Jim, obviously some parents do teach their children their religious belief systems, and some do not. For me it is not a question of what belief system they are teaching them--it is whether it is right to do that at all.
Pagans and witches don't have anything to do with the question, incidentally. Did you know that in Northern Ireland, the Protestant and Catholic children have never gone to school together, and are taught totally different versions of Irish and English history?
Indoctrinating children with belief systems just seems divisive in some ways, with all the religious wars. I suspect the situation with the Israelis and the Palestinians is very similar.
Also, what right do I have to try to indoctrinate my child? I am not sure I have any at all.
I bet the world would be a much more mellow and peaceful place if brief explanations of all the religions were taught in school, starting at about seven, when children can think independently--the age of reason. Then the children could decide what made sense to them, and start going to a children's version of that church. Of course, as they got older, they could change freely, if some other belief system started making more sense to them.
One result would be that people from the various religions would be scattered all over the world, not the tribal system we have now with all the hatred back and forth. It makes a lot of sense to me!! |
