gdp's Comments

End Hereditary Religion : Forcing children into faith is ethically objectionable

Mon, 5 Sep 2011 15:36:11 +0000

I hope you are being sarcastic Rev.

End Hereditary Religion : Forcing children into faith is ethically objectionable

Mon, 5 Sep 2011 15:35:18 +0000

If you get to a child during their very early years you can convince them of anything. That is why religious grooming of vulnerable children is unethical. The effects are difficult to erase and can last a lifetime. Those of us who see the issue clearly and are adamantly opposed must stand up and object. Parents who take advantage of their children were more than likely victims of their own parents. We need to reserve our strongest condemnation for the institutions who prey on vulnerable children because they know that is the only way they can survive.

End Hereditary Religion : Quiverfull -- A real and growing danger

Sun, 28 Aug 2011 22:08:49 +0000

http://www.grandparentsrights.org/ http://www.enotes.com/everyday-law-encyclopedia/g... Two web sites you can check out.

End Hereditary Religion : Quiverfull -- A real and growing danger

Sun, 28 Aug 2011 04:17:54 +0000

I believe there is growing recognition of the right of grandparents to have access to their grandchildren. It probably varies from state to state, but the more progressive West Coast and Northeast would probably be ahead in this regard. I can do some research for you if you like. Otherwise, just do a Google search for "gramdparent rights".

End Hereditary Religion : Science vs. Religion: Ideology and Methodology

Sun, 28 Aug 2011 04:12:43 +0000

I think social scientists believe that couples that stay happily married provide stability to their communities and extended family. It is not a moral issue except to religious people who believe marriage is to last for all eternity. Secular people are ambivalent I would think, but most probably would prefer long lasting relationships just as a practical matter. Emotionally. breaking up is always hard to do.

THE D.C. DOUGLAS BLOG : A Tea Party Caucus Fracas

Mon, 8 Aug 2011 22:49:43 +0000

Tax the rich, prosecute tax cheats, impeach Clarence Thomas, recall all the TP frauds, cut defense, and create jobs!

End Hereditary Religion : Child hatred is so common we never notice it

Sun, 31 Jul 2011 05:42:32 +0000

My pleasure Vickie, Welcome to our blog.

End Hereditary Religion : Forcing children into faith is ethically objectionable

Thu, 7 Jul 2011 08:48:25 +0000

Don't follow your meaning. Too many comments with just one response?

End Hereditary Religion : 'Christianity stole my childhood' - Katy Perry

Fri, 1 Jul 2011 14:44:51 +0000

Nice connection. I will begin using that. "religion is just another STD". Makes a nice concise tweet.

End Hereditary Religion : Forcing children into faith is ethically objectionable

Fri, 1 Jul 2011 14:41:02 +0000

As William Hamby writes: I'd love it if America was primarily populated by Unitarian Universalists and Episcopalians. But I'd still think they were wrong. Teaching children belief in the supernatural and dogmatic thinking are just wrong. On the other issue, do you seriously want us to believe there are women imams? Would you be happy if I said "are overwhelmingly male" instead of universally male.

End Hereditary Religion : Forcing children into faith is ethically objectionable

Fri, 1 Jul 2011 14:29:45 +0000

Steve Steven has convinced me to start using the term "religious child grooming" because it connotes the similarity with what child rapists do to their victims. Give them treats, offer solace, the whole cunning bag of tricks used to gain a child's trust and confidence.

End Hereditary Religion : Parents are at a loss to justify forcing their faith on their children

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 20:38:18 +0000

The objection is to forcing children to observe a faith. Parents are going to influence their children and it would be impossible to erect a barrier. Telling your children what you believe and why is far different from insisting they follow your belief system. You can teach children how to live responsibly without subjecting them to a supernatural belief system that has no verifiable god, demons, angels and so on. They don't have to be dragged into church and forced to learn your dogma.

End Hereditary Religion : Forcing children into faith is ethically objectionable

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 14:42:05 +0000

Thanks for your comment. The objection is to forcing immature children into faith and I have not found a faith that refuses to do this on ethical grounds. Can you cite one for me and I will revise the entry. I agree with your second paragraph. I will revise the lead sentence in your third paragraph and add a qualifier. Although for the most part, around the world males are by far the majority of clerics. I have never heard of a female muslim imam have you? Thanks for your interest.

