Would you allow your child to go to Religious Services?

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: Vic
She just wants to go to be with her friends. Church is, for most -goers, more of a social event than anything. And quite frankly, you'd do more harm than good if you didn't let her go. The last thing you want is for her to go to church out of spite. Then she might become a true believer out of spite too. Plus, it might be educational. Lots of churches are composed of good, kind, charitable people, (that will probably set her to work on volunteer projects and keep her active in school and sports), despite what AT might have you believe.

And yeah, don't let her go to any wacko cults if that's the case. You said small town though, so I'm thinking it's probably something very mainstream.

Exactly.

For a vast majority of church goers, it's a social gathering filled up with people who generally have honest, thoughtful intentions. The socialization and morals taught there trump any "brainwashing" that many of your fear.

Kids don't have ideas of their own. Exposing them to "all the different religions" is a joke. Most people aren't even capable of making those types of decisions when they are 18, let alone 8.

I grew up being raised Catholic, stopped going when I was 18, festered and brewed the whole "religion is crap" mindset till I was about 25, and now that I'm approaching 30 I'm actually starting to realize that the actual "religion" part of most masses takes a back seat to the social gathering and messages that churches provide.

I don't think I'd ever return to a Catholic church because I don't support some of their practices/beliefs, but if my child wanted to go I'd let them. I feel it provides more good than it does harm. Most of my gripes about the Catholic church will completely be lost to kids and they can come to their own decisions when they get older.