But Think of the Children! A None-Too-Formal Study

For those of you who missed it, Phil Ferguson gave a wonderful little talk at last week's ISSA meeting, about the cyclical nature of religion and the paramount importance of educating children about science, especially those with less-than-responsible parents who might otherwise expose their fragile young minds to what Phil called the "narcotic" of religion. While I agree that educating the young'uns is one of the best things we can do to promote secularism, I was a tad troubled...even though religion may be fraudulent and unnecessary, are we truly very much better than 'them' if we cajole and entice youngsters to make life harder on themselves by becoming atheist and deny them the chance to come to their own conclusions? So, I set out to perform a little experiment.

Using everything this guy taught me.

A good friend of mine (who's asked to remain unnamed) works at a childcare center part-time and on the weekends, and I called in a favor. I asked her to ask as many of the children in her care as she could a couple simple questions: "what do you wonder about science?" and "what do you wonder about God?" These kids are quite young, four to six years old, and I wondered if by exposing them to science, we might be giving them what they want, rather than expanding their horizons forcefully. Over the course of a week, she surveyed her whole 40-kid class and e-mailed me what she wrote down of the children's responses. They were absolutely amazing.

Each and every one of the kids had something they wanted to know about the world, from why the Earth was round to where the dinosaurs went. The preschoolers wondered about how cars worked, how markers worked, and even how the drinking fountain worked. They were curious as to why their teacher wore glasses--and why she wore a dress, when the janitor couldn't. Many of the kids polled said that they enjoyed talking with their parents about science, and learning from them. One little youngster even said that he wondered why some people were religious and he wasn't (what a lucky little guy). He seemed to be one of the only kids who was willing to speak about religion, though. The large majority of the class came from religious backgrounds, the childcare center being located in your standard Christian-dominated suburban neighborhood. And the kids? They were downright scared to discuss religion.

The class had a lot of questions about why they had to go to special school once a week and why they couldn't stay with their parents in the chapel. They didn't understand why they had to eat the "gross crackers and grape juice". A lot of them were uncomfortable answering the question at all, even when it was asked by someone they trusted and respected. A few went so far as to ask why they couldn't see or talk to God. Most disturbing of all, many of the kids, including those that were normally fearless and outgoing, got clammed up when asked their opinions on God. More than one mentioned that their parents had told them not to talk to strangers about God, and that the only person they should listen to for advice on the spiritual was their priest. Not one of them, when polled, said they would even consider talking to their parents about religion. Why? Well, because religion is "grown-up stuff."

That, dear reader, is disgusting. That these kids, who hadn't even started school yet, should already be so forcefully indoctrinated into a group that not only told them to not question their beliefs or discuss them with strangers, but didn't want them to even have a discussion with their parents or fucking think for themselves, is monstrous. I'd say it's relatively clear from my informal study that almost every kid has questions about the world. By teaching them science, we're not indoctrinating them into anything, but helping them answer the questions they already have. But the continual parade of lies that their churches and temples give them doesn't help them understand the world better. In their own words, it confuses them and makes them hesitant to think critically. So listen to Phil. Talk to kids about science, ignite their creativity, let them discover things for their own good, especially those that might be exposed to more than their fair share of dogma. They're the ones that truly need it.