A question for those who were raised Catholic

[Joan_of_Bark]

• OK Joan, then are parents who have reached an objective position in regards to what they believe the truth is, supposed to teach their children that perceived truth or not?
• And if the answer is that yes they should, would you consider that brainwashing?

First of all, I’ve already withdrawn the word brainwashing.

I expect parents to teach their children what they believe the truth to be. However, I know a few parents who, while teaching their children one belief, will readily acknowledge that they could be wrong, and that it is up to the child, as he or she matures, to reach his or her own conclusions.

Even if the parents aren’t that open-minded, I feel they should at least expose their child to other belief systems. After all, if they reached their beliefs objectively, why wouldn’t they believe their children could do the same?

 

[nickybr38]

Have you ever considered that you may have been brainwashed?

Nope. My parents were atheist until later in my life. I knew God before they did (by age four I stopped my mother from committing suicide by quoting; Jesus loves you - not sure where I learned that one! Haha, but it came at a pivotal moment and prevented her from killing herself). When my mother did find ‘religion’ she became a church roaming protestant, my father didn’t find religion until late in life. I just (six months ago) chose the Catholic Church after years of searching (and yes I studied other religions too).

So, no. I haven’t been brainwashed, it’s not even a consideration.

PS: I know this was a question aimed at those who were raised Catholic but I think it should stand for those raised Protestant, those raised Muslim, those raised atheist, etc. Why only focus on Catholics?

 

[nickybr38]

First of all, I’ve already withdrawn the word brainwashing.

I expect parents to teach their children what they believe the truth to be. However, I know a few parents who, while teaching their children one belief, will readily acknowledge that they could be wrong, and that it is up to the child, as he or she matures, to reach his or her own conclusions.

Even if the parents aren’t that open-minded, I feel they should at least expose their child to other belief systems. After all, if they reached their beliefs objectively, why wouldn’t they believe their children could do the same?

You know the world is round. Would you tell your child that the world could possibly be flat and that it is up to them to decide for themselves?

Catholics believe, with all of themselves, that God is real and He is really in the Catholic Church. Why would anyone teach their child something other then the absolute truth?

 

[da_nolo]

The post about confirmation wasn’t mine, but I appreciate your response.

Here is what you stated in the first post:

Look at it another way. If you had children, would you take them to a Jewish synagogue, a Muslim mosque, a Protestant church, and a Hindu temple – as well as a Catholic church – and say to them: “Okay, my child, it’s now up to you to decide which of these religions – if any – is the true one”?

The time a person within the Catholic Church decides for sure they are Catholic is called Confirmation, and is a Sacrament. That is why I mentioned it, especially when I did not read any other post except the first one. I just wanted to comment, even if what I have said was already stated before.

 

[colmcille1]

Thank you, Joan. Having seen some major emotionalism on other threads I’ve scanned, I have to admire your level headedness in dealing with the diversions and non-sequiturs that came your way. I agree that the OP contained the appearance of emotional loading, considering what many here have with a tradition of anti-communism and other positions that include a loathing of playing with someone’s mind. On the other hand, we also know from such works, not to mentions experience, as Vance Packard’s The Hidden Persuaders that we are constantly being bombarded with subtle suggestions in all of our media, from print to radio and music to movies. Can our own familie’s peculiarities be any less influential in our upbringing?

Of course not. And this is a country that at least nominally encourages individuality as part of the alleged American Dream. But in the same way that that has been subverted by abstracted capitalism, Universals have been distorted by local colorations and flavors, if you will, of ours and other faiths and some pretty strange ideologies and downright evils. So it is a matter of self competency that we ought to know how our own mind and its education happen, whoever and whatever we are, and relative to any field that involves belief.

In particular, it would be good to note the difference between what is Good and what is religious. These two are on far more independent lines of consideration than most would think, despite the natural tendency to entwine one’s thoughts about God and good with religion. But we can easily note that being religious and being good are not necessarily equal, as neither is being non-religious necessarily equatable to being evil. Go figure.

