[Lauren]

Do most Christians encourage their children and teenagers to explore other religions?

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Name : Lauren, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Bisexual, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, Age : 18, City : San Antonio, State : TX Country : United States, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Lower class, 

[George *******]

I remember deep somewhere in my mind being told that we should question our religion when we are troubled about it. Also, I find that it is important to have a basic understanding of other religions, but 'exploring' should not be done without great need. I believe in my religion because I feel it is the Truth, and I have questioned it and I always arrive back at my own religion. So, we only are told to explore when our current religion does not seem right after much deep thinking about it.

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Name : George *******, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Catholic, City : Jacksonville, State : FL Country : United States, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[Dina M.]

Christians believe that they are chosen by the Lord and not only must they stay on His path, but they must bring others to the trail (so to speak). Since Christians believe that not believing in Jesus will lead you to hell (even if you are rigidly moral and generally a good person) most Christian families would be horrified at the idea of their children looking at 'those other' religions.

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Name : Dina M., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Bisexual, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : unsure, City : Chicago, State : IL Country : United States, Occupation : Poet, Education level : Less than High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class, 

[Melody]

True Christians know that there is only one way to eternal life: Belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Because no other religion adheres to this teaching, true Christians not only do not encourage their children to 'explore' other religions; we actively discourage it! To encourage this would be to relinquish our responsibility for our children's spiritual upbringing.

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Name : Melody, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 40, City : Kansas City, State : MO Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, 

[Ann L. Lowenstein]

In my experience, their children are encouraged to despise and proselytize to anyone not of their specific denomination of Christianity. About the only context in which self-proclaimed 'good Christians' encourage their children to explore other religions is in the 'see how we're superior to all those evil heathens' one.

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Name : Ann L. Lowenstein, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Animist, Age : 37, City : K.C., State : MO Country : United States, Occupation : Administrative Assistant, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Teisha]

I have noticed as being a 16 year old Baptist that my parents wanted me to look at other religions such as Catholic and even Methodist churches, but I chose to stay at the church I was at and then I got baptized. So to answer your question, yes I do think that parents try to have their kids look into other religions.

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Name : Teisha, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Baptist, Age : 16, City : Lisbon, State : ME Country : United States, Education level : Less than High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class, 

[Derrick]

From my experience as an ex-Catholic, no, most religions do not promote exploration of other religions. A question that i have is ' do private religious school have classes on world religon?', and do they explore each as well as public schools? It seems most religions are self-righteous, and what I mean by that is they think that they're right, and everyone else in the world is wrong, and if you believe even parts of another religion, you're going to hell. Even with these evangelists who claim that the end is near, and that only evangelists will be saved by Jesus. This seems absurd to me because they are saying that 6 billion other people are going to hell, and this minority are the only worthy on earth. My thoughts are that a religion like that would not promote an open-minded approach to worldly religions. I am not an atheist, but I would not call myself religous; I'm somewhere in between, trying to find my way to the higher power.

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Name : Derrick, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 19, City : Maple Grove, State : MN Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class, 

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