Witchvox Article

Author: CerrayaSlaughterHouse
Posted: August 14th. 2011
Times Viewed: 2,516

Hypnotists, if you believe in their power, are able to influence your sub-conscious mind while you are in a deep meditative trance-like state. Parents are able to influence your conscious mind, while you are a young child. The only difference between a hypnotist and a parent is, a hypnotist can only influence positive thoughts to counteract your problem, while you are in the trance, and only with your permission. They do it when you pay them and when you want. Parents, I�d say up until the age of probably 11, can influence your waking mind on any topic, and they do it against your will and without pay.

This is the part where most people argue that what I just said is defined as parenting and guiding. The reason I said they really only have influence until you�re 11 years old is not that they lose their ever so important power, but rather, once you enter middle school, you start acting and thinking for yourself. I�ve always thought and acted according to my own will. Free will can�t be controlled. However, parents hold a twisting, burning rope leash that restrains your free will on certain things and issues until you reach the break-free age of 18. I cannot wait to get there.

I do love my parents, I�m very grateful I was raised in an agnostic household. Agnostic here defined as a non-particular religious practicing family. Free of any enforced religious beliefs, free of any Sunday school, free of church, free of religious texts, free of religious influence. I am not a Christian, never was. I also never was anything else based on the Bible. I was never an atheist, nor was I ever a Satanist, just to clear that up. We (my family) have never, still don�t, and will never, practice any enforced specific religion in this household. Thank goddess for this upbringing.

I am not a hater of any religion; so calm down if you were about to send a defensive unnecessary freak out email. I will never claim that my upbringing is the one and the only way. That�d be just as ridiculous as Bible-based religions claiming that. I�m simply saying being free to think for myself without my mom holding my hand down the road of spirituality has been a blessing. Instead of agreeing with my mom�s personal beliefs, I argue them; I disagree with them, her own daughter that she raised. Why? Because I am a different person than her. My experiences in life, my sexuality, my interests, what disgusts and repels me, what I�ll stand for, is what makes me who I am. I can�t think the same way as she does.

My hypnotist reference is meant to compare and contrast how parents are like and not alike to that profession. What I�m heading towards is religious upbringings. Oh my goddess, oh my god, oh my gaga. However you choose to say it, I believe it depends how you�ve chosen to live. I am only a teenager, and I already have a very big opinion on religion. I cannot stand when I see my peers being brought up in religious households, because they are very biased on whatever controversial topics come up.

People may think and judge me. They may say that my parents have done a crap job raising me because I don�t go to any church, I don�t believe, acknowledge, or care about the Christian God, and sex before marriage doesn�t really matter to me. What these people don�t get is that I wasn�t tossed, born and brought into the world to be lost and influenced by whatever I see and hear. I�ve never felt spiritually lost. What my parents did, despite my grandparents wishes for me to be brought up Catholic and attend Catholic school (which I just found out) was to raise me without confusion. It�s up to me what religion I want to practice. That�s what they�ve always said: they wouldn�t care if I gave up Paganism and started attending Christian Church tomorrow.

People need to choose religion themselves. It�s very touchy to talk about to kids brought up in religion. If my parents were Pagan, they wouldn�t raise me Pagan. Doesn�t matter what religion it is, my parents were both raised in Bible based religious households. My mom hated being dragged to church with her mother (probably the experience that brought her to decide to let her future children have a mind and not be confused) . This is not to say my parents do not believe in the Christian God. I�m pretty sure they do. But now I am watching my dad bounce back between his Catholic upbringing and beliefs, and his adult beliefs on evolution.

Yes, I argue and debate with him on evolution, but I do not have any intentions of pounding Wicca into his head in the same way his mom forced Catholic beliefs into his. Now he has difficulty figuring out what he believes because what he was taught to believe. He is torn. My arguing with him probably doesn�t help that much, now that I think about it.

I get so irritated when my parents don�t agree at least that Wicca is a recognized religion. I guess their religious upbringings have done that to them, and they are trying to give me something they didn�t have: a choice about beliefs and religion. It�s difficult for them to take me seriously when I practice a religion they believe is off path and a phase, but they accept it since they gave me this choice. To this I also say, religion is not a phase! Mom, is Christianity a phase? And then comes the argument.

