For many non-religious people, faith first begins to fade when pastors and parents are unable to answer some basic questions about God.
Like: Who created God? or What was God doing before He created humans?
Without solid, easy-to-understand responses to these questions, kids begin to understand religion doesn’t really make sense.
Herb Silverman, president of the Secular Coalition for America, compiled a list of questions little children ask (or should ask) about God — along with his own follow-up questions.
For example:
6. Does God ever change His mind when we pray?
Whether or not we believe everything was determined long before we were born, it seems like heresy to ask God for something he hadn’t planned on giving (like a missed field goal by an opponent). Doesn’t He already know what is best? I just can’t picture God slapping His forehead (in the image of mine) and saying to Himself (since He doesn’t speak to me), “Good point, Herb. I hadn’t thought of it in that clever way of yours.”
Other questions include:
- How much better is the worst person in heaven than the best person in hell?
- Why did God stop talking to humans (me)?
I’m curious what responses you’ve gotten from your elders if you ever asked these kinds of questions. Were they satisfactory at the time? Was there anything that completely stumped them?
Do churchgoers ever get taught how to answer these questions (if so, how?) or are they considered “too basic” for pastors to spend time on them?
(via IHEYO YouthSpeak)
[tags]atheist, atheism[/tags]
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