In the car, the boys asked why religions ask for money if God owns everything.
“Now, kids, it’s not supposed to be about the money,” I said. “In church, they always say that the Lord doesn’t want your money; he wants your faith.”
“Fine,” said Oldest Boy. “I’ll keep my money and pay with faith.”
“Ha!” said Youngest Boy. “I get it — they’ll take your money and pay you back with faith!”
They’re pretty sharp.
19 August 2006 at 2:08 pm
My sons (primary school) realized very early that it was hard to reconcile the theories of the Church and of the Science concerning the creation of the universe. They felt that they had been told a bunch of lies.
All the same I believe that criticism of religion (or of Catholic Church) should have stronger bases. I felt the same when I read your other post and some of its comments.
19 August 2006 at 2:36 pm
Okay, what do you think is a strong basis for criticising religion(s)?
Just for reference, here are some that I don’t think are very strong and that I don’t use:
– Believers are hypocritical
– Religious beliefs ‘sound’ loony
– Religious believers have been responsible for terrible things throughout history
There are probably a lot more I can’t think of right now.
19 August 2006 at 2:47 pm
Oh, how could I forget:
– Belief system X couldn’t be true because I just know God wouldn’t do that.
19 August 2006 at 3:29 pm
[I always sound too harsh, don’t I]
I think that some of Nietzches’s arguments on Christianism are valuable since they aim at the roots of this religion.
19 August 2006 at 4:13 pm
How old are your boys if you don’t mind me asking? Kids are pretty cluey and often they pick up on things we don’t expect. Sounds like they take after their dad a bit! 🙂
20 August 2006 at 2:03 am
Whether one likes it or not, in Darwinian terms, religion is one of the most brilliantly adaptive creations of the human mind.
Without philosophy and/or science it must have been utterly terrifying having to face life, and more importantly death, as a fully self-aware animal.
20 August 2006 at 9:46 am
That’s a good point, Snowqueen.
Of course detractors of religion would argue that the fact that religion is needed by humanity doesn’t prove its truth – which is a weak criticism.
What can be proved as true? Рit makes me think of the philosophy of logic (G̦del, Wittgenstein etc.)
20 August 2006 at 11:08 pm
Truth is a red herring. Science is not about truth, it is about science. The strongest criticism about religion is that it claims to be true. Religion is many things, some useful, some not, but truth is not one of them.