Debating With Minors

[JoeyKnothead]

I've noticed several minors on the boards lately, and it brings up the question...

Given the potential stakes if the whole God deal is right, is it okay to debate religion with minors?

This has now become even more important as we have one young member who has commented in one of the forums in a way that could lead one to be concerned about potential legalities.
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My opinion as an atheist is the sooner folks realize supernatural beliefs are not supported by the evidence, the sooner they can relieve themselves of the heavier burdens of their religiosity.

In light of the new post mentioned, I now gotta pare that back and say maybe some of our youngest posters may need to be handled with caution because of their age. (unless I'm just being my usual paranoid self)

[Homicidal_Cherry53]

I honestly don't see why we shouldn't be debated with. We have come here to learn and debate just as all of you have and I see no reason why this should be denied to us based on an arbitrary measure of how long we have been on the earth.

[Zzyzx]

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I honestly don't see why we shouldn't be debated with. We have come here to learn and debate just as all of you have and I see no reason why this should be denied to us based on an arbitrary measure of how long we have been on the earth.

I tend to agree with this position and encourage young people to engage in adult conversation for a number of reasons.

However, I must also say that several times I have decided against responding to a post by a young person or modified what I might have said if they were an adult.

One of the reasons I hesitate to respond forcefully to young people is that I am adamantly opposed to imposing ideas on people who have not yet had the opportunity (time) to fully develop their powers of discernment and judgment.

Although during early years we all seem to think that we are "adult capable" and in possession of great wisdom and judgment, in retrospect, most of us (who survive our "knowledge" intact) begin to realize that we did not have all the answers OR have the best of judgment.

Unlike promoters of organized commercial religion, I feel no need to indoctrinate people with ideas when they are less discerning and experienced or possibly more vulnerable. I have no desire to promote any particular life-view and only encourage people to make their own decisions based upon experience, observation, and evaluation of evidence.

Perhaps age should not be asked or told (except to exclude people under thirteen or some selected age).

[Furrowed Brow]

This is perhaps the most thought provoking post I've read this year.

[realthinker]

I honestly don't see why we shouldn't be debated with. We have come here to learn and debate just as all of you have and I see no reason why this should be denied to us based on an arbitrary measure of how long we have been on the earth.

With one different response in one heated exchange my father might today be finding me on the other side of these debates. I was probably fifteen years old at the time. It might have also saved us over 20 years of family struggles that still aren't entirely over.

There can indeed be an awkward consequence to ideas handed out without consideration. I'd save you 20 years of leaving the room when your father walked in if I could.

[McCulloch]

Until minors are prohibited from reading the Bible, the Qu'ran, Locke, Darwin, Augustine, Dennett, Stanton, Russell and other dangerous writers, I cannot see why they should not be allowed to debate the ideas brought up by them.

[Homicidal_Cherry53]

I honestly don't see why we shouldn't be debated with. We have come here to learn and debate just as all of you have and I see no reason why this should be denied to us based on an arbitrary measure of how long we have been on the earth.

With one different response in one heated exchange my father might today be finding me on the other side of these debates. I was probably fifteen years old at the time. It might have also saved us over 20 years of family struggles that still aren't entirely over.

There can indeed be an awkward consequence to ideas handed out without consideration. I'd save you 20 years of leaving the room when your father walked in if I could.

But this is in no way related to age. You could screw up another person's personal relationships through conversion just as easily as you could mine. This is more of an argument for avoiding religious debate altogether than avoiding it with minors.

[realthinker]

I honestly don't see why we shouldn't be debated with. We have come here to learn and debate just as all of you have and I see no reason why this should be denied to us based on an arbitrary measure of how long we have been on the earth.

With one different response in one heated exchange my father might today be finding me on the other side of these debates. I was probably fifteen years old at the time. It might have also saved us over 20 years of family struggles that still aren't entirely over.

There can indeed be an awkward consequence to ideas handed out without consideration. I'd save you 20 years of leaving the room when your father walked in if I could.

But this is in no way related to age. You could screw up another person's personal relationships through conversion just as easily as you could mine. This is more of an argument for avoiding religious debate altogether than avoiding it with minors.

While your premise is one I might agree with, your conclusion isn't what I'd arrive at. An adult coming here is presumably not surviving on the good will of benefactors, such as one's parents. Prompting a minor to take upon themselves the ideas that may jeopardize that good will may have a lasting effect that the minor may not appreciate. A young adult often doesn't have the social skills to maneuver the situations that come with the tricky territory of religious dissent. Many adults aren't up to that, for that matter.

[Evales]

At what age do you consider a person a minor? Personally I believe that if someone has the ability and interest enough to debate on a forum such as this why dull it? They can always leave if they want to.

Besides some of the older people on this board have a greater skill with sarcasm then any teenager I have ever met!

Should we dull our questions to not offend the oldies?

PS. I'm a firm disbeliever in cotton wool children. I throw children at crocodiles.

[realthinker]

At what age do you consider a person a minor? Personally I believe that if someone has the ability and interest enough to debate on a forum such as this why dull it? They can always leave if they want to.


Besides some of the older people on this board have a greater skill with sarcasm then any teenager I have ever met!

Should we dull our questions to not offend the oldies?

PS. I'm a firm disbeliever in cotton wool children. I throw children at crocodiles.

Anyone who has children or works with them in any prolonged fashion knows that a child will recognize a sophisticated, for their mind, idea and try to use it before they might understand all the real meaning or the consequences of having promoted the idea.

As an example, my eight-year-old son was one day telling me that he doesn't like people who cut down trees because they're cutting down too many and animals need trees to live. It's a fine idea, but if no one cut trees we'd not have paper or lumber for houses or furniture, and so on. He'd grabbed onto an idea he found at school and taken it as his own without fully understanding it. He's not in a position to take action based on that idea, but if he were he might have done something to outlaw logging, with results that he might not have imagined.

If we, here, give a minor ideas regarding religion that they accept, that minor may take personal action that may put them at odds with their parents or other providers. It may have consequences that the minor may not imagine and for which the minor may not be ready.

When I declared to my father that I did not believe in God there was an immediate and persistent hostility and separation that lasted for over 20 years. That affected my education and my financial standing. Without his cooperation and guidance I made some poor choices that might have been avoided. Today the hostility is gone, but there are still some discussions we don't have.

If we give ideas and arguments, or pieces of arguments, that the minor does not fully understand they may feel they are ready to make life decisions that they may not be able to fully understand.