By forcing religious, moral, and ethical views on children, parents are taking away the right of children to define their universe. It is ironic that this one action, which is regarded as the "right thing to do" by many, is one of the few things that can actually be said to be incorrect, if not flat out "wrong" when given the subjective nature of the universe. A small number of other extreme acts, such as murder or rape, can also be said to be "wrong" things to do. These extreme acts are not inherently wrong in and of themselves however. They are wrong because the actions rob other individuals of their freedom to live their lives as they see fit. Individual freedom, which includes but is not limited to the freedom to choose one's beliefs, is the most precious thing that human beings possess, and any act which limits freedom can be seen as "wrong" from a certain perspective. It can be said that freedom is important because unlike such things as "moral integrity" an!.
d "righteousness" (to name a few), the concept of freedom is not based off of a subjective interpretation of the universe, and thus can be said to have a certain degree of universal value within the bounds of mankind (Camus 48). This may also be seen through an extension of my earlier arguments. Whenever an individual performs an act which limits the freedom of another, they are, in a sense, asserting that their interpretation of the universe is more valid than that of the other person. As previously stated, this is an incorrect view to hold, and thus actions which limit the freedom of others are also incorrect. It becomes quite obvious that the act of forcing beliefs on others, regardless of age, is not a good thing to be doing.
It may be argued that forcing beliefs on children is okay because after they grow up they will simply choose to believe whatever they want to believe anyway and thus no harm is done.
