Teach Your Kids Nothing And They'll Believe Anything
Last week I read a story about Robert B., a young German who converted to Islam and took the name Abdul Hakiim. He and a buddy were arrested in July for trying to enter Britain with al-Qaida propaganda and bomb-making guides and essays by one Anwar al-Awlaki. Der Spiegel informs us that his "motivations remain a mystery."
The story is from the perspective of his mother, Marlies B. It's rather sad to read how she failed in her attempts to keep her son from radicalization after his father died young.
But there was one part of the story that I just didn't understand:
"He pretended to sleep in a small apartment his mother knew about, but in fact he lived in a mosque in a courtyard off Konrad Adenauer Street. "The people there are the only ones who reach paradise," he told his mother. This sentence shocked her, especially coming from her son Robert, whom she had not had baptized because she wanted him to have the freedom as an adult to decide his religion. Now that he'd decided, his mother was appalled."
I've heard more than a few people say this -- that they're not raising their child in any religion so that they'll have the freedom to decide as an adult. It makes no sense to me. I mean, I don't imagine that these people wait to inform their children about brushing their teeth or nutrition or learning math. Why would it be otherwise with religious belief? Are people who do this -- and I assume there are Ricochetistas who are among this group -- just making a statement about how unimportant religion is to them? Are they making a statement about how uncertain they are about their own religious views? Or what's the logic?
- Comment (43)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (5)
Comments:
Nov '10
Re: Teach Your Kids Nothing And They'll Believe Anything
Dear Christopher,
That all sounds good to me.
Best wishes,
Aiden
Christopher Esget
I think I see your distinction, but I'm not sure how to apply it here, other then to acknowledge the controversial nature of the subject. With the Bible, I present it as things I believe to have genuinely happened, but I often point out to my students, both children and adults, the claims of John to be an eyewitness and to have touched the risen Jesus, and Peter who says he did not invent cleverly devised fables, and then say that each person must evaluate whether or not they think these are lies or delusions. A repeatable science experiment is in a different category than historical events and their meaning. Perhaps that was your point all along?
So I guess it's the latter, but my mind has difficulty separating them. · Sep 6 at 2:46pm
Dec '10
Re: Teach Your Kids Nothing And They'll Believe Anything
Herkybird
So are you saying that God and Satan actually had a conversation that began. "Have you noticed my servant Job, and that there is no one on earth like him, etc..." and that the story of them making a wager is a matter of actual historical fact and literally true? Or are you open to the possibility, like St. Augustine, that at least some Biblical stories are open to allegorical interpretation? · Sep 6 at 8:49am
I believe the Bible encompasses many genre and that it is usually pretty obvious what the genre is. Psalms is a book of hymns, Proverbs is a book of wise sayings(as oppose to actual promises), and Jesus and Paul uses parables and even quotes from secular authors to make their points. That said there isn't anything in Job that would lead me to believe it wasn't a historical event so I treat it as such.
Dec '10
Re: Teach Your Kids Nothing And They'll Believe Anything
Aodhan:
Question: is the only thing wrong here that the content of the religious belief expressed is mistaken?
I would say yes. The only wrong in that video is the content of the belief that child's parents have imparted to him.
My dad used to take me to the soup kitchen when I was around the boy's age. My father was trying to impart in me the important of charity and helping others. Its not empirically true that altruism improves the life of the one being altruistic and in fact there are many claims to the contrary; however I don't believe it was wrong of my father to try to impart his view of altruism to me and I don't believe it is wrong for the parents of that boy to impart their belief system to their child.
Edited on September 7, 2011 at 6:03am