Can parents in your country force children to participate in religious practices

[Martinus]

What is says in the title. Is it legal in your country for a parent to force a child to participate in religious practices against the child's will or would it be considered an abuse of parental authority and thus illegal?

For example, can a parent force a child to go to church? Or dance around a maypole?

Or more broadly, does your nation's law recognize that children have freedom of religion that is independent of their parents' religious beliefs? Or does it give parents a carte blanche, effectively depriving their children of the freedom?

Edit: To clarify, I meant older children, i.e. teenagers say above age of 12 or so. I didn't really mean stuff like baptism of infants.

[Slargos]

If they can't, they should. Would reduce the amount of faggotry to a more palatable level, i bet. Great source for a new what-if topic where all polish homos are spitted and used for fertilizer with the added bonus of reduced co2 levels in the atmosphere. A veritable win-win-win situation.

[The Brain]

What is says in the title. Is it legal in your country for a parent to force a child to participate in religious practices against the child's will or would it be considered an abuse of parental authority and thus illegal?

It is legal. I don't know what the law says exactly but the amount of kids who are taken to church for religious rites under protest when they would prefer to eat&sleep/play Playstation (depending on age) suggests that it is not illegal.

Baptism of infants is very common in Sweden.

If kids had grownup rights then good parenting would be impossible.

[syk]

Of course. Religious practices are naturally part of children's upbringing. For most parts it only means going to church on christmas or when someone marries. Baptism of infants is the usual thing to do. It's just part of the culture.
To see it as 'being forced' generally would only mean that the 'poor child' belongs to a different religious group, e.g. Jehova's Witnesses. Heard more than one discussion that JW kids should and would receive blood transfusions even against the parents' will.

[DisturbedPervert]

It generally doesn't require 'force' to get children to participate in religion.  It's not until they are teenagers that they begin to question and perhaps rebel.

[Josquius]

yeah of course, they can make them do anything.

[Neil]

I would imagine so.  Parents can force children to go all sorts of places they might not want to go.  The dentist, the grocery store, church.  Anything else would be madness.

I know this will make you sad, but civilized societies make children slaves to their parents' wills, unless there's some pretty good reasons otherwise.  "Mommy and daddy made me go someplace boring for an hour on Sunday" isn't a very good reason.

[Zanza]

We have religious education (administered by state-employed but church-approved teachers) as a regular subject in schools in Germany. Parents generally decide on the participation of children younger than 14, however they have to find consensus with the children older than 12. Children older than 14 can decide on their own. Usually children that opt out of religious education will get taught in philosophy/ethics instead.

So to answer your question, parents can force their children to participate in religious activities until age 12-14.

[Iormlund]

They can, but few do. And those that were forced to attend mass and such as kids rarely do when they grow up.

[Caliga]

  This is a weird question.

[Ed Anger]

This is a weird question.

LOOK AT THE SOURCE.

[Martinus]

This is a weird question.

Not really - it is a topic that is now entering a public debate here in Europe, even though the answer used to be taken for granted. I predict it will go the same route as physical punishments against children - 30-40 years ago it was perfectly acceptable in the West to span children, now it is a crime in a growing number of countries in Europe.

Edit: For the record, while I see how it has not been said in my opening post, I meant generally older children, i.e. teenagers.

[Ed Anger]

Edit: For the record, while I see how it has not been said in my opening post, I meant generally older children, i.e. teenagers.

Since you clarified your point, I have some experience with this. Once they hit 13, while you can force them to go, you might as well save your energy. 

[Martinus]

I would imagine so.  Parents can force children to go all sorts of places they might not want to go.  The dentist, the grocery store, church.  Anything else would be madness.

I know this will make you sad, but civilized societies make children slaves to their parents' wills, unless there's some pretty good reasons otherwise.  "Mommy and daddy made me go someplace boring for an hour on Sunday" isn't a very good reason.

Well, parents who are religious show already they are too insane to be able to provide proper guardianship for their children.

[The Brain]

Edit: For the record, while I see how it has not been said in my opening post, I meant generally older children, i.e. teenagers.

Since you clarified your point, I have some experience with this. Once they hit 13, while you can force them to go, you might as well save your energy. 

Your wife isn't very religious?