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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I am a Christian. Yes I believe in hell. It terrifies me, I worry about it all the time. Probably the biggest reason I won't have kids. The thought of my own child burning in hell and being on fire forever is too much for me. [/quote]

Well, do I have some good news for you! There is no such thing as hell! No way that he'll exists! I wish I could convince you. How  terrible it must be to live your life in fear. And for that fear to prevent you even from having children! I am so sad for you.[/quote]
I have better news for you. You can have forgiveness of sins and eternal life through faith in Christ. With faith in Christ, we are free. Jesus came to give us life and life more abundantly. John 10:10. Put your trust in Christ, and leave your fears with Him. Hebrews 12 says we "have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel."

This is far, far better news. God bless.[/quote]

It's good news for her, if she believes it, but it won't help her children unless they believe it too -- and there's no telling what they'll be like.  She can take wonderful care of them and teach them all about the Bible, but they will have their own free will that god gives to everyone, individually, and who know what they will do with it?

It's unfair of you to not point this out to her -- or do you just care about her soul and not her children's?[/quote]

I feel for anyone who lets their fears about religion interfere with their decision to have kids, but if you subscribe to  religious beliefs that include heaven and hell and free will, then, as a parent, you accept that any children you have can use their gift of free will, given with love and great sacrifice by God and His son, Jesus Christ, to reject God.

Statistics show that young people are the least likely to be affiliated with a religion - 30%.  This means that even though some  of them might be "spiritual" or believe in God, they don't follow the tenets of any organized religion.  This number has been growing for decades and doesn't look like it's going to reverse any time soon, or ever.  It's a phenomenon in all developed countries, with the US increase trailing many others.  So any children born now are statistically less likely than earlier generations to follow Christianity.  Any parent who firmly believes in the concept of Hell for people who use their free will to deny Christ, should be aware of that.  Seems like their choices are to change their beliefs, or to take the chance that any kids they have will use their free will wisely, accept Christ and avoid hell.[/quote]

This goes against the deepest idea of faith. That we would give in to fear about what may happen to our children so we reject God himself. Anyway, how would that lead to saving our children?

Fear is the enemy here, not God.[/quote]

It goes against some ideas of faith but fits in perfectly with others.  The free will argument is real and has been made eloquently and repeatedly right here on DCUM.  Fear is used regularly in some faiths to encourage people to believe in god and specifically to accept Jesus Christ, or risk eternal punishment or separation from God.[/quote]

Yes, but you asserted that the parent has to make a choice to change their beliefs based on the possibility that their child may go to hell. Why would a parent have to do that? Of course through free will a child (or anyone) can reject God. I guess I don't understand [b]why a parent would rethink an entire belief system based on the fear of another person's choices[/b].[/quote]

They don't have to, but the pp said that was her fear about having children -- and she's right -- a mother ultimately can't control a child's free will to accept Christ or not.  Her future kids -- or anyone's kids -- might burn in hell if they refuse Christ.

If you believe in the concept and consequences of free will, then you accept that it's a gift that god gives each person individually, irrespective of their parents beliefs or even if they are raised in a country where where they are unlikely to learn about Christ and the free will that God gave them through His sacrifice.

If the prospective parent changes her beliefs, then she could proceed with having children without this fear.  [/quote]

For pp who refuses to have children based on a fear of hell I would suggest she see a therapist for anxiety. It's obviously affecting her life is a destructive way.

And yes, as a parent I accept that my child will not adopt the same viewpoints that I have. That's part of parenting.[/quote]

We have five children - four of them are adults and one is an older teen.  My oldest is 25 and married.  They attend a Unitarian Universalist Church.  My second is 22.  He is Catholic.  My third is 21.  She attends a Unity Church but was Wicca for a while and still sort of identifies with the Wiccan faith.  Our fourth is 20.  She is Buddhist.  Our youngest is in high school and  is an atheist..today.  Our kids were raised in Christian churches, however all of those churches were very progressive and encouraged spiritual questioning and exploration.  I think that's far healthier than the way I was raised.  I truly believe I was harmed by my very southern baptist upbringing.  I hear that fear in the previous poster's words.  For me it took a lot of therapy and a lot (I mean a whole lot) of soul work to get past what I believe was religious abuse.[/quote]

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