Youths Faiths

Do minors have freedom of religion and if so in what countries do they have that freedom?

edited 29th Aug '11 2:24:08 PM by warrior93

Legally speaking? Yeah, they do.

Practically speaking? Almost certainly not.

...hm. That's a good question. I believe so, but the politically correct crowd has taken the separation of church and state rather far in the public school systems, so you usually don't see it. Most kids just go with whatever their parents think, at least in the open, so you'd have a hard time separating which kids actually believe in whatever they were raised with and those who just pretend to appease their parents.

Anywhere that you have freedom of religion, if I understand your question.

Most people don't respect their children enough for it.

Uh, in any country that has freedom of religion is where children have it. The laws on that don't discriminate according to age. Children tend to be raised up in the religion of their parents, so that tends to be what they end up keeping. Cultural inertia and all that.

In practice, well, parents will punish if they see their kids doing something they don't like. Which is a parent's priorities. But with all the teenage fluff bunny wiccans out there, I'd say that teenagers practice their freedom of religion; how much they actually understand it tends to vary. And I say teenagers because that seems to be the point at which most people start questioning religion seriously; young children, well, are young children and most likely don't think of terms of "hey, that religion might suit me better/hey, that religion looks way cooler/will piss off my parents!"

Children got freedom of religion.

Well...acording to certain Obiter Dictums by certain conservative supreme court members (specially Clarance Thomas) THEY do not.

BAFF! LINKS!

Y/N?

I suppose as free as their parents allow? I know my parents certainly didn't mind when I was of an age to say that I was an atheist and didn't believe in god any more. But then again they didn't raise me with any particular faith. My Mum grew up as part of the Church of Wales but isn't very devout and I wasn't raised in a way where I had to practise religion much. Other parents will differ.

edited 29th Aug '11 4:59:19 PM by PiccoloNo92

Freedom of religion is such a vague concept, Of course all people have a right to his or her own beliefs much as we have a right to the air we breath.

but as for what such lofty ideals mean op, well i really don't know.

I can't imagine parents with strong religious beliefs reacting particularly well if their offspring doesn't share them. So in a practical sense, I don't think so.

So if kids freedom of religion is limited by their parents do they really have freedom of religion or just the illusion of it?

They have the freedom or the illusion of said freedom, but at least they have freedom in the eyes of the law.

well you have the freedom to believe whatever you want, your parents can still drag you to church though.

and they can force you to dress how they want.

Yeah, as far as I know your parents can make you attend worship for whatever religion they're a part of.

I'm hazier on whether they can, say, make you undergo confirmation or first Eucharist. I did both of those while I was still legally a child.

It's not technically a violation of your rights, unless they force you to do communion or something. Try suing your parents though, good luck.

Well, lots of people are baptised as babies. I certainly was.

...I'm not really sure why my parents bothered getting me baptised, actually, as my father's an atheist and my mother's agnostic-leaning-towards-atheist. I think my mother just really likes being in churches.

That's probably it, tbh.

edited 31st Aug '11 4:14:00 AM by pagad

I only got bapitized because it is a social tradition rather than for any religious reasons.

Yeah christening double as baby show offs.

edited 31st Aug '11 8:55:49 PM by joeyjojo

Do you mean that "Do children have the right to convert?" I'm not familiar with that issue.

In theory, religious freedom and all that. But once again, good luck suing your parents.

I've wondered about that do kids have the right to convert to other religions?

In theory yes of course you have freedom of religion. In practice not in the slightest.

Most of the time being subject to your parents spirtual wishes is just annoying, but it often lapses into outright abuse.