Either way, at least I get a choice. At least I am not disowned. They�d never disown me for religious reasons. I�d have to do something like� I don�t know� get on death row for the worst crime in the world to get disowned. That may sound too confident, but does religion really count when it comes down to serious things such as disowning your own children?

I am not the only one with this choice. I have several siblings. I�m the oldest. They aren�t even little tweens yet though, so I�m not concerned about them entering the state of spiritual searching yet. I�m glad; you have no idea. Our world is so biased because of parental influences. There. I said it. (There ARE the few and far between young folk who somehow manage to leave their upbringings or disagree, and decide to switch to a religion that fits them. Many do that with Wicca.)

Now I know I�m speaking from my upbringing, but my upbringing doesn�t tell me what to think. I live and I am being raised in an unbiased, nonjudgmental household. There was a time, sitting at the dinner table when my little brother told us his friend said if he didn�t believe in God, he�d go to hell. Now, mind that these kids are below ten years old. I got so pissed off. How dare some little kid frighten my brother with such confusing statements? Whatever kid this was, he was being a puppet of his parents and their church, or bible, or whatnot.

Here�s a thought: religion, no matter what religion it is, even Wicca, is scary and confusing to children. Religion is for mature people. Religion is for people with experience who are ready to ditch the playground and contemplate the world.

No, I don�t believe anyone should be raised in ANY religion, even Wicca, because it�s too complex. It twists me in circles if I think about it too much, and it does that to adults too. Why should an 8year old have to scrunch up his face in the confusion about the word �hell?� Things should just be fun and carefree for little kids� you know, school, projects, family and friends.

Since I have many little siblings, I have heard all these questions. They are being exposed to biased children who are raised to believe what their parents believe. I feel sorry for those kids. They are still confused- �What�s god? Where�s heaven? Why do people have to leave?� It�s not right to put innocent children through that. Someone who has to explain death to a small crying child who just lost someone usually has difficulty. Why confuse them more? But what do I tell them to give them hope and help them?

It�s just as confusing to us. I have never had to do that, but I have so many siblings, sometimes scary questions come out of their little mouths. When this kid told my little brother he�d go to hell if he didn�t believe in god, I wanted to go down to the kid�s house, and even as a teenager (oh well) tell the kid�s parents to make sure to keep their kid�s mouth shut about religion around other kids because I do not appreciate it.

I don�t appreciate having to see any of my siblings ask what the heck hell is. I don�t want to tell them it�s not real, because one day they may believe in it, but I don�t want to tell them it�s real and scare them. Instead, I tell them I don�t believe in it, but that some people do and that it�s a Christian concept. Then usually my mom tells me they don�t really understand any of that either and it just ends.

It�s so much easier to not know anything about religion as a child. I have no recollection of any religious teaching, baptizing, or church; there was NONE for me. Childhood was carefree. When I started contemplating the world, I was 12, and yeah that�s still young, but I was old enough that I decided I WANTED to research Wicca.

I attempted going to church exactly one time with two friends about a few months ago. It was scary. It wasn�t just that I believed differently; I felt wrong there. I wasn�t meant to be there. I almost felt like everybody there knew a witch was among them. And I wasn�t disagreeing with what they said because I had been raised differently. No, it was because Christianity NEVER felt right to me, never was for me, even before I discovered Wicca. I never connected with a male god; I heard biblical stories and was appalled. I�ve educated myself somewhat on other religions. I do not hate. I just disagree strongly.

It�s not your fault that as a kid you�re taught to believe in certain religions, to hold certain beliefs. You are very vulnerable and have no clue what�s going on. But when you get older, it�s time to think for yourself and stop being a puppet.

Copyright: This is my original essay. any publication of this work without my permission will be demanded to be taken down. pretending to own this and claim it as your own is PLAGIRISM, which is ILLEGAL, and therefore PUNISHABLE under LAW. you must have emailed permission from me to use this at all.

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