Can Children Have Faith?

It is true that you are most likely to be devout if you are born in a relgious family, theres not evidence that people have inborn faith or know god before they are taught about it.Children mimic everything thier parents do or anyone really, they have no understanding of god outside of what people tell them.

It is impossible to coerce a child. A child is a person under heavy development; you have to be a person before you can be coerced.I don't think there can be any doubt that kids growing up in materialistic environments will tend to be materialistic, that kids growing up in talkative environments will tend to be talkative, and kids growing up in religious environments will tend to be religious.It's part of building a person. To teach something else is simply to build a person in a different way.A child is a developing person; it's impossible to let them alone so they can 'be themselves'. There is no self yet. It has to be built one way or another.Ben

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It is impossible to coerce a child.

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Er...what?

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A child is a person under heavy development; you have to be a person before you can be coerced.

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I don't even know what this means.What does "being under heavy development mean"?What about being "under heavy development" precludes one from being a person, and why does it preclude a person, regardless of age, from being coerced?I mean, seriously, why does the old saying "don't take candy from strangers" exist if it not to demonstrate the ease of coercing children?

I took Ben's point to be, that what a parent does as part of raising a child is not normally considered to be coercion.

I see where it is useful and appropriate to raise children with critical thinking skills first and foremost.That being said, I also believe that spirituality is not mere indoctorination. A Christian does not become a christian through education and indoctorination alone, IMB.Certainly these factors act heavily as social and cultural reinforcements, however.If I were a parent, I would not force my children into attending church or reciting prayers, but I would model my own behavior and choice of belief in front of them.The key to their healthy development would come from critical thinking and allowance to explore the realities of the world around them.Obviously, however, a parents own views would be the most influential in a childs own view and perception.IMB, God will reach those whom He has chosen. (Hmmm..wonder if that includes YOUR kids?)

We get a gaggle of students from an well to do American bible college over every summer down my way and they spread themselves around the various Christian churches in the area. About 10 were joined to ours and came to the bible study we hold.I was somewhat surprised that our quite insightful teacher began to preach the basics of the gospel using the format of the book we are studying at the moment (Romans). For three weeks he went over the very basics of the gospel."Why are you doing that these guys know their bible inside out?" He made the point that being brought up in a Christian environment and being immersed in it does not a Christian make. God has no grandchildrenIts something that is well recognised in my own church regarding the kids who attend. Their parents are Christians but they are as lost at the moment as the next guy. We pray that they will come but it is not at all presumed that exposure will make them so.Nobody can be indoctrinated into the kingdom.

you're highly mistaken. while children are not adults nor should they be treated as such, they have personalities and their own ability to reason and they have their own self. the self is not made in development, the self is refined.a child can be coerced. have you never heard any stories of child molestation? they are coerced. children can be brainwashed as well. but children are often more resilient than adults.

i agree. people can be indoctrinated into religious ferver though. i hate to use holly wood as an example but mandy moore's character in 'saved' was indoctrinated into religious fervor. she seemed brainwashed without being taught. lack of teaching leads to self-righteousness. and that is dangerous in any religion, belief, or lack of belief.

Well, I don't really know what you mean by "in its true sense", but if you consider faith to be more of a blind acceptance of something that you might not even understand and just believe because you 'have been instructed to do' so, then children would be the largest and best holders of this kind of faith. But, I think you might be talking typing about a more respectable, perhaps genuine, description of faith that you don't think children are subject too. I was just making a joke to contrast your 'type' of faith with another type, that I described above, because some people look at faith in a different way (not me btw) You misunderstood my point. I meant that it was hard to tell from the individual's perspective that their own beliefs have not been carefully considered and are so deeply ingrained into their upbringing that they have no choice but to believe them. They may think that they've chosen their religion, when it was, in fact, ingrained during their upbringing. It would be hard for that person to tell which way it came about.

Thank you for your opinion, I'm sorry you feel that way. It may seem like the choice is removed but, ultimately, it is there. Just because some groups misuse, or misrepresent, the sacrament does not take away most of the meaning of it; just like creationist misrepresenting the ToE does not take away its meaning.

I take your point that this may be the case for some people on an individual level, but what I was trying to convey is that due to the majority of people continuing with the religion of their parents and peers, as they were taught as a child, shows that faith is a learnt behaviour rather that as a result of some sort of deep-seated spirituality (which is what I meant by true faith)

Catholic Scientist, can you do me a favor? When you include boxes of quotes from other people, try and label each box with the appropriate speaker....for example, instead of I would rather that you Capiche?

If all the quotes are from one person and its the person I'm replying too then it seems a little redundant but whatever, if I remember or think about it, I'll throw their name in there.My favor to ask of you is that when you type replys in between quote boxes that you put line spaces between everything so its spreads it out and its easier to read. So instead of looking like this:

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Catholic Scientist, can you do me a favor? When you include boxes of quotes from other people, try and label each box with the appropriate speaker....for example, instead of

saying this

I would rather that you

Phat writes:

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say this.

Capiche?

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it would look like this:

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Catholic Scientist, can you do me a favor? When you include boxes of quotes from other people, try and label each box with the appropriate speaker....for example, instead of

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saying this

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I would rather that you

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Phat writes:

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say this.

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Capiche?

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deal?

deal!

It stands to reason that Children for a long while into their development can’t be said to have ”Faith’ (i.e., belief) because it takes a good long while for the human brain to build up the critical mass of knowledge and understanding that then allows them to discern, and then actually believe the ”truth’ of any given bit of information. Till then they quite literally have to take everything on simple ”faith’.You can tell a Child “don’t put your hand in the fire, it’s hot.” as many times as you like. When you ask that Child “what is a fire?” their response is quite likely to be “Fire is hot”. You will say “good Child, that right Fire is hot”, and the Child will feel the warm glow of praise and conformation. But it’s only when they actually do put their fingers into a flame do they TRULY understand that fire is hot. Before this they simply accepted that fire was hot on faith, but now they have Faith that the fire is hot. An important distinction.In regards to religion at what point does a child stop taking the religion they have been raised in on simple faith and start having Faith in that religion? How many adults who profess to be religious never actually crossed this Rubicon, and are still simply accepting all they were taught on simple faith?As I said I don’t believe that a Child can have Faith until they have accumulated enough world knowledge to test and confirm the truth of what they have been taught.When they reach this critical mass, either they will test their knowledge against what they have been taught and confirm or reject these teachings, or not test them through fear, shame or laziness and drift on, continuing to taking it all simply on ”faith’.For myself I avidly believed what I had been taught. I took myself to Sunday school on my own volition, every week; armed with my children’s illustrated new testament. It was only around the age of eleven that I knew enough to start seeing the cracks in these teachings and over time the edifice fell utterly apart.Having said that I doubt many people who claim to believe have ever truly questioned their received beliefs. It’s all too easy to take the path of least upheaval and keep regurgitating our received beliefs that we were fed when young and in this profess a Faith we don’t truly have.