Should Atheist or Agnostic Parents Prevent their Kids from Going to Church?

My partner and I are atheist, and our daughter's first school was Christian. She learned about religion at school, and we left her to make up her own mind. I personally think that it is wrong to impose your beliefs on your children, but most religions require you to bring your children up to believe in that religion - that is one of the things that put me off!

I'm an individual who broke from my parent's path, and even though it took a few years, (at first they had me go to church for the sake of appearances even though they accepted my Buddhism) they eventually let me practice as I please. I would have to be a pretty big hypocrite to actually try and use my parental authority to keep a child from doing what satisfied them spiritually. I might feel different if they were a part of an extremist group, such as the Westboro baptist church, which places emphasis on hate, racism, and homophobia, but that isn't likely to happen, and I don't think that's really what we're talking about here. BarackobamaisthebestpresidenteverandIwanttomarryhimandbuyahousewithawhitepicketfenceandmakeartsandcraftsbecauseIloveBaracksomuch. So, to answer your question, no, unless they plan on hurting themselves or others in a very real way. Great question.

Howdy ParaTed2k! Well, I'm not Atheist I'm a Catholic, I don't know what they will say or do about this kind of situation. This discussion of yours are very nice and smart. Some questions they always ask also like this: Brainwashing the children. How about on the side of an Atheist or Agnostic. What will say or do about this when their brainwashed children going to the other side of the fence? Will they allow it or still on going to brainwashed their own children to Atheist or Agnostic? Well, it will do the same things or some things also what the other religions will also do. Because we are all just one crazy wild stupid diversified human beings that so very different the other kind of species on this planet called Earth or the whole wide universe. But I love it. The world is awesome. Thanks and Enjoy! myLot!

That is entirely up to the parents. I was dragged to church against my will for years, and I hated it. I did, however, get over it. If an atheist parent says their children shouldn't go to church, it's nobodies right to try and stop them. However, parents that force their children to repress their beliefs because the parents don't agree with them are complete jerks, in my opinion.

they have a right to raise their child as atheist and not allow them to go to church until they turn 18. i'm not saying i agree with that i'm just saying they have a legal right to do so.

I think that if the child is at a appropriate age that they should be able to make up their own mind either way. But each parent has the right to raise their children as they see fit, and if the parents don't want their children to attend church, they have every right to tell them no. The child should then wait until they are 18 to live their life as they see fit. My children attended church with me every week, and i would have been mad if someone tried to tell me i was wrong, so i will defend the right of other parents to raise their own children also. even if i believe they are wrong. It is not my place or anyone else's to judge people on their beliefs or lack of them. God gave each of us FREE WILL to make our own choices and one day right or wrong he is the one we will have to face for our choices. And it is our job as parents to raise, and take care of our children to the best of our ability

Just like in the case of the reverse,if the kid is 12 and under, they will have to wait to go to church.If the teen is13 or older,their spiritual life is their responsibility so their parents may try to get them not to go but they have the right to go to church.If the parents have the freedom from religion,then the kids have freedom Of Religion.

Honestly, raised by a pair of parents, one who was an atheist, the other a "social" Christian, my parents never told me I had to either go to mom's church or not to go church. Since I ended up, after leaving my parent's home, in a very conservative, Western Rite Orthodox church, I think you can understand that they didn't try to force their beliefs on me. I think most atheist and agnostic people don't feel the need to force their lack of belief on others - Madalyn Murray O'Hair aside.... Oh, and I live in Austin and my dad, the atheist, HATED her because she had turned Atheism into a religion.

I think that either way, if it is atheist parents or if it is religious parents, the children should be able to make up their own minds on religion and the parents should be able to accept it without resentment. My parents never imposed any religion on me, they let me make up my own mind, they certainly gave me guidance when I was confused. There are beliefs that I have that my parents don't, but they have always respected my beliefs and have never told me "well, you're wrong". So as long as the children don't have beliefs that might harm them (long story short example, saw a documentary one time about this young man who stopped eating for some reason and was withering away and his parents had to force him to eat and he cut them out of his life because of what they did), then I think parents should respect the individual minds of their children and appreciate the beauty of free will and choice.

I really think parents should not only allow but encourage their kids to learn as much about everything as possible. Should an atheist parent prevent their child from going to church? In my opinion ...No. If the child wants to go to church I think they should be allowed.

Depends on the age and maturity of the child. I am all for letting children experiment with their experiences, to a safe and sane point. The parent needs to be available to assist in the processing of the experiences though, to help keep the child healthy (physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually.) It's a case by case call, no blanket standard is going to work.

