Someone told me yesterday insisted that teaching a child religion was a form of child abuse and it was against the right children have to choose they're own religion. Isn't that unconstitutional and hypocritical? Isn't it also against their rights to make someone else's child an atheist just because you don't believe in religion? A study showed that children who are taught religion generally have less problems with substance abuse, get in less legal trouble, get better grades, and interact better with their peers, A Christian could argue that atheism is terrible for children also. So why should atheists beliefs be more important than Christians? It shouldn't be that we our children have freedom of religion as long as the child is atheist? Am I right or could I really lose my children?
No, you are at no risk of losing your children by teaching them religion. It is not abuse UNLESS it involved some kind of physical harm to them. You can teach them a single-minded religion, multiple religions, atheism, or nothing. (I'm with you on the great things about religion AND it will allow them to save their souls.) Your friend does not know about which s/he speaks. Continue on without worry.
You are correct. You have the right to raise your child as a Christian. And no, you cannot lose your children for doing so. In fact, you can raise your child as a Christian, Muslim, Jew, or even Atheist. It is specifically spelled out in the Texas Family Code that parents have a right to "direct a child's moral and religious training." So whomever told you otherwise is wrong.
No, you will not lose your children. One of the most inviolable rights of a parent is the right to direct the religious and moral upbringing of their child. This means a parent can teach their child Christianity, or Judaism, or Buddhism, or Wicca, or whatever the parent's religion happens to be. In some families, mom and dad are of different religions, and choose to teach their child about both faiths. A parent may also teach their child no religion, if they so choose. So long as the religious upbringing does not create a risk of physical or emotional harm to the child, this is a constitutionally-protected right of a parent.
