Is taking children to church a form of child abuse?

[Carl-Richard]

10 hours ago, Monster Energy said:

In my opinion, yes, school is abuse.

Then I think we might be watering down the concept as you've said. Is teaching your kids to not break the law abuse?

 

11 hours ago, Natasha Tori Maru said:

You could even reverse uno this - NOT educating your children could be seen as neglective abuse. An adult has a responsibility to prepare the child for life in society; instilling in them the knowledge, skills and habits to thrive. 

Abuse can be what we do, and what we do not.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't! 

Sadhguru did not put his child in school before 12 years old, specifically to avoid indoctrinating her (he even told people not to teach her anything vaguely school-related when interacting with her). But he made her travel with him all across the country. She did not have a say in that. And of course that affected her beliefs a certain way than if she had "decided" not to travel with him.

At some point, treating school or church as a concrete thing or place you can choose to go to or not is a bit simpleminded and reductionistic. The very environment you are born into is technically a place you can choose whether to be in or not, and it affects your beliefs just the same. The only strong difference is that school and church has an organized and strong agenda behind it, people having an intention to teach something to somebody. But this intention exists in micro-versions as Sadhguru was aware of in daily interactions with people, and even without any intention to teach or even the active intention to prevent teaching from happening, you are passively being molded by your surroundings, happenings and events in a just as significant if not a more significant way.

Bringing up a child has an element of coercion if you want them to live successfully inside a state (a place with a government) or simply a community with behavioral expectations. They have to conform to either laws or norms or both, or else they will be punished. And of course if all of this is abuse, then what is letting them "choose" to be independent of these things, letting them go live in the jungle alone (let's assume a kid, a very young kid, just keeps wandering into the jungle any time you let them out of sight)? Maybe laws and norms can protect children from neglect, as you've alluded to, a form of abuse.

So can abuse maybe depend on other things than coercion, influences of beliefs, and teaching, and perhaps social responsibility, expectations, duty? Can coercion be a social expectation, a duty, and can it even be morally good?

Edited 8 hours ago by Carl-Richard

[Leo Gura]

School is not abuse. But it is conformist. But some degree of conformity cannot be avoided. Kids cannot help going through a conformist stage.

Edited 1 hour ago by Leo Gura

[Inliytened1]

On 5/3/2026 at 5:21 AM, Monster Energy said:

Serious question.

Kids don’t choose it. They don’t understand it. They can’t question it. But they’re still brought into a belief system before they even have the ability to think for themselves.

If this was any other kind of belief, people would probably have a problem with it. But when it’s religion, it gets called tradition or how you raise your kids.

So where’s the line?

Is it guidance

or shaping someone’s worldview before they’ve had a real choice?

Not saying religion is right or wrong.

Just asking

If a kid can’t say no is it really a choice?

 

They can take you there but whether you choose to believe it is up to you.  My parents were conservative Jews so I don't feel like I was ever brainwashed or forced to believe something.  But then again when it came to.God I just thought for myself always.  Which is weird because I didn’t always do that in other areas of my life.  But I can see where in more orthodox or religious families there can be forms of brainwashing and cult like behavior.  So I think it depends.

Edited 1 hour ago by Inliytened1