Initiating Children as members of Religion is Wrong
The good parent does not act like the child's superior but the child's equal.
Superiority damages the child. Thus the parent rather than enrolling the child
in a religion will help the child freely and without prejudice find her or his
own answers.
Every child will have to face loss and suffering and for a time resistance will
be futile and only make the inner turmoil worse. Don't make painful
situations stay painful longer and perhaps grow even more intense.
The child will need to be guided to this attitude, "I accept this for I can do nothing else right now". And/or "I accept what is bigger than me and deal with what I can deal with". To say anything else is refusing to feel more in control. A child that develops that strength and is told they have the chance to will never need to be part of a religion. The attitude matters more than any faith or God belief or prayer.
The paradox is by admitting they accept, the child is in fact in fact exerting the best control available. Accepting tells the situation, "You will not torment me by provoking me to fight when now is not the time." It is defiance, despite how it seems. The child is trying to beat the evil at its own game by accepting it rather than offering it up to God or seeing it as letting God walk with you. God's plan that let the evil happen is disrespected. In that disrespect, the child respects herself.
As for suffering caused by mental perception, the child needs to see that he or she is having a negative reaction to so-called bad events and that it is the reaction not the events that is causing the unhappiness.
A child needs to see that what matters is now. Don't see the present moment as a means to an end. See it as an end in itself. That matters. Prayer does not. Prayer only denies what matters - truly.
We have read enough to show that propagating faith in a child as religion does is faux concern and sophistry.
A person can be selfish as an individual. There is such a thing as collective selfishness. It is hard for many selfish people to be selfish and they get sick of it or frightened. So they join a group and this becomes a group that is out mainly or solely for itself. This strengthens their selfishness. They are in cahoots with people who are as selfish as themselves and they enjoy this group selfishness and find it more fun that individualistic selfishness. They need to be right so they insist they have the true beliefs. They need enemies to make themselves feel superior and to enjoy plotting against. It is harder to be dangerous to others on your own. It is easier and more enjoyable and therefore more selfish if you are in a group that is dangerous to others. Religion is notorious for tendencies to collective selfishness and thus is it is not fair for parents to involve children in this.
A religion that turns potential members away to do more research is at least taking steps to avoid all that. Religions that initiate children as members and are too anxious for box ticking that x is now a member are clearly showing signs of collective selfishness. There is something to hide.
People can be part of a group that makes them miserable. If those people are free to go but don't, then they actually want to be unhappy. This desire is fed by their negative thoughts and feelings and experiences and they often like to draw others into this unhappiness too. Don't think that just because somebody lives a grim and austere life that they must be unselfish! They enjoy their misery.
That is what religions are based on. The collective ego is so what religions are
for. Let children be children and end baptisms into the Church. End school
indoctrination.
