5 Reasons Why You Shouldn't Teach Religion to Your Child

5 Reasons Why You Shouldn't Teach Religion to Your Child

Hemant Mehta (http://www.friendlyatheist.com, http://www.patreon.com/Hemant , https://www.facebook.com/friendlyatheist)
Thank You to viewer Angela for suggesting we do this video!
A lot of parents, even atheist parents, think they need to bring their child up with religion because it'll teach them values and morals.

Now, obviously, you can do those things without religion. Even children know why lying and stealing are bad -- because they wouldn't want people to do it to them -- and Jesus doesn't have to come into the equation.

Some parents indoctrinate their children because their parents or relatives want it to happen.

But I want to tell you that raising your children with a particular religion is a bad idea, especially if you don't really believe it yourself. Here's why:

1) Religion often teaches children to do the right things for the wrong reasons

If you want to teach children to act a certain way -- telling the truth, for example -- many parents simply say that lying is a sin. Lying makes God angry or upset.

God hates sinners. God killed Jesus because people were sinners. You got blood on your hands, kids.

How awful is that? To teach a kid who may not know any better that he's guilty of a crime that put someone else to death?

No! You shouldn't lie because society wouldn't function if everyone lied to each other.

You want people to be honest with you, so you should be honest with them. That's why you shouldn't lie.

What about when they're older? The same sort of mentality is often in effect.

I understand wanting to teach your kids to value their own bodies.

But religion does that by saying masturbation is a sin and that any sexual activity before marriage makes the Baby Jesus cry.

This is the awful power that religion has. It teaches children morals and values... through fear. And guilt. And shame. Why would you do that to them?

I don't want my kids to behave a certain way just because they think God is looking over their shoulders.

As a former math teacher, teaching kids religious reasons for behaving ethically is like handing kids a formula sheet before a test. They may get some answers right, but they have no clue how to apply the formulas in difficult situations.

You're better off teaching them how the formulas came about, and how they apply in various cases, and how they don't always work in every situation.

2) Religion often teaches children to suppress their doubts and questions

3) Kids will believe whatever you tell them... so don't lie.
4) It suggests that faith is a virtue.

5) It teaches them to accept bad explanations
....

Why am I telling you all this? Because I want to live in a world where children are taught how to think, not what to think.

I want to live in a society where we don't pass down bad ideas just because it's tradition.

I'm not a parent yet. I know this is all easier said than done. But when I talk to parents who raised their kids without religion, I promise you their kids are just as ethical and thoughtful as anyone else. It can be done!

And, to be clear, I am completely in favor of teaching children about religion. They need to know what others believe. But let's not give religious ideas more respect than they deserve.
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