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Questions and Answers
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Question:
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Publication date: 06-06-2010
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Shouldn't teenagers get freedom of religion too? |
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i have been raised as an orthodox jew and have been sent to yeshiva my whole life. i hate it. i have to pretend to believe in things that i don't just to fit in. i tell my parents that i hate it and that they should not impose their religious beliefs on me but they don't wanna hear of it. it's not fair. i've been indoctrinated by whole life to believe in fairy tales and there's no way out. i don't know what to do anymore. i'm constantly getting into arguments with my teachers because i just get sick of sitting by and accepting everything being shoved down my throat. the other girls see me as such a bad person and it's no fair because i'm not a bad person. why does it make me a bad person if i don't believe in invisible things and magic? i just can't take it. what happened to the first amendment? why don't teenagers get freedom of religion...? what do i do to get through 2 more years of school without going crazy??
mimz
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Answer:
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Publication date: 06-06-2010
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Shouldn't teenagers get freedom of religion too? |
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Hello Mimz,
You are raising a question, which is very interesting and important in the age of Reason: how should a state with Enlightenment-based values treat teenagers whose parents/custodians raise them in faith in a fiction and occupy them with rituals and practices, which have no connection with reason or natural desires of a human being.
This is really a harsh dilemma. On the one hand, you depend economically on your parents, who provide you with the basic necessities for your safety and health. On the other hand, they probably sincerely believe that they are raising you based on positive values; thus, their intent is good but their actions are improper.
In fact, the question you pose before the authorities of your country (the US) is: what is the limit of the state’s justified intervention into the way parents raise their children?
I have no knowledge of the American law, but here in Israel there is a compulsory education law, and a parent who does not send his child to an officially recognized educational institution transgresses the law (the Ultra-Orthodox are in effect exempt from the compulsory education law and have a privilege of educating their children based on the Talmud alone, confining their education to the laws of a goring ox, the laws of slavery, the idea of the Jewish people ranking higher than all the other human populations, that the woman’s honor is in her staying at home, while acting outside the home is shameful for her, and similar shameful things).
Also, if parents abuse their child either physically or mentally, the social welfare services are empowered to take that child out of his biological parents’ custody and to transfer him to a foster family.
At present, religious education, be it aimed at raising a child in the faith of Islam, Judaism or Christianity, is not considered mental abuse, though it would be interesting to see what a court of law will rule on this issue, once a relevant case is brought before it.
In any event, it appears to us that your parents have no right to force a religious belief on you, and you have the right to say no to them! They have to provide for your safety and health until you reach legal maturity. You should try to live the way you think you should without angering other people, and especially your parents; “better is a dry morsel and quietness therewith, than a house full of feasting with strife.” Try to find likely-minded friends and share your views and concerns with them.
Of course, you are always welcome to take counsel with us too.
Regards,
Daat Emet
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Response:
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Publication date: 13-08-2010
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Shouldn |
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Wow, I'm really surprised that you were able to be skeptical and logically defend your positions at such a young age. I don't know even a single girl like that. I know many guys who went "Off The Derech", but I went off the earliest out of all of them- at 20/21. I'm 23 now. Anyway, I can imagine how many problems you have, as I have many myself. Charedim aren't tolerant to skeptics. There are support groups that you can go to....
Yoss
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