The people who brought you "Jesus Camp" are moving into your neighborhood school

[DasFuchs]

Teach by example, not by force or prodding.  You catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar. 

...Of course, you catch more flies with bullshit than you can with honey.

Actually, I've heard that flies are more attracted to vinegar than honey.  I don't have anything to back this up, but there you go.

Either way, RAGE.

Not scientific fact by far, but watching the swarms that huddle around the vinegar tanks at work, I'd say there's truth to it. The only thing the sweet relish totes collect are bees, bees by the thousands...always fun to have to move one of those.

[RavynousHunter]

Well, as I said, I was thinking of younger children who follow what their parents think and believe, and parents should be open to the kids going in a different direction as they learn to think critically and decide for themselves what they think and believe. That being said, what's the harm in parents raising their kids in a specific faith? Are you really saying that parents taking their kids to the Methodist church every week is violating the kid's 1st Amendment rights?

Personally, I see nothing wrong with parents teaching children their particular faith.  What I do, however, have a problem with is when parents become authoritarian with their teachings, and won't allow their children to develop their own views on spirituality, or will become angry or manipulative when they find out that they have.

[Osama bin Bambi]

There's a difference between raising kids in a religion and abusing them into staying. It's like the difference between taking your kid to church every Sunday and being a member of the Pearl family.

[RavynousHunter]

Exactly.  I have no problem with the former, I -do- have a problem with the latter, and I know the crowbar of separation between the two.

I've been on the good end, and I've seen others on the bad end.

[Meshakhad]

I intend to raise my children in my religion. If they choose another faith, and it is clear they are doing it out of genuine religious belief (as opposed to being rebellious) I will accept them.

[Witchyjoshy]

I actually don't know what end of the spectrum I was on.

I was one of those "good little boys" who followed the Christian faith unquestioningly.  It wasn't an abusive situation for me, though.  I didn't do things because I feared punishment from my parents or from God, I did things because it made my parents happy, or made God happy, or made my friends happy, etc.

That's not to say I never did anything wrong.  But I did feel bad about the wrong things I did.

In my teenage years, though, I was attracted heavily to Wicca.  Which seriously disturbed me because, despite not being the Flanders kid anymore, I was still very much a fundie.  (It didn't help that we were going to an abusive church, but at the time, I didn't really understand that, so I thought my attraction to other religions was Satan tempting me)

Now that I think about it, Mom did try to help me out by having me read about Wicca first.  Unfortunately, the book she got me ended up being a fundie book (which wasn't what she was looking for; she was trying to look for a more neutral perspective) and it did end up diminishing my interest in Wicca.

Now, though, I think Wicca's a bit silly, not because of the "They practice magic " thing, but because their religion is probably even more made up than Christianity.  That, and between the Lord and the Lady, the Lord tends to get pretty much ignored in favor of the Lady, and while I believe in equality between the sexes, there is even less for me in a female-dominated religion than a male-dominated religion.

...Anyways, I guess I did end up somewhere inbetween.  Because though she was trying to get me information, she was strongly encouraging me to remain Christian at the same time, regardless of her intentions with getting the book.

[Thejebusfire]

The Stealth Assault on America’s Children by Katherine Stewart uncovers a right-wing conspiracy to infiltrate and destroy the nation’s public school system, using recent Supreme Court decisions as a lever.

No, no, no. You've got it all wrong. Only the liberals and gays want to destroy the public schools. We are just trying to teach the good news of Jesus!

[Witchyjoshy]

Amusingly, the title "The Stealth Assault on America's Children" sounds like the title of a book that would be written by the right wing starting gay-panic over anti-bullying legislation.

[Barbarella]

Their kingdom is crumbling! They're getting desparate, now. We need to counteract this with info of our own!