Poll of the Day > If you had children would you take them to church?

(+) Yeah! (+)

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I have kids, and I won't take them to church unless I have a reason to (wedding, funeral, etc).

When they're older, if they have questions about religion or whatever, I wouldn't be opposed to attending mass or something with them so they can see what it's all about.
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I'm atheist so no, I wouldn't take them to church.
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AllstarSniper32 posted...

I'm atheist so no, I wouldn't take them to church.

I'm an atheist, and I would take mine to church, for reasons stated above. Nothing wrong with a little education/information. And if they decide it's something they want in their lives, when they're old enough they can make that decision for themselves.
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No. I used to hate going. I wouldn't put that on someone else.
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Do kids even like going to church? Because I was thinking along the lines of "go once and see how they feel", but that's basically taking them to school on a weekend. Only college attendees and adults would ever want to do that.
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Far-Queue posted...

I'm an atheist, and I would take mine to church, for reasons stated above.

What? you said in your first post that you wouldn't take the to church except for specific reasons.

Far-Queue posted...

I have kids, and I won't take them to church unless I have a reason to (wedding, funeral, etc)

So would you, or wouldn't you?

And I assumed the question just meant take them to church on Sundays for mass. When they're a teenager, they can start going to church if they want to.
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I'd take them for evens like weddings or funerals, but I'd only take them if they wanted to go after they got out of the making loud noises for no reason stage of childhood.
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I do and don't take him

He is going to a catholic school tho
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AllstarSniper32 posted...

Far-Queue posted...

I'm an atheist, and I would take mine to church, for reasons stated above.

What? you said in your first post that you wouldn't take the to church except for specific reasons.

Far-Queue posted...

I have kids, and I won't take them to church unless I have a reason to (wedding, funeral, etc)

So would you, or wouldn't you?

And I assumed the question just meant take them to church on Sundays for mass. When they're a teenager, they can start going to church if they want to.

I meant exactly what I said. I won't take them to church except for certain reasons.
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Why would I encourage lies or risk a little Princess Magical or Zeus?
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No one in my family has gone to church in 150 years.
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As an Hebrew, it is incumbent for me to teach my son, if I had one, to go to the "house of study" as we also call "church" . It is recorded in the Bible that God mandated my whole lineage to observe His Laws perpetually to know Him and Christly deportment as their education. The Sabbath is an holiday wherein we put out of our minds drudgery in our humanness to concentrate on God's suppliance in His creation. If he does not, it may backfire with him lacking in peace of mind and scrupulousness throughout life when the father [hypothetically] is not there anymore.
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No because I wouldn't want them brainwashed/indoctrinated into believing in a fictional character.
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I've been to church my whole life not going to lie but there are days I wish I could just stay home and away from all the drama that can go on at church.

Yes, there are people who want drama at church and some people just don't know when to shut up and leave the drama behind.

Now if I had kids which will never happen for me with what I've experienced I'd take them and let them see what it's like. If they love it so be it if not let them stay home. But I won't force the issue.
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I'm Pagan. I do have a daughter and most of my family is some form of Christian, mostly Catholic.

She's been to church a few times for important family events such as baptisms, weddings, etc.

I don't allow myself or my family to try and influence her religiously. Spirituality and atheism is a personal, private choice that no one should ever be allowed to make for you.


She hasn't shown much inclination either way. Most of my family is chill about it. She's increasingly annoyed by my preachy grandma, sits quietly for prayer when we have family get-togethers, didn't even realize I was religious until my boyfriend clued her in and we just kinda roll our eyes when my boyfriend tries to push her towards Paganism.
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I have children, I bring them to church
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I have two boys and I do not take them to church. I let them make their own decisions on religion and god; etc. If they ask questions I give them answers on what I believe but do not tell them what is "right" and "wrong" when it comes to religion/spirituality.

That being said my teen son went to his girlfriend's church for a while. It was a universal Unitarian church I think.
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We're atheists and don't go to church on Sundays but we do send the kids to a few different bible camps in the summer. It gives us a break and they get to have fun with their friends.

Even though I'm an atheist, I don't want to force my beliefs on them. I'd rather make sure they're critically thinking open minded individuals who have plenty of experiences and come to their own conclusions, whatever that may be.