End Hereditary Religion : Forcing children into faith is ethically objectionable

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 14:24:06 +0000

Thanks for your comment. Over the months, I discovered the depth of resentment many apostates feel and it seems to me they are a powerful group of allies if we can organize them. Stopping the forced indoctrination of children with the help of millions of apostates makes a lot of sense. Depriving the institutions of just 10 percent of children they take in would make a tremendous impact. Families with children are the biggest financial supporters and the institutions market heavily to them and create special programs to keep them coming. The strategy would be to have allies quietly talk to the children they are close to and make sure the kids know that god is pretend, like Santa, Superman and the Easter bunny. Once that "inoculation" is administered most kids are savvy enough to figure out what is going on and millions are wired into the internet. Billboards and poster campaigns could also speak directly to children.

End Hereditary Religion : Forcing children into faith is ethically objectionable

Sun, 12 Jun 2011 18:06:29 +0000

Thanks for your comment. Over many months of research on the topic of ending hereditary religion, I came to see that the real issue is that children are denied the right to chose what they want to follow. While parents may have the legal right to force a religion on their children they have no ethical right. The SCOTUS ruling that told parents they had a right to raise their children according to the tenets of the parents religion was an anomaly that contradicted years of legal decisions. The cases usually cited are Pierce and Yoder. One of my posts explains why the Supreme Court decisions (5/4 at that) were wrongly decided. The court established a clear conflict between the rights of children and the rights of their parents. Without going into great depth over this conflict suffice to say there is little chance the current court would reverse Pierce and Yoder. Furthermore, political remedies such as appointing more liberal justices are not in the cards at the current time. Given the far right power now, there seems little that can be done on the political front. Knowing that all civil rights have come from passionate grass roots action, this seems our best hope of gaining religious freedom for our children. Is this ethical? Certainly, we speak directly to children all the time about health and safety issues. Why should religion be a special case? The institutions and parents are really not forthcoming in the way they prey on children. We need to level with the kids and make sure they have all the facts about religion, not just the selection a given religion cares to tell them. We demand full disclosure when people by a car or house. We are simply demanding full disclosure when it comes to recruiting children. Apostates can be a powerful group of allies if we can organize them. Stopping the forced indoctrination of children with the help of millions of motivate apostates with compelling personal life stories. makes a lot of sense. Depriving the institutions of just 10 percent of children they take in would make a tremendous impact since families with children are the biggest financial supporters and the institutions market heavily to them. They constantly create special programs to keep families coming frequently to church, mosque or synagogue. The strategy is simply to have compassionate witnesses quietly talk to the children they are close to and make sure the kids know that god is pretend, like Santa, Superman and the Easter bunny. Once that "inoculation" is administered most kids are savvy enough to figure out what is going on and millions are wired into the internet. Billboards and poster campaigns could also speak directly to children. Most churches are up to their eyeballs in debt and it doesn't take much imagination to see banks calling in their loans as delinquencies mount. The institutions that are in trouble will have to "see the light" and stop preying on children. That is a very simple demand. Will this hurt a lot of the faithful? No doubt it will be painful for some to see their church shuttered. Older folks will not change their ways and will carry on as before. Even now people are meeting in homes. The real goal is to get to young people, prospective parents. The idea of not indoctrinating children is novel and will take some explaining. The real objection is to forcing religion on children. Once a child reaches maturity they can elect to become a member of whatever faith suits them. This is the crucial point. This is the only fair and ethical way to treat vulnerable children. Children do not need god to be good, literally billions of secular families around the globe do very well without the threat of hell or the promise of heaven. Political action can continue to demand that special financial privileges be stopped. Faith schools and home schools must be regulated. We must do something about the courts as well. However, an overt political attack on religion would be met with strong resistance and perhaps even evoke bloodshed. Ending hereditary religion is grounded on sound ethics. Reformers hold the moral high ground. We do not permit one adult to force their religion on another adult. Why should children be any different. They have the right to religious freedom and many people of faith will eventually come to see this. As it stands now forcing children into a faith is using them to insure the faith endures. Using people as instruments to achieve an institutional goal is unethical and has been recognized as such for over 200 years. Children are people. <div style="display:block;margin:6px 0 0"><a class="a2a_dd" href="http://www.addtoany.com/share_save#url=http:/%2