I discovered a nice word the other day. Syncretistic. If you don’t already know it’s meaning, I’m afraid I choose not to tell you. You’ll just have to look it up for yourself.
(Btw, I know this may appear as one of your aforementioned non-sequiturs and a brazen one at that with its dictionary directive!, but I assure you, it’s not.)

 

[JohnJFarren]

JMJ / MMM 8 August 2010
Greetings da_nolo –
Where on earth did you pick up what you recently stated? Here’s what you stated.
“The time a person within the Catholic Church decides for sure they are Catholic is called Confirmation, and is a Sacrament.”

*This has nothing to do with the teaching of the Catholic Church.*A person becomes a Catholic when he/she is baptized.
If an adult, then it becomes a matter of choice.

Consult the CCC for proper teaching of the Roman Catholic.
Blessing … John (JohnJFarren)

 

[antroji]

Thanks, Colmcille, I know that word, its dictionary meaning, its derivation from the Greek and its potential for emotional loading. And you were apllying it to what?

 

[CatholicFireman]

Have you ever considered that you may have been brainwashed?

Nope.

If you answer ‘no’ to this question, perhaps you can begin to see where the question at the top of this post comes from.

Nope.

Have a nice day.

 

[Moontown_Rabbit]

In a way I wish it was true that Catholic parents produced Catholic children. I know plenty of good Catholics whose children have never embraced the faith. My own parents were Catholic but they did not impart any sense that Catholicism was real to me or my brother. Neither did our Catholic schools or the homilies we heard at Church. The first ideology I took seriously was Yaqui at the age of 15. This was followed by Taoism, Bhuddism, Zen, Shinto, Hinduism, Platonism and a couple of others until at 18 I “discovered” Catholicism, which in comparison transcended all the others. I don’t think it makes much difference whether you have to climb up the mountain or are placed there to begin with. The view is the same.

 

[Joan_of_Bark]

Nope. My parents were atheist until later in my life. I knew God before they did (by age four I stopped my mother from committing suicide by quoting; Jesus loves you - not sure where I learned that one! Haha, but it came at a pivotal moment and prevented her from killing herself). When my mother did find ‘religion’ she became a church roaming protestant, my father didn’t find religion until late in life. I just (six months ago) chose the Catholic Church after years of searching (and yes I studied other religions too).

So, no. I haven’t been brainwashed, it’s not even a consideration.

PS: I know this was a question aimed at those who were raised Catholic but I think it should stand for those raised Protestant, those raised Muslim, those raised atheist, etc. Why only focus on Catholics?

In my OP, I do refer to other religions. However, since this is a (mostly) Catholic board, I focused on Catholics.

 

[Joan_of_Bark]

You know the world is round. Would you tell your child that the world could possibly be flat and that it is up to them to decide for themselves?

Do you really think that a round world, which is believed by every religion, is in the same category as religious belief itself, in which the world is completely divided?

Catholics believe, with all of themselves, that God is real and He is really in the Catholic Church. Why would anyone teach their child something other then the absolute truth?

I didn’t write that parents should want to teach their children something besides the truth, only that they should expose them (I’ll add: under parental supervision) to other beliefs. After all, how are your children going to grow up and convince others of your ‘truth’, if they don’t even know what others believe?

I’ll ask you a question I asked another poster earlier, but didn’t get a reply to: what would you think of a Muslim couple who bring their children to mass in order to let them see what others believe? Would you think less of them for such an action?

 

[paul_c]

Joan,

It strikes me that your question is a product of your own belief system. You think people should sample religions because you are unsure of any of them. And you think children should have the opportunity to second guess their parent’s faith because you second guess your own parent’s choices.

Now I don’t trot my children around to other churches because I don’t believe that they are a valid alternative to the Catholic Church. My own children would in fact be shocked if I did so because they know how firmly I believe in the one, holy, Catholic and Apostolic church. Why would I bring credibility to faiths that I believe are in error by presenting them as valid alternatives to the one true faith? Now I am more than happy to explain why I feel this way to them and to others. It is not a blind faith, And you don’t have to walk into another church to understand what they believe.

