Quote:
Originally Posted by ianch99
I assume then you do not teach your children about your world view but rather wait until they are adults and so old enough to form an opinion? I would be interested to know your answer .. but I suspect I know it already.
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I’ll jump in here …
this is a really old, and very, very silly argument, which presupposes that to teach children a faith is to teach them a world view, whereas not to do so is to not teach them a world view.
The truth is that every parent imparts a world view to their children. Those who think they are not doing so, simply because they’re not bringing their children up in a religious faith, are being naive at best, and duplicitous at worst. Children always learn a world view from their parents. In the case you have outlined, that world view includes the rather patronising idea that only adults can form worthwhile opinions or hold deep convictions.
Families sharing faith convictions (or even atheistic ones) is absolutely natural and actually, totally unavoidable, unless you were to propose state intervention (in which case, who on earth would decide what’s appropriate for children to be told about the world, relationships, and ethics? And on what basis would they make those decisions?).