Religious parents driving their children to sin
Fallon-Renae Costa
Looking back at my childhood, I got a sense that maybe mommy was not quite in as much control as I thought, or not as much as she wanted to be. Now that I am older, that seems to be the case of most parents who cling to organized religion.
At a time where others my age were pursuing extra-curricular activities after school, making friends, going to school dances, and showing school spirit, I was pulled out of school, put into home-school, and was told I could no longer pursue dancing as a hobby because I had to devote my time to God.
While I understand my case may be somewhat extreme, I have also witnessed mild cases of parents who are scared of their children not doing what they want and being the person they want them to be.
They panic, and do not know what to do except threaten them. These threats are usually something along the lines of, “we will not pay for your schooling, take your car away,” and of course, the good old, “you can get out of my house.” Even though these people are well over the age of 18 and fully capable of discovering their own beliefs. To me, developing our own beliefs only seems natural for all humans.
I can distinctly recall getting into trouble for things like not coming straight home and taking a little bit of time to goof around with friends before I was home-schooled. Harmless stuff. I remember the conversation very well; that was because it was the same one every time. It was like walking in a circle, and there was never a conclusion reached. I was not able to understand why I could not just hang out with my friends, and there never was a clear or logical answer. This was how all our arguments were, and they all usually concluded with something along the lines of, “God has to be my number one priority, and you have to study the word of God blah-blah-blah.”
It was when I turned 15 that I decided enough was enough, and I left. My family, of course, expected the worst, but they were pleasantly surprised.
I see those though who were not able to break away from the force-fed word of God now, and although living without a parent at the age of 15 is hard; I was okay with that. It gave me the chance to discover things that I find those who are around my age, 22, and had to stick around to deal with their parent’s constant reminder of the almighty and all knowing, are still struggling to find.
