some things.
I think that your daughter with your help will understand quite easily why she will find it boring to hear the same things over and over again.
Without both parents convincing her that this is good for her, there is no way that any sane kid will swallow this kind of stupidity.
Kids are smarter then what we think, they are just easily convinced of something that is all.
So my suggestion to you is to let your wife have her way but on some very harsh condition for her :)
But let her keep the boring things that you know that the kid will abandon when she gets old. :)
Like let her go to mass and holy communion and things.
Those are things you can trade.
Church school is not, stay away from priests.
Make your wife & kid listen to atheist shows with you could be a nice trade for it :)
Religion thrives on ignorance, make your wife learn this way.
No religion in the house is an other trade for it.
or just try to get something you want which appears less important that the good of your child's afterlife.(lol)
Keep the wife thinking that she has the better deal :)
Play for the long game not the short one like your wife is.
the trype of brainwashing you surly should avoid is the pictures of a crucified man in the room of your daughter.
Most Christians do not realize that it is one of the most horrible things you can do to a child.
Only if you replace the human being with a crucified dog they might come to their senses and realize the effect that such an image might leave on an innocent kid that is not mature enough for such a complex/contradictory theology.
I had one on my bed and i always wondered when I was a kid:
Why is this guy crucified OK?
Is being crucified a good thing?
YES this is just one of the minor evil things that Christianity does without most people knowing.
Brainwashing has this effect.