Misinformed
Fiona came home from school today with a couple of questions that had obviously been bothering her for awhile. "Mommy? Is the rain really God's tears? Is he crying because we're bad?" she asked.
"No buddy, the rain is not God's tears," I said. "Rain is just water coming out of the clouds."
"Oh." She thought for a minute. "If we tell a lie do we burn forever and we never get to see our families again?"
"No sweetie, that's not true either. Who told you this stuff?"
"Laurie. She said it was true. She said we'd burn forever and we'd never get to see our families again if we tell lies."
I have no idea what church Laurie goes to, if any, or if she's picking it up from some other kid. This is a hard thing for me to explain to Fiona. I don't want to dismiss other people's faiths and have Fiona go back to school and tell Laurie that her church is totally twisted, but I also don't want my kid thinking she's going to burn in hell for all eternity if she tells a fib.
I told Fiona that some people believed something like that, but that it wasn't true. The reason we don't tell lies is because our conscience tells us to do right things and nice things, not mean things and naughty things. I was going to go into a whole spiel about having a moral compass and trying to be a good person, but she was already over the whole conversation and wanted to make valentines instead.
I need to work on an age appropriate philosophy of morality. It would certainly be easier to just tell her that she has to be good or she'll go to hell.
"No buddy, the rain is not God's tears," I said. "Rain is just water coming out of the clouds."
"Oh." She thought for a minute. "If we tell a lie do we burn forever and we never get to see our families again?"
"No sweetie, that's not true either. Who told you this stuff?"
"Laurie. She said it was true. She said we'd burn forever and we'd never get to see our families again if we tell lies."
I have no idea what church Laurie goes to, if any, or if she's picking it up from some other kid. This is a hard thing for me to explain to Fiona. I don't want to dismiss other people's faiths and have Fiona go back to school and tell Laurie that her church is totally twisted, but I also don't want my kid thinking she's going to burn in hell for all eternity if she tells a fib.
I told Fiona that some people believed something like that, but that it wasn't true. The reason we don't tell lies is because our conscience tells us to do right things and nice things, not mean things and naughty things. I was going to go into a whole spiel about having a moral compass and trying to be a good person, but she was already over the whole conversation and wanted to make valentines instead.
I need to work on an age appropriate philosophy of morality. It would certainly be easier to just tell her that she has to be good or she'll go to hell.
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