Are indoctrination and belief really appropriate for children?

Indoctrination to religion will only set the child at a disadvantage in today's growing, competitive society.

Lawrence Krauss explains it better than I can:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTedvV6oZjo

I find it noteworthy that science is the same the world over, but religion is largely a facet of geography.

Thus, (any) religion by its very lack of universal acceptance (though an argumentum vox popularum is not a strong argument) is in fact a strike against them.

In that vein, unless they are shown to be substantiated (with evidence) they are no more "real" than the legend of Gilgamesh, or Thor, or leprechauns. To teach a child (who automatically accepts as true what authorities like parents tell them) things and call the true when they are not so proven is to do the child a disservice, cripple critical thinking, and close his mind to what is really known to be true or can be discovered.

In human culture, religion has always been a foundation of family and community.

We sit on a unique period in history here, when it's considered 'indoctrination' to teach your kids about your world view and most deeply held beliefs on what is sacred.

I am soooo curious-- how do you raise a child at arm's length, never really sharing with them what you believe, who you are, never really allowing them to be part of the community/family with rites of passage and tradition?

I don't know if you're aware, but in developmental psychology, things like identification and modeling are all part of child development. To raise a child while not sharing the norms, values, customs, traditions, etc. of the family or community could do some serious damage.

I worry about the implications for those children who are raised to some level estranged and isolated.

For example, look at some of the tribal cultures in Africa that tattoo children on the face at different stages of their life-- it's like a rite of passage. People accuse them of a barbaric practice, but in fact sociologists found that without being permitted to take part in the tradition, the children (as well as the tribe) grow apart, the children never quite find their place in the tribe and the tribe never quite treats them as one of the same.

So while the tattoos may seem barbaric to outsiders, it's even more barbaric to deprive the children of that sense of belonging.

It's easy for an atheist to raise their kids with their own norms, values, traditions, customs, etc. without bringing religion into it-- atheists don't have those beliefs. So the child is not being raised semi-estranged, but but being brought right into the fold.

But I don't understand how religious parents could undertake that kind of challenge-- raising your children while keeping some of the major components of human family relationships completely absent.

Those poor kids would be like lab rats-- maybe worse; like those poor monkeys who they took their mother away and replaced it with a cold, metal sculpture that had a nipple and feeding tube fed through it.

n·doc·tri·nate (n-dktr-nt)

1. To instruct in a body of doctrine or principles.

2. To imbue with a partisan or ideological point of view

It is impossible to raise a child without indoctrinating the values of the parent or society they're being raised in, but I do agree that children should be taught to question belief systems, as long as they're not questioning just to be contrary.

I'd say no. If a child ever asked me if a God or heaven existed, it wouldn't be right to say it did or it didn't.

The most proper way to answer that would be, "There's a lot of possibilities. Some people think it exists, some don't. It's up to YOU to decide by examining the world around you."

You are right that religion should never be taught to children. I see it as child abuse and should not be allowed. This is the 21st century and teaching children middle ages belief's to scare them into believing or they'll die in hell is sick. it takes a sick person to teach children about so much hate and contempt that their bible has in it.

To get a child to believe in something uncritically (aka indoctrination) is never a good idea. It's sad that not very many people value critical thinking.

Dunno here at south america Parenting is mostly all about letting them play sports and recently video games 24/7 and occasional interrupt them for going to eat or do their homework.and telling them the occasional tip/hint.

Now dont think those are the most liberal or rare cases, since,actually, in the most rare cases they are just left totally to their "own discretion" and they adapt to be very responsible in their own.

Also today there is internet, l think that teaching them how to use it properly, that is surfing it and getting no virus or privacy infriction by facebook would be a valuable information. =)

No, as they won't grow up to think for themselves.