Slate: 'Is religion good for children?'

Slate is the mother's milk for critical thinkers.

 

For those who can't be weaned from the teat.

 

Liberal rubbish.

 

"No, son, there is no such thing as Santa Claus. Now quit your crying, you're 3. It's time you were told the truth."

 

"Son, we came from nothing, you are nothing, and you will die as nothing. Matter of fact, why the fuck are you even here?"
-- D. Whitman

 

Don't need God to draw meaning.

Your post, which I think is supposed to be funny, implies that one either chooses God or one chooses meaninglessness. That's a false dichotomy. (Not that I haven't explored the "we are nothing" line of thinking. I love "Waiting for Godot" and others of its ilk, for example.)

I've said it before: I am not an atheist. I believe in God. Vaguely. But I don't live to please him/her/it. I don't "worship" him/her/it. Other than the ongoing attempt to resolve the engima/mystery of his/her/its existence, he/she/it does not play an active role in my existence.

I am not an atheist.

 

If you're talking about the Old Testament, Jesus fulfills the law and thus makes whole chunks unnecessary to follow. This is written all over the New Testament, but culture's relative cluelessness on how Christianity actually functions generally prevails. (The two books are part of one covenant but some things are "resolved" by Jesus.) Other parts of the New Testament need to be understood in context.

 

"The Bible has inconsistencies" seems to be an argument useful against what I have to imagine is a very small percentage of extreme fundamentalist Christians who eschew critical thinking of any form. Both in number and in intellectual heft, they hardly seem worth the breath. And yet, they seem to receive the most attention from the other side in these debates.

 

I'm not trying to be a smartass, but are you trying to justify not raising your children religious?

If that's the case, that's fine. It's a very personal choice however you decide to do it.

 

I don't have to justify it. And my kids go to Catholic preschool. And to mass sometimes.

 

In "number?" IMO, no. It's often raised.

 

And you wonder if it's good for them?