(September 5, 2011 at 5:10 pm)salty Wrote: What is the reason for encouraging a 4 year old to demand proof? Does your 4 year old have the ability to define proof? What is fair for the children? What is the best way to make sure they are not forced to believe if they don't want to?
What is the reason to keep a child in the dark? Do you actually dare to say that though a child's brain is not fully developed and can't be asked to make too big decisions, that she is not allowed to think for herself? My parents are atheists, but I only found it out last year. They have never ever discussed religion with me before, but yet I came to the conclusion myself that religion is bullshit. I did so because I was encouraged to think for myself. I learned to read as a three-year-old and when I was four or five I read a simplified version of the Bible. After I was done I honestly thought: "Nice stories, but it can't be real."
The thing is, even though I believed in a god for a long time and considered myself a Christian, I never took the Bible seriously. And as my dad said, you can't say to follow said scripture if you decide what's not to be followed and what's true. If you are correct and the Bible is the true word of the deity you choose to follow, then you are bound to actually follow it word for word and not weed out those parts that don't suit you.
The fair thing for ANY child is to be given good tools for critical thinking and the freedom to make decisions for themselves. No one can be forced into anything, if they're capable of rational thought.
When I was young, there was a god with infinite power protecting me. Is there anyone else who felt that way? And was sure about it? but the first time I fell in love, I was thrown down - or maybe I broke free - and I bade farewell to God and became human. Now I don't have God's protection, and I walk on the ground without wings, but I don't regret this hardship. I want to live as a person. -Arina Tanemura
