--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: ...moral and religious education, and…" description: "\"“...moral and religious education, and especially the education a child receives at home, where parents are allowed - even expected - to determine for ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/682/nicholas-humphrey-266048_bad-idea_moral-and-religious-education-and-especi_2635273.jpg" --- # ...moral and religious education, and especially the… ![“...moral and religious education, and especially the education a child receives at home, where parents are allowed - even expected - to determine for their children what counts as truth and falsehood, right and wrong. Children, I'll argue, have a human right not to have their minds crippled by…” quote by Nicholas Humphrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/682/nicholas-humphrey-266048_bad-idea_moral-and-religious-education-and-especi_2635273.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/682/nicholas-humphrey-266048_bad-idea_moral-and-religious-education-and-especi_2635273.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/682/nicholas-humphrey-266048_bad-idea_moral-and-religious-education-and-especi_2635273.jpg) > ““...moral and religious education, and especially the education a child receives at home, where parents are allowed - even expected - to determine for their children what counts as truth and falsehood, right and wrong. Children, I'll argue, have a human right not to have their minds crippled by exposure to other people's bad ideas - no matter who these other people are. parents, correspondingly, have no God-given license to enculturate their children in whatever ways they personally choose: no right to limit the horizons of their children's knowledge, to bring them up in an atmosphere of dogma and superstition, or to insist they follow the straight and narrow paths of their own faith. In short, children have a right not to have their minds addled by nonsense, and we as a society have a duty to protect them from it. So we should no more allow parents to teach their children to believe, for example, in the literal truth of the Bible or that the planets rule their lives, than we should allow parents to knock their children's teeth out or lock them in a dungeon.”” Nicholas Humphrey ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Children should be protected from indoctrination; parents lack a moral right to impose limiting belief systems that cripple critical thinking. **In simple terms:** Kids deserve freedom from harmful, dogmatic teachings. Key Takeaway Advocate for open, evidence‑based education. Themes education children's rights critical thinking parental authority secularism Mood concerned determined Type philosophical political social commentary When to use this quote - school curricula design - public policy debates - parenting workshops Key Concepts human rights philosophy of education liberalism Questions to Reflect On - What limits should society place on parental teaching? - How can we respect cultural diversity while safeguarding critical thought? A Different Perspective Balancing parental freedom with child protection is complex. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bad idea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bad-idea/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Human Right](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-right/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Religious education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religious-education/) [Right and wrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/right-and-wrong/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [Family is so important and as a country we must allow for parents to spend time with their babies because providing parents the ability…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-allred/family-is-so-important-and-as-a-country-we-must-allow-for-parents-to/) [Colin Allred](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-allred/) > [It is inappropriate (to allow parents) to design the curriculum and to run the school.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-paige/it-is-inappropriate-to-allow-parents-to-design-the-curriculum-and-to/) [Rod Paige](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-paige/) > [“What is Tumblr anyway? 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Children, I'll argue, have a human right not to have their minds crippled by exposure to other people's bad ideas - no matter who these other people are. parents, correspondingly, have no God-given license to enculturate their children in whatever ways they personally choose: no right to limit the horizons of their children's knowledge, to bring them up in an atmosphere of dogma and superstition, or to insist they follow the straight and narrow paths of their own faith. In short, children have a right not to have their minds addled by nonsense, and we as a society have a duty to protect them from it. 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