Posted on 07/29/2014 3:48:44 PM PDT by Faith Presses On
I n the United States, conventional wisdom holds that you should raise your child to be religious. Taking the kids to church is the default; leaving them home requires justification. Push parents to explain why they should pass on their religion—apart from a principled urge to keep the faith—and they’re likely to tell you studies prove that kids do better with religion than without it.
Mark Joseph Stern Mark Joseph Stern
Mark Joseph Stern is a writer for Slate. He covers science, the law, and LGBTQ issues.
But is religion really good for kids? That might depend on what kind of child you want to raise.
Several studies do seem to corroborate the conventional wisdom that kids raised with religion—any religion—are psychologically healthier than kids raised without it. The gap here is small but real: Some researchers link religious affiliation and regular church attendance with a mild boost in children’s mental health...
. . .
Aside from these obvious drawbacks, there’s another, subtler problem with raising religious children: All that talk of snake-inspired subterfuge, planet-cleansing floods, and apocalyptic horsemen might hamper kids’ ability to differentiate between fantasy and reality—or even to think critically.
That’s the implication of two recent studies published in Cognitive Science in which researchers attempted to gauge perceptions of reality in religious and secular children. (The religious children were all from Christian families, from a variety of denominations.)...
(Excerpt) Read more at slate.com ...
Looks like their conclusion is “No”.
Well, we’re living with the results of removing God from homes and schools. How’s it working out?
I pity the poor child who grows up thinking that this mess is all there is. No wonder they’re depressed and angry.
Aside from these obvious drawbacks, there’s another, subtler problem with raising religious children: All that talk of snake-inspired subterfuge, planet-cleansing floods, and apocalyptic horsemen might hamper kids’ ability to differentiate between fantasy and reality—or even to think critically …. . . written by the AGW-fantasy crowd, who never thinks critically on that and other pseudo-scientific matters? Laughable.
I wouldn’t expect the God haters at Slate to offer any other conclusion.
But of course. They believe children are best raised in atheism, in households with no gender norms, no values, no binary gender bias, belief in global warming, belief in abortion rights, belief that homosexuality is somehow cool, belief that Republicans rather than Islamic terrorists are evil, etc.
The Devil works in many ways and through differing media. Slate is but one way.
Evidently has never read "The Ethics of Elfland" from Chesterton's Orthodoxy. And if you haven't, read it here.
"Because kids do better with religion" is a silly and shallow answer. My reason? Because in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. It's true, and it would be immoral to teach my children anything but the truth, or even to fail to teach them the truth. In other words, the "principled urge to keep the faith" that is dismissed in passing is both the real reason and the best of all possible reasons.
Depends.
It is a moralistic, therapeutic deism or we are sinners and Jesus died for us?
So they focused mainly on Islam, then?
Not necessarily silly and shallow per se, but it is utilitarian. It demonstrates the lack of commitment to Christ on the part of the parents, because if you know Christ and are committed to Him in all things, the better answer would be, "I cannot not teach them, any more than I could not breathe, or my heart not beat, or my lips not taste water." You could then quote St. Patrick's prayer ("I bind unto myself today").
I guess religion is about the only thing that isn’t “good for kids.”
Author is probably pro death.
Lol...written by someone who probably voted for Obama and then accuses Christians of not distinguishing fantasy from reality!
To use the authors logic, children should not play most video games or watch most Disney movies.
These clowns should be forced to live in homes built without a foundation.
Then forced to remain when erosion and pests undermine the dwelling.
the best days of this country were when almost everyone believed in the real God of the bible.
in reality if this is all there is why am i listening to people tell me what i should do? why should i care what car to drive, what food to eat, what laws i should obey? it’s all arbitrary and there’s no objective moral absolute they can appeal to to prove they are right.
why shouldn’t i therefore do whatever i want and to hell with anyone getting in my way because i only get one life, and who made them god over me?
you’d think secularists would understand this and be really pissed off at everything trying to control them in reality they’re complacent, scared little pussies that submit to arbitrary laws and norms.
Secularists always have the lamest reasons for being against religion. I am fine with their not believing, but why does it bother them that others find guidance, meaning, purpose and comfort from religion? And as far as buying into fantasies is concerned, the secularists have a whopper of their own: that they are smarter than everyone else.
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