Child in front of ruined Kovil, Kilinochchi
A friend told me that children almost demand a God. Or at least an explanation. Another friend told me that this was the easy way out and you could just ‘blind them with science’, but I’m not so sure. Children can generate a full natural language (a creole) out of a crude an incomplete way of communication (a pidgin). In one case deaf children put together and not taught sign language generated their own, with full grammatical forms. This has led to pretty dominant linguistic theory that at least part of human language is built in and can be created by children (in social situations). Seeing as kids as similar questions and accept a higher power easily, I wonder if the same thing is true of faith.
At some level a child will ask why they should listen, what happens when they die and why they’re isn’t obvious or immediate justice in the world. It is possible to explain these things rationally, but for thousand of years humans didn’t actually know and the kids were still asking questions. As a parent I think what would be important is not the absolute validity of these facts (you need pour water on your head at this age, you need to read from a book now, you need to get married in this way) but rather having an answer and immediate structure and discipline so you can get some sleep.
Religion for thousands of years provided this structure before science even existed. And, indeed, there are still many things that science and rationality don’t answer satisfactorily.
Yet, for all these answers, one has to wonder who’s asking the question. In many cases it is children, and their persistent nagging may play a part in the constant regeneration of God.
Was it Kant who said “if god didn’t exist, he needs to be invented.”
To be honest I’m a little confused? are you saying that god began with children asking about him or that the concept of god propagates in society because children need explanations
Religion is the easy answer to questions of life.
Easy because it is less ambiguous than other answers and can be readily accessed via a book. The more complex reality does not sit well with these simple (childlike?) answers which is why religion in the modern world is problem.
AND it is structured :)
No, little children didn’t create god – insecure and ignorant people did. Believing in and worshipping a magical invisible creature in the sky gives a lot of people comfort and security. That said, little children can be wonderfully creative. Have you seen the show “Kids Say the Darndest Things”? (You can watch clips of the show on youtube). This sounds like something from that show: Christianity is the belief that a cosmic Jewish zombie who is his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in all humanity because a rib-woman was convinced to eat from a magical tree by an infinitely sadistic being disguised as a talking snake.
Who said adults don’t have an imagination?
the question is why we stop asking these questions when we are adults
It’s funny the way most of the stories and rituals in the bible have so much in common with legends of more ancient pagan civilizations. Bits of the tales of Gilgamesh, Dionysus et al are mirrored in the descriptioons of Noah, Moses, Jesus, the Holy Trinity and the holy family etc., even a trace of Solomon reflected in Mahoshada of the jataka tales. They could’ve been a little more creative at least.
I think I’m an adult (I must be, I have children of my own) and I demand an explanation. One rolls along when times are good, but when the world seems cruel and unjust or a child is sick, one really needs to hope that some higher omnipotent power will put things right. And then one wonders whether it’s even fair that one exists at all, with no recollection of ever having asked for it.
It’s also depressing to be cynical when one doesn’t have any answers. Isn’t it sad to think that one has to be, just beacuse one is? So God must have been invented because adults as well as children need explanations.