Why do so many people--religious leaders, anthropologists, archaeologists, etc.--spend their lives trying to prove the bible is real? There is no way they or anyone can ever do that. So what if they find ancient cities mentioned in the bible? That doesn't make the stories real at all. It would be as the fictional novels of today that mention cities, countries, buildings, landmarks, and events that are easily recognizable to most of us. Just because there is a New York or London or Big Ben or a 9-11, does that make the fictional novel a real story of real people? Of course not. It remains a work of fiction. That is what the bible is. The bible is a collection of stories written by man, edited and censored by man, published by man. It is a book whose purpose is to influence people to live in a certain manner that would make them more manageable. Stating that it is the work of god (an idea which is another of man's ingenious creations) is a way to give it credibility and to influence masses of people to live a particular lifestyle "if they want to go to heaven." This promise is given on fear of eternal damnation for the unbelievers. They offer no proof of anything; instead they came up with another ingenious idea--anything that can't be proven MUST be taken on faith. They intimate that to question the existence of a god is tantamount to blasphemy. Many religions preach that god is a benevolent and loving and forgiving god. If that were true and he could truly create life, why would he create life that is dependent on such violence? That in order for lifeforms to survive, they must kill other lifeforms. Wouldn't you think that an omnipotent and loving being would create life to be loving for all--humans and animals alike? The life "he" has given us, if there is a "he", is a life that will never know peace. Just read of any time in history or the news of today, any day, we will always be as we were, as we are. Humans are too afraid of each other to ever have peace. For Peace to ever happen, each and every person needs to accept that every other person on this planet is our equal and should be treated with as much respect as we treat ourselves. Each and every person needs to care about all life and not hold humans more deserving of life than the other animals who live here with us. That's the kind of world a real god would have created; not the kind of world we have.
Now on to the Santa myth...
I don't believe that telling children the story of Santa and perpetuating the myth of Santa is a good thing. Children are told that Santa keeps 2 lists of children: the Naughty and the Nice lists. They are further told that Santa will bring a gift to Nice and Good children. For the children who are in families that can afford to support the Santa myth, it may look like a good thing...on the surface. But the children quickly learn that they DON'T need to be nice to get gifts. They learn that all they need to do is ask for things; they don't need to be good. They develop wrong values. As for the children who do not have families that can provide them with a Santa; they learn very quickly that being nice doesn't get them anything. Therefore, they must not be nice; they must be bad and unworthy because Santa brings them nothing. So, how can the Santa story be a good thing? I see no benefit from it.
Most toddlers are afraid when they are taken to see and sit on the lap of a shopping mall santa. I know my son, nieces, and nephews were. And I've seen other little children cry at the thought of going up to him. They did, however, like santa from afar. These santas are generally big men who are loud and oftentimes smell badly. I believe that if malls want to have a santa, they should have a little person in the role of santa and more little people to play the elves. Little children can relate better to little people than to a giant santa. And, yet, I've never