Reply to Discover Atheism

Forum Index » Religion

Reply to "Discover Atheism "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I was 9.

I saw my parents decorate and wrap gifts for us during the holidays that year. There was always a "Santa Claus" is coming and you better be good or else you won't get presents theme and then I found the gifts and realize my parents were doing it. And when I realized that adults were putting in so much effort into making "Santa Claus" real- including the concept that only believers get presents- I asked my Sunday school teacher about it. In class. In front of everyone. Loudly.

And the question wasn't whether Santa was real, but whether the efforts in making us believe in Santa was different than with the efforts in making us believe in Jesus. [b]The teachers weren't able to answer this question. She just said both Jesus and Santa were testaments of goodness and faith. [/b]

And therefore - by a lack of an answer to how they were different confirmed the lie by equating them with goodness. And also told a young girl that it's okay to lie for the greater good.

Which as we know by the New Testament, is not true. Hypocrisy and lies are hated by god.

So I just lost it and told my dad that I didn't want to celebrate Christmas anymore or go to church. When he asked why and I told him, he told me that we would still celebrate Christmas as a family but with no church. But I wasn't allowed to tell my little brother, who also figured it out later from someone else.

I got tons of presents every year thereafter, even as a heathen, FWIW. Nothing changed but we did have more fun as a family- just no mention of god. We aren't allowed to talk about our lack of churchgoing with grandma though. [/quote]

So sad that a probably well-meaning teacher made such a careless, false remark that set you on this path, PP.  [/quote]

I thought the Sunday school teacher reacted pretty well to what must have been an unexpected and tricky question.  The Santa and God stories DO have goodness in common. The teacher was non-specific in a way that wouldn't shake the faith of kids who believed in God and Santa, but wouldn't fool a kid who didn't.  As for the "path" that pp was set on -- sounds like it worked out fine for her family.  No more pretending to each other about their beliefs, while protecting Grandma and little bro -- until he figured it out on his own.[/quote]

Santa Claus questioner here.

I gave a very abbreviated synopsis of the Sunday school teachers response and what happened that day.  She really did try but was caught by quote about lying and the comparison of Santa and Jesus- most kids don't ask how the faith/belief in Santa is different from the faith in Jesus. Or if a belief in a lie results in gods hate.

As for my path, I volunteer, fundraise and support charities including those run by churches.  My kids went to christian preschools. And they started questioning God and Santa Claus at about 7 or so.  And I did what my dad did- I refused to lie to my kids and told them them that their belief is theirs to choose but being kind and good- the prevention of unnecessary human suffering- is a commonality in life. They chose goodness over god.

I still believe the validity of certain lessons in the Bible and think it would be a comfort to go back. I put my faith in good works- because we have been so lucky in our lives.I teach my children to be kind and gentle. To value others. To recycle. To be good stewards of our planet. I try to do what Jesus would do without the fear of eternal damnation- because that is too much like the Santa Claus lie.  Instead I try to be charitable to others, lead a good altruistic life and I read the Bible once a week now because it's fun to quote it.

But I do not believe in God or Santa Claus. I love Christmas and family time. Honestly, if corruption and hypocrisy didn't run amok in religion I would be Christian still. But for now, I will try to be good and do good in the precious life I have been given. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics