Tuesday, July 01 2008: Presupposition
Lately, I've been thinking that I should just give up and let my children go god - hoping they will eventually come around to the truth. The number of influences pointing them toward nonsense is immense and I am fighting an uphill battle. Their grandparents, mother, aunts, uncles, neighbors, neighbors' parents, and classmates all espouse nonsense and assume that my children share in the nonsense. I have learned that human children are (hard?) wired to believe anything someone tells them confidently. Critical thinking is an acquired skill. The only people staunching the flow of nonsense are my brother and I.
Ultimately, though, my attempts are abortive because what it comes down to is that my sons "just want to believe in God". Nothing I have to say (problem of evil, inefficacy of prayer, inherent circularity in the idea of a Creator god) confronts that. Just about the only chance I have is pointing out that god is a serious hard core son of bitch, so that they stop wanting to believe in him, but their mother frowns on that sort of "negative argument".
As time goes on I am becoming increasingly aware that aesthetic concerns are the ultimate factor shaping world-views. You believe what you are prepared to accept or what you find pleasing, not necessarily what is best or true, and religions have the ultimate lock-in plan on this one. They fold up and hedge the playing field by brainwashing children before they even have a chance to object.
Ultimately, though, my attempts are abortive because what it comes down to is that my sons "just want to believe in God". Nothing I have to say (problem of evil, inefficacy of prayer, inherent circularity in the idea of a Creator god) confronts that. Just about the only chance I have is pointing out that god is a serious hard core son of bitch, so that they stop wanting to believe in him, but their mother frowns on that sort of "negative argument".
As time goes on I am becoming increasingly aware that aesthetic concerns are the ultimate factor shaping world-views. You believe what you are prepared to accept or what you find pleasing, not necessarily what is best or true, and religions have the ultimate lock-in plan on this one. They fold up and hedge the playing field by brainwashing children before they even have a chance to object.
mustafa wrote:
It's like the whole "you need to let them make their own decisions" confronting the "they're too young or are being misinformed" battle against rationality and irrationality...
The phrase "question authority" is what finally brought me out of the xian patriachy, but that wasn't until age 25 or 26... and I was "a christian" since "age 3." I really believed it for a long time, and then one day I really didn't believe it.
I think I agree with S about the negative argument not being a good idea. They might take it as a "daddy doesn't want me to; so I'm gonna do it anyway." Or that "something's being put out of my reach; so I'll try harder to attain it."
I don't know. Good luck!
For what it's worth, my pup believes in doG.
~D