No but I wouldn't discourage it either. I would be honest with them from the time they were young and tell them that I don't know what happens when we pass on, and that the truth is that no one really knows for sure.

Beyond that I would let them make up their own minds and pursue whatever beliefs felt right to them.
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I'm a bit torn on the issue.

On the one hand, I think my religious upbringing did a lot to make me a successful person. On the other hand, I also have no interest in being religious. And I wouldn't let them go alone.

Maybe I'll let my parents take them or something.
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Probably not since I don't go myself. I grew up having to go every Sunday and participate in a bunch of church functions on other days of the week. Never resonated with me. If my kids wanted to go I would take them but I'm not going to make them do it.
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Mead posted...

No but I wouldn't discourage it either. I would be honest with them from the time they were young and tell them that I don't know what happens when we pass on, and that the truth is that no one really knows for sure.

Beyond that I would let them make up their own minds and pursue whatever beliefs felt right to them.

I'll probably be the same. Interesting enough, my mentor's mother had him go to a Catholic church and it wasn't until years later when they held the funeral service for his father at a Buddhist temple that he found out his parents are Buddhist. So he was raised as a Catholic but his parents were Buddhist.

His mother's reasoning was that she wanted him to have some sort of moral compass to keep him outta trouble as a kid and the Buddhist temple was simply too far for them. When my mentor's, who is now Buddhist, son wanted to look into Bible classes, my mentor was more than fine with it. He felt his son should be the one to decide which belief is truly for him. In his case though the son grew bored of said classes....
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Honestly, I wouldn't really take them unless they had some sort of proper education program in place instead of making them sit through a sermon. There's really no point in making a young kid sit through a sermon whose message will probably fly over their heads because some backwards ass preacher still insists on using the KJV, which most scholars evidently consider a joke these days or so I've heard. Because clearly the best way to teach the Bible is to use the most out-of-date translation that aims less for accuracy and more for purple prose that was hip and with it back in the Renaissance Era.

...

Erm, anyway. Unless they had something for the younger kids to do aside making themselves bored to death during a sermon, I would look for another church to take them. Not that it matters since I'll never have children, but hypotheticals are fun.
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I might. Free babysitting, ya know?
My parents dumped me into christian programs all the time because they feature games and food and cheap crap.
I didn't actually realize the churches were serious until I was like 6 though. I thought it was a game.
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I take my children to church. I take their friends to church with us. We have all received salvation and walk on the ways of Christ to the best of our abilities. We fall short but we ask for forgiveness. I have seen miracles which are beyond my understanding happen in front of my very eyes. One of my sons tore a tendon in his leg, confirmed by imaging. He could barely walk. As a church, we prayed over his leg and its symptoms for healing. He limped back to his seat on his crutches. He said his leg got hot. By the end of the service, he was running and jumping. The symptoms had healed.

no i'm an atheist so i have no reason to take them to church.
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Jen0125 posted...

no i'm an atheist so i have no reason to take them to church.

What if they wanted to go and were too young to go alone?
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ChaoticKnuckles posted...

Jen0125 posted...

no i'm an atheist so i have no reason to take them to church.

What if they wanted to go and were too young to go alone?

i'm not going to church. so they'll have to wait til they're old enough to go alone.
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Jen0125 posted...

ChaoticKnuckles posted...

Jen0125 posted...

no i'm an atheist so i have no reason to take them to church.

What if they wanted to go and were too young to go alone?

i'm not going to church. so they'll have to wait til they're old enough to go alone.

you're family was never religious at all and neither are you? kinda sounds like me
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Sure, I'd drop them off and then pick them up after. Maybe I'd have them sit through two masses just to drive the lessons home. While that sounds a little facetious, I generally believe that religion can be useful for instilling good values within a person. (Granted, I wouldn't want them touching Islam these days, but if it wasn't disproportionately tied to terror, I wouldn't be opposed to that either.)
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Nope nor would i allow anyone else to.
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I guess it was a lucky thing that I didn't have kids in my first marriage, because I was an atheist married to a Christian -- the daughter of a Baptist minister. I'm sure it would have forced a bit of a wedge between us sooner or later, although I would probably have let her take the kids to church on Sunday mornings.

