Religious Differences with Family: Advice for a 16-Year-Old

[union68]

Exactly my point. They BELIEVE that.

Believe:
accept as true; take to be true.

Your PARENTS take it to be true and they should respect the choice of their child to NOT believe as well... or believe in something else for that matter.

Parenting has no place in enforcing BELIEFS in children.

In short, they can be scared for you all they want and they can try to preach to you but they MUST respect your belief.

I did not want to portray my parents as a set of iron-fisted dictators that -- judging by the tone of your posts -- is what I think you think all conservative Christian parents are.

I was merely trying to point out that the "forcing" of beliefs may not always come from the parents' intolerance of other views or their desire to futher some evil dogma. Rather, it may come from a sincere worry about their child's well-being.

Can you take the taste of your own medicine? Would you be cool if your child grew up and accepted Christianity?

 

[Jack21222]

Do you know what a straw man is? It is an attempt to shift a weak argument to a stronger argument. If you have an argument about religion, argue it. If you wish instead to argue about homosexuality, start a new thread.

My argument is there is no real difference between the two scenarios I just mentioned. A straw man is when I set up a weak argument and claim that it is my opponent's actual argument, then destroy the "straw man."

That is NOT what I did in that case. I asked why it is more acceptable to "come out" as gay than it is to come out as atheist. Why should an atheist teenager not have the right to be atheist, but a gay teenager should be respected?

You're the one that points out that I'd have a "stronger argument" if the OP was considering coming out as gay instead of atheist. Why should that be a stronger argument? Shouldn't they be the same?

It's not about belief; it's about education.

RELIGION IS ABOUT BELIEF, BY DEFINITION. Unless we can use the same definitions for the same words, we can't talk.

Can you take the taste of your own medicine? Would you be cool if your child grew up and accepted Christianity?

I know this wasn't directed at me, but I'll answer: I'd be cool with it. I'd hope it's a phase they grow out of, but I don't see how that would affect me in any way whatsoever.

 

[Leptos]

I'm surprised that there's this many religious people on a technical forum, but I guess religiosity is prevalent among all humans.

 

[MotoH]

I'm surprised that there's this many religious people on a technical forum, but I guess religiosity is prevalent among all humans.

What, are we supposed to believe that the world is flat, and the stars are on a giant sphere? I can't think of anything more enlightening than finding the secrets of Gods awesome universe. (but that is a different discussion for a different day)

I would be very disappointed in my child if he/she decided to not believe in God, and I would pray for them to find the light. But I wouldn't force them to go to church. That would make them view the church in disdain because it is the place "my parents make me go and I hate it"

 

[zomgwtf]

I did not want to portray my parents as a set of iron-fisted dictators that -- judging by the tone of your posts -- is what I think you think all conservative Christian parents are.

Are you putting words into my mouth? Yes, I think you are. I never said anything about your parents being iron-fisted dictators and I never said anything about conservative Christians. Go back and read ALL the posts (apparently this will be the first time) if you think that I'm portraying your parents specifically as 'iron-fisted dictators'.

Can you take the taste of your own medicine? Would you be cool if your child grew up and accepted Christianity?

No, I wouldn't care. In fact my girlfriend of 2 years decided to accept Christianity about a year ago. I don't understand how this is 'my own medicine' though.

 

[Jack21222]

I can't think of anything more enlightening than finding the secrets of Gods awesome universe.

That's what drove Kepler to his discoveries. I'm not surprised to see many religious people here, I'm just glad there aren't a bunch of religious fundamentalists here. That'd be far more surprising if there were.

 

[Evo]

The op's question has been answered dozens of times and this is going nowhere at this point.

Closed.