Should christians be allowed to attempt to indoctrinate children with their beliefs? [Spirituality & Religion]

@room101: Sorry, I can see my question wasn't clear. I'm asking about christians attempting to indoctrinate children in general. I don't mean parents teaching their own children.

I use the word "indoctrinate" as I believe it best describes what prozelityzing christians are attempting to do.

@suzie1960: what proselytizing? Maybe in America's Bible belt but, here in the UK, the only Christian sect that actively attempts to convert others, are The Jehovahs Witnesses. In fact, the more I think about it, I can't think of a single notionally Christian country that I've been to where people are indoctrinated into Christianity.

Other than the U.S.

@room101: In the UK it's actually a legal requirement for schools to force students to take part in acts of christian worship - Education Reform Act 1988. Ss 6 & 7.

@suzie1960: I see nothing wrong with schools teaching and observing the belief system of a given country. It's part of the heritage and culture of that country after all. In any event, the Act is not religiously (pun intended) enforced. This is just one piece of guidance available on the topic.

https://humanism.org.uk/education/parents/collective-worship-and-school-assemblies-your-rights/

@room101: I know parents have the right to exclude their children but that right isn't widely know or publicised. I've even heard of some schools (presumably christian domiated) denying it exists.

Teaching about belief systems is one thing but it doesn't stop there. Religion tends to be taught by christian zealots who treat other belief systems as "silly superstition", holding christianity up as the only true belief.

I doubt the majority of people in the UK are practising christians anyway.

@suzie1960: I'm sorry but you're making some pretty rash assertions. Go to any multi-ethnic part of The UK and you'll see that very few schools enforce the sections of the Education Reform Act that you've highlighted.

Going by the way that you worded your question and the replies you've given to me and to others, it seems very clear that you have an issue with Christianity specifically. Why?

@room101: Christian dominated schools I'm aware of do enforce those sections of the Act. Those that don't are breaking the law so are setting a bad example to their students.

In my experience, christian are very arrogant and I'm fed up with their prozelityzing. They seem to think they have the right to dictate how the rest of us live. I wouldn't care if they just kept their delusions to themselves.

@suzie1960: There you go again with your weird assertions.

I’ve lived in the same part of North London since we arrived in the UK when I was five years old. Back then, we did indeed sing hymns and say the Lords’ Prayer at morning assembly. But that was a long time ago.

None of that has been the case for many, many years. Regardless of what the law says, I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that many British kids don’t know any hymns, wouldn’t know where to start if asked to recite the Lords’ Prayer, think that Christmas is the day when baby Jesus was born but have no understanding of what that actually means and, have little to no clue of the religious significance of Easter.

And it’s not just in the UK. I’ve got family members and close friends who live in and are from Rome, i.e. the seat of the Christian world, and they’re the least “indoctrinated” people I know.

I’m sorry, I really don’t want to be rude but, if anybody is displaying delusions here, it’s you.

Your profile doesn't say where you live (as is your prerogative) and all of you've given us is this rather cryptic statement that you had to "protect them [your children] from christian zealots when they were younger".

Weird. Very weird indeed.

@room101: UK law only applies to the UK. I doubt many countries have law that explicity require schools to indoctrinate students with christianity so I'm not surprised Italian children are not.

The delusions I refer to are the imaginary friends christians claim to have. What's so cryptic about my statement that I protected my children from christians? I thought it was perfectly clear. If you tell me what is it you don't understand, I'll try to rephrase it in simpler terms.

@suzie1960: there's so much that I don't understand about your assertions and comments.

I don't understand your insistence that British schools indoctrinate children into Christianity. A law exists. It has been supplemented by various other laws on education. It has been interpreted in a variety of ways. It is not enforced.

I don't understand what specifically you had to protect your children from.

But what I really don't get is why you have such a hard on for Christianity. I wonder what you'd be like if you lived in a Muslim country.