The God Delusion December 19, 2007
Posted by sel4592 in atheism, belief, morals, religion.trackback
I just finished the book. Bear in mind that Dawkins is preaching to the choir here-I pretty much agree with everything he says. A salient point that he makes though, that I appreciate, because I don’t think many people have the guts to mention such things, is the fact that religious indoctrination is indeed a form of child abuse. He is not talking about the fluff here-such as follow the ten commandments or go to Sunday school, but the fact that telling young children that if they sin they will go to hell and the ONLY way to be “Saved” is buy accepting JC as your saviour. That stuff is cult brainwashing and most fundy churches do it.
The important point is that it is their privilege to decide that they shall think, and not their parents’ privilege to impose it by force majeure. And this, of course, is important when we reflect that children become the parents of the next generation, in a position to pass on whatever indoctrination may have moulded them.
I couldn’t agree more!
I haven’t read the book yet, but I must say that the quote you posted is something I have believed in for a long time, but hardly anybody seems to say it. Once again, I haven’t read the book yet, so I don’t know if he addressed this, but I would also add that parents should also have the responsibility of teaching their children the viewpoints of many religons, including atheism (I’m not sure whether to define atheism as a religion, so it’s up to your interpretation I guess) so they have more of a background of info to build upon and a greater appreciation for tolerance.
Yes, Dawkins does address the idea that children should be brought up with the idea that they be exposed to as many viewpoints as possible, and be allowed to choose for themselves when the time comes. While I support this idea, as you see from a previous post, my ex does not, but none-the-less I try to give my son what I can as far as information and the tools to look into things so hopefully when the time comes for him he can make a choice that works for him.