End Hereditary Religion : Get them while they are young

Sun, 29 May 2011 08:38:00 +0000

I agree kids love fantasy, but this does not mean they actually try to live fantasy lives, like for instance a knight in King Aurthur's Court.. They may be drawn to the Jesus story, but this differs from playing a knight. In that case, you don't have a lot of serious minded and dedicated people working on you to learn all about knighthood, and encouraging you to wear armor and swear allegiance to King Aurthur. The devious churches have lately started developing "Funday" schools. They put on programs in the style of Nickelodeon complete with TV studio equipment. I am curious to see if any local congregations are doing this. I would like to observe a Funday school session and write a blog post. Ethically, I would have to be completely open with them so I will not be surprised if they refuse my request.

End Hereditary Religion : Get them while they are young

Sun, 29 May 2011 08:09:19 +0000

There are various flavors of atheism, some more pungent than others. The exact degrees of atheism continue to be debated and argued. Freethinkers are dedicated to entertaining any and all ideas and evaluating them strictly on their merits. So technically you can have free thinking atheists who are open to changing their minds. Most atheists recognize the conundrum and leave a slight allowance for changing should good evidence ever be presented. Richard Dawkins for instance says he is better than 99% sure that no supernatural beings exist. This escapes the trap of being called a bigot. People on all sides fall into the habit of using language loosely.

End Hereditary Religion : Parents are at a loss to justify forcing their faith on their children

Sun, 22 May 2011 15:37:16 +0000

It seems to me there is a flaw in the Christian notion of morality and especially the idea that they have the ultimate basis of moral behavior. You are asserting that religionists are somehow restricted to a moral framework that contains all the moral guidance they require. But. the only practical difference between a Christian's morals and mine (for the most part) is they believe god is the ultimate giver of morality. They are against murder, I am against murder. They are against stealing, I am against stealing. They are for honesty, I am for honesty. The Christian consults their scripture for guidance on any moral question. Unfortunately, scripture is notoriously malleable and open to interpretation. Many verses in the bible are actually poetry which is notoriously open to interpretation. Furthermore, parts of the holy bible openly conflict. Is this not a commonplace? Accordingly, the Christian must depend upon their personal interpretation. The Christian ultimately is placed in the position of making a judgment exactly like a secular person. Secular people can simply skip the step of consulting religious texts and make a judgment based on the facts and their knowledge of laws and mores. Which is precisely what the Christian must ultimately rely on. Christians may believe they are free to simply follow their religion, but this is not the reality. They must conform to existing laws and mores just like everyone else. Moreover, I cannot impose my view on anyone. I am certainly free to advocate a position. Others are free to take it or leave it. To assert that I should be responsible for the actions of other people's children is rather preposterous. A final thought. Parents are certainly free to explain their religious beliefs to their children. The objection is to forcing gullible children into a specific religion when they have no choice in the matter. The experience is designed to control them for life, to destroy their autonomy and freedom of choice.

End Hereditary Religion : Media coverage of and commentary on Gregory Paul's research

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 01:26:55 +0000

What's really hurting Christianity in America Blowback A grand combination of secure prosperity, mass consumerism and advanced technology is deeply eroding Western faith. October 27, 2010|By Gregory Paul In their new book, "American Grace," Robert D. Putman and David E. Campbell make two assertions about the decline of religious affiliation in the United States, which they summarize in their Oct. 17 Times Op-Ed article, "Walking away from the church." They correctly observe that Americans, especially the youngest generations, are rapidly losing a lot of their faith. The nonreligious are far and away the fastest-growing group, with nonbelievers having tripled as a portion of the general population since the 1960s and nonreligious twentysomethings doubling in just two decades. The Pew Research Center calculates that America is half as religious as the most pious nations and that about half of the population absolutely believes in a personal god. Church attendance is declining along with Christianity as a whole, and even major conservative denominations are losing ground, as are Bible literalists.

End Hereditary Religion : Recommended reading

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 22:55:42 +0000

This looks to be a great book to have a discussion about. Maybe going chapter by chapter.