(Even though I'm an atheist, I joined her at her Bible study and fellowship group meetings because that's where most of her friends went, and it was important to her for me to get on with her friends. Nice people, but I couldn't share their faith.)
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TheFalseDeity posted...

Nope nor would i allow anyone else to.

I was just about to ask if anyone here will not allow their children to attend the church either. Isn't not allowing them to attend almost as bad as forcing them to attend? At some point they outta be free to make that decision for themselves.
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I'd allow it. I'm not going to dictate to my children what they should believe. I think I would encourage them to not just stick with the first faith they try though. I'd want them to have more than one experience and decide what they believe with more information.
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I've put a lot of thought into this, and I've decided that I'll expose them to it but ultimately let them choose how involved they want to be. I think it's important that they know the option is there at the very least, my parents hid it from me and I don't think that was the right thing to do and now I sort of feel like I'm scrambling to figure it out in adulthood... so I wouldn't want that for my children, if I have any.
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Kana posted...

I've put a lot of thought into this, and I've decided that I'll expose them to it but ultimately let them choose how involved they want to be. I think it's important that they know the option is there at the very least, my parents hid it from me and I don't think that was the right thing to do and now I sort of feel like I'm scrambling to figure it out in adulthood... so I wouldn't want that for my children, if I have any.

your parents hid it from you? so your parents were very religious?
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DoubleOSnake posted...

you're family was never religious at all and neither are you? kinda sounds like me

my family used to force me to go to church twice a week.
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DoubleOSnake posted...

your parents hid it from you? so your parents were very religious?

No, just the opposite. They did not participate religiously and distanced themselves, and me, from a Jewish lifestyle. In adulthood is when I decided to pursue it myself.
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I voted the last option because I don't go to church on my own unless willed by something else (wedding or funeral). I suppose I'm thankful that I've been exposed to a variety of religious faiths in my life, but I don't see myself going out of my way to expose my child to religions in an active manner.

There will likely be peripheral interactions because my extended family members are religious, which may lead to questioning down the line. I don't mind having theological discussions with my child, but I do mind having to sit through church. So long as they get the general message about morality, goodwill and all that good shit, I'm cool.
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I actually go to church, so if I had kids I would. It really depends on the church. The church I go to is a no BS church that is based on the Bible and they don't talk about any strange things

GreenTreeClub posted...

I actually go to church, so if I had kids I would. It really depends on the church. The church I go to is a no BS church that is based on the Bible and they don't talk about any strange things

You're aware that the Bible has a lot of strange things, right? Virgin births, people living inside whales, water turning to wine, people turning to salt, etc.
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Funkdamental posted...

I guess it was a lucky thing that I didn't have kids in my first marriage, because I was an atheist married to a Christian -- the daughter of a Baptist minister. I'm sure it would have forced a bit of a wedge between us sooner or later, although I would probably have let her take the kids to church on Sunday mornings.

(Even though I'm an atheist, I joined her at her Bible study and fellowship group meetings because that's where most of her friends went, and it was important to her for me to get on with her friends. Nice people, but I couldn't share their faith.)

That must have been terrible. Your ex-wife put you in a bad position by being in a relationship with you. According to the Bible, 2 Corinthians 6:14, she should abstain from intimate relationships with a non-Christian.

C7D posted...

Funkdamental posted...

I guess it was a lucky thing that I didn't have kids in my first marriage, because I was an atheist married to a Christian -- the daughter of a Baptist minister. I'm sure it would have forced a bit of a wedge between us sooner or later, although I would probably have let her take the kids to church on Sunday mornings.

(Even though I'm an atheist, I joined her at her Bible study and fellowship group meetings because that's where most of her friends went, and it was important to her for me to get on with her friends. Nice people, but I couldn't share their faith.)

That must have been terrible. Your ex-wife put you in a bad position by being in a relationship with you. According to the Bible, 2 Corinthians 6:14, she should abstain from intimate relationships with a non-Christian.

I think she had to wrestle with her conscience a little more than I did. She took it badly when the church she favoured refused to marry us because we were "unequally yoked" as a couple. I suspect her father was bitterly disappointed, although he put a brave face on it and there wasn't much he could do from 3,000 miles away.
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Yes but I wouldn't force them like my mom used to do XD