As far as kids being brainwashed in Church, that is an interesting idea. What do you define as being brainwashed? If teaching evolution in school is also brainwashing, then I suppose brainwashing is a very common practice in our world. I myself prefer the term teaching.
I think we need to be teaching our children to be free thinking. If our children believe in God merely because they are told to by their parents, then they hardly believe in God at all do they? It is more of a tradition than a belief. If they go through their whole life beliving in God just because of what they were taught as a child, then it is a very empty and easily broken belief. The same goes for unprovable scientific theories. If it is to be believed simply because it is what we have been taught, then it is an empty belief.
Brainwashing might be a bit exaggerated but when you have been raised with religion it's not so easy to get out of it I think. You believe there's a creator, that there's someone protecting you and looking after you. When you die you think you go to heaven. There's a whole community of people who think the same as you and you feel welcome and at home.
If that's the case it's almost impossible to let go of this "lifestyle". You don't want to accept that maybe there's no God, maybe you won't go to heaven when you die. When people said to you all your life there's a God and a heaven than it's very difficult to let go of that believe because the alternative is not nearly as appealing.
On top of that I have studied the Bible through and through and I have studied other acient documents and have never found anything remotely as impressive as the Bible. The Bible truely is one of a kind.
I think we need to be teaching our children to be free thinking. If our children believe in God merely because they are told to by their parents, then they hardly believe in God at all do they? It is more of a tradition than a belief. If they go through their whole life beliving in God just because of what they were taught as a child, then it is a very empty and easily broken belief. The same goes for unprovable scientific theories. If it is to be believed simply because it is what we have been taught, then it is an empty belief.
Brainwashing might be a bit exaggerated but when you have been raised with religion it's not so easy to get out of it I think. You believe there's a creator, that there's someone protecting you and looking after you. When you die you think you go to heaven. There's a whole community of people who think the same as you and you feel welcome and at home.
If that's the case it's almost impossible to let go of this "lifestyle". You don't want to accept that maybe there's no God, maybe you won't go to heaven when you die. When people said to you all your life there's a God and a heaven than it's very difficult to let go of that believe because the alternative is not nearly as appealing.
On top of that I have studied the Bible through and through and I have studied other acient documents and have never found anything remotely as impressive as the Bible. The Bible truely is one of a kind.
Is there any part in particular that's special or a part that you think everybody should have read? I don't plan to read the whole Bible but if there a small part you could recommend I would like to read it.
Do you also know if and where in the Bible "hell" is described?