 

[AmbroseSJ]

Joan of Bark:

I’ll ask you a question I asked another poster earlier, but didn’t get a reply to: what would you think of a Muslim couple who bring their children to mass in order to let them see what others believe? Would you think less of them for such an action?

Let me ask you a question. What would you think of parents who put their children in substandard schools in order to let them see what other children are taught?

 

[Philthy]

First of all, I’ve already withdrawn the word brainwashing.

I’ll take that as a no, you don’t consider it brainwashing.

I expect parents to teach their children what they believe the truth to be. However, I know a few parents who, while teaching their children one belief, will readily acknowledge that they could be wrong, and that it is up to the child, as he or she matures, to reach his or her own conclusions.

Wow, that’s radical.

Even if the parents aren’t that open-minded, I feel they should at least expose their child to other belief systems. After all, if they reached their beliefs objectively, why wouldn’t they believe their children could do the same?
Joan-

But Joan, you seem to be ignoring that the parents in question were raised under a belief system and despite that upbringing were able to review all the available info and reach an objectively valid conclusion. You havent presented a single reason for the parents to deviate from the upbringing that they had: one in which the parents belief system was used to provide something beneficial to the children and which allows them to pursue alternate beliefs in adulthood.
You seem to have refuted your own premise in the OP with this conclusion of yours.

Blessings!

 

[nickybr38]

Let me ask you a question. What would you think of parents who put their children in substandard schools in order to let them see what other children are taught?

 

[Joan_of_Bark]

Joan,

It strikes me that your question is a product of your own belief system. You think people should sample religions because you are unsure of any of them. And you think children should have the opportunity to second guess their parent’s faith because you second guess your own parent’s choices.

Now I don’t trot my children around to other churches because I don’t believe that they are a valid alternative to the Catholic Church. My own children would in fact be shocked if I did so because they know how firmly I believe in the one, holy, Catholic and Apostolic church. Why would I bring credibility to faiths that I believe are in error by presenting them as valid alternatives to the one true faith? Now I am more than happy to explain why I feel this way to them and to others. It is not a blind faith, And you don’t have to walk into another church to understand what they believe.

I imagine a Muslim, evangelical, JW, Mormon or mainline protestant might say the same thing. Do you really think all this is conducive to communication between belief systems? Or do you believe it’s good for theists to snub each other?

 

[Joan_of_Bark]

Let me ask you a question. What would you think of parents who put their children in substandard schools in order to let them see what other children are taught?

That’s a ridiculous comparison. I’m not asking you to ENROLL your children full-time in another church, I’m asking you to let them see what others believe. What are you so afraid of? That if a 12-year-old sets foot just once in a Baptist church, they’re going to abandon Catholicism? If that was the case, someone hasn’t done a very good job of convincing them of ‘the truth’, now have they?

And other Catholics in this thread wrote that they had contact with other churches growing up, and it didn’t kill them.

Besides, aren’t you supposed to be trying to convert others to Catholicism? How are you going to do that if you never have contact with them?

 

[smith99]

Have you ever considered that you may have been brainwashed by secular society?
thank you

 

[smith99]

Have you ever considered that you may have been brainwashed by secular society?
thank you

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[paul_c]

Quote:

Originally Posted by paul c
Joan,

I don’t think its a problem that other people teach their religion to their kids. Parents are and should be the primary teachers of values to their children. And this isn’t about theists snubbing one another. I’m not advocating that people don’t learn about other religions. In fact, I think its good for them to understand where various religions differ. I spend a lot of time on this website explaining those differences and why the Catholic Church teaches the whole, unvarnished truth. But this is a lot different than bringing your children to different churches for “sampling”. People who church shop are not interested in finding the truth. They are interested in finding people that agree with them…