A friend of mine posted this to Twitter a while back.
If any religion was real, we’d set kids loose in search of truth rather than trying to indoctrinate them into any “faith”.
As a reluctant atheist who wants to believe in a much more benevolent God than the one portrayed in the Bible, I wish this statement sounded like bunk, but unfortunately, he makes a damn fine point.
I actually came close to adhering to this model. As a child, I was set free in order to seek my own truth. I came home after my first CCD class declaring that I was done with Catholicism. “I’m not going back,” I told my mother.
In response, Mom allowed me to choose my religion. She told me that I had to adopt a new faith, but it could be whatever one I liked best.
I chose Protestant Congregationalism. I liked the children’s sermon, the lack of finery and ritual, and the Wonder bread and grape juice.
Unfortunately, it didn’t stick.
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I do think in order to give kids the ability to search their truth, however, we have to actually bring them to different houses of worship, help them interact with different faith communities, introduce them to people of different faiths and religions. Most of the folks I know who say they want to let their kids decide also don’t do the work of facilitating the process. Like saying "I want my child to decide what books he likes best" and then never bringing him to the library.
but why does there have to be a religion at all? Why do we have to worship something?
This is true. I agree. But still, I thought my mother was fairly progressive for the time.
Though the choice of "no religion" should also be a choice. Right?
What if truth is as ethereal as God?
I don’t even know what to say about this.
Ethereal may not have been exactly the word that I wanted, but I still haven’t come up with it. I think, though, that the concept of there being truth, at least an identifiable truth, may be as erroneous as that of there being a god.