I am not really for all of this "honor your parents" stuff, at least not to the extent parents seemingly feel they must be honored. It is one thing to be respectful of your parents, however it is disrespect to a child to disallow them an experience minimally. The issue really lies in the behavior of the child/parents. If the kid WANTS to attend church without any prior thought drilled into his/her mind, then he/she should be able to attend with one of his/her parents. That is not to unreasonable, especially considering most atheists like to think of themselves as logical, respectable, and sensible. Additionally, this scenerio suggests the child has interest in different beliefs than just the one he was raised with. If this is the case, then as a parent I would desire for my son or daughter to examine many beliefs. If you go to only one church, from one religion then you are more likely to get caught up in their ways. This inadvertently should go both ways, but typically you do not hear of a religious parent allowing their child to live an atheistic life. This is actually one of the hardest decisions for a newly atheistic being who is raised by religious parents.

I dont beleive that any parent (regardless of religion) has the right to control their childs spirituality if a child wants to explore other spiritual paths the parents should accept and encourage that I am a witch with 5 kids 4 out of 5 of my kids enjoy going to Christian church i dont mind it, I encourage it, I sometimes go with them so we can discuss what they are being taught I feel that it is my responsibility as a parent to guide them and support them on whatever path they choose

It depends on the parents. some i know prefer to teach their religion to their children rather giving them a choice of their own. some even converted into either religions if they feel the one they had let him had any help. it's the child's right to choose their own..

Atheist or not ,I would allow my child to attend.My religious beliefs, have nothing to do with them.If they choose or like something different than me. That's a path everyone should walk alone ,to find where they belong in life. In the end its up to them.

LOL, good topic Ted, I find it funny that the other topic that was shown in the opposite view got so many replies while the Nay say'ers (those saying a kid shouldn't be forced to attend church) on that topic seem to be missing on this topic, maybe they just haven't gotten online yet to put in their two cents. As I posted on the other topic yes I think the kids have to obey the parents, do I think it will help or create conflict? Of course its going to be conflict but the fact is kids are kids because they are minors and they are legally under their parents control till they are no longer minors. I grew up out of church and let me tell you the opportunities out of church and on the streets as a teen is a lot more dangerous than being in church, with that said I still have to say a minor is a minor and its still the parents decision what they are exposed to as long as its not putting the children in any imminent harm. When you are a teenager you don't really have a clue about life and what makes you happy at 13 isn't going to make you happy for the rest of your life. What made me happy at age 21 made me miserable for years...lol, the notion that you know everything about life and more than your parents at age 13 is a crock, even if your parents are atheist they still know a lot more about life than you do at age 13.

Thank you for starting this discussion. I have long ago gotten tired of hearing people say that parents who bring their children to church or "force" them to go to church from a young age are "indoctrinating" them. I think that these people don't know what the definition of indoctrination is! By their standards, every form of parenting is indoctrination. Raising your kid listening to certain kinds of music that you like or feeding them the foods you like to eat or letting them watch the shows you want them to watch could all be seen as "indoctrination". I'll tell you one thing. I don't think ANY kids WANTS to wake up early on a Sunday morning and sit in an uncomfortable chair and listen to things that probably make no sense to them. I know I didn't. But my parents took me because it was important to them, and as I grew older and began to understand what was going on, I was glad of it. The same way I am glad of the education they forced upon me despite not wanting to go to school most days. The same way I am glad of the music lessons they forced on me despite never wanting to practice. I have a good idea. Why don't we all stay out of one another's business? That's what the atheists really want, right? Religious people to stay away from them? Well then it should go both ways. They don't want me telling them how they should raise their kids and I don't want them telling me how I should raise mine.

I think children should be exposed to a variety of different lifestyles to ensure that they grow up to be themselves. I think agnostic or atheist parents should at least bring their children to church once. I think that children should be educated in multiple religions so they can pick the one they believe most in.

This is my personal opinion, in a case wherein the parents are atheist or agnostic, I don't that it would be right for them to hold back their kids into which faith to take. I mean faith and believing is more of an individual choice. It's a personal choice that goes on as part of someone's life. It's understandable for them to introduce and try to raise their children based on their own belief. But i think that they should give room for the kids to decide for themselves of which path and faith to follow and practice.

I understand why parents want their kids to follow in their stead, parents teach their children, so it is only reasonabl to assume they want to teach them their beliefs too. I was never forced to go to church, but I used to go with a friend of ine and her family. I eventually decided that it wasn't for me and began practicing Paganism. I think at a certain point parents shouldn't force their children onto a belief. If their children is interested in something else, then let them be. If the family religion is for them, then they will return to it.