Quote :

“There is no such thing as a Christian child: only a child of Christian parents.”
― Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion

Do you agree with this quote?

No way. That may be true in many families but not in all. Growing up, I went to church for all the youth group stuff and wished so much my parents would take me Sunday.

*Buzzer* Wrong!

I completely agree...no one is born a Christian or any other religion.

In a way.....yeah. You're not born as a religion.

Nystyle709 wrote:

In a way.....yeah. You're not born as a religion.

No but being a child expands far past just being born.

Princess wrote:

I completely agree...no one is born a Christian or any other religion.

The quote does not specifically state right at birth. I think it is more to mean as they are older, they are not truly able to be Christians until adulthood because they don't fully understand what it means to be a Christian.

All religious beliefs no matter what faith, denomination, etc. are an individual choice as to what one wants to believe. To say that there is no such thing as a Christian child is a fallacy--a child can choose to believe as a Christian, or anything else that's out there. I'm sure it will morph and change over time as the child grows and learns new things, and the child may even discard original beliefs in exchange for another/others they find more fitting for whatever point in life they are at, but that's part of life and belief for any of us.

That would be the same as saying there are no Hindu children, only children of Hindu parents, no Jewish children, no Muslim children, etc. Kids are smarter than you think, and they can certainly believe just as adults do, but with that "childlike faith."

Thanks for posting the video, Alan.

That guy is an idiot. It wouldn't be so bad if he wasn't so adament about it being true for every child.

Hyacinth Girl wrote:

All religious beliefs no matter what faith, denomination, etc. are an individual choice as to what one wants to believe. To say that there is no such thing as a Christian child is a fallacy--a child can choose to believe as a Christian, or anything else that's out there. I'm sure it will morph and change over time as the child grows and learns new things, and the child may even discard original beliefs in exchange for another/others they find more fitting for whatever point in life they are at, but that's part of life and belief for any of us.

That would be the same as saying there are no Hindu children, only children of Hindu parents, no Jewish children, no Muslim children, etc. Kids are smarter than you think, and they can certainly believe just as adults do, but with that "childlike faith."

Pretty much what Dawkins said.

Supernova wrote:

No but being a child expands far past just being born.

Being a child is nothing more than being in your environment. Said child can grow up denouncing their religion.

RedBedroom wrote:

Thanks for posting the video, Alan.

That guy is an idiot. It wouldn't be so bad if he wasn't so adament about it being true for every child.

LOL. Well Red, I have enjoyed a couple of his books

Nystyle709 wrote:

Being a child is nothing more than being in your environment. Said child can grow up denouncing their religion.

It is true that a child can grow up to denounce his religion. But this guy is saying that it is the case with ALL kids that they are not Christians (Or Muslim or Catholic or whatever). I don't know how anyone can say that children can't have a true life-long connection to their religion from a young age.

Opa Shale wrote:

What he seemed to be saying is that children, when they get independent thot may pick up for a lifetime their parents' religion, but at 4-years of age (still believing in Santa Claus, Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, and Fairy Godmothers) they do not have any religious philosophy other than parroting their parents.

I wouldn't call him an idiot.

I didn't catch the part where he mentioned age. Yes, a four year old Christian child is projecting what he has been taught. But often it parlays into something authentic and a kid doesn't have to wait until adulthood for that.

Dawkins IS an idiot. lol Frankly, there's no point to the guy's rant. Well, since there are no atheist children, no agnostic children, no children of any religious belief whatsoever, according to him, then there's really every reason to just ignore this guy and everything he says. There's no Christian children... so? And? What's his point? Who the hell cares? lol The guy's logic is totally absurd, but let's say I did agree with it, then what? Nothing. lol There's no point to his entire argument.

Chris wrote:

Do you agree with this quote?

Yes and No. This is too much of a blanket statement for me to just agree with it outright. I understand (in principle) what Dawkins is trying to say, but he's also making a generalization about children. He hasn't defined a specific age range and I certainly do think there are people under the age of 18 who are "Christian" or any other religion by choice. The age of reason differs from person to person as does the level of education and maturity level. Some kid are very advanced and make a conscious decision to either accept or reject certain religious beliefs "as a child". I would say that there is no such thing as a YOUNG Christian child (under the age of 10) because most kids of that age haven't yet reached the ability to reason yet. They are simply following what they are told to do. But if a 15 year old can decide based on his own experiences that religion is bullshit, then that same 15 year old can decide to become a Christian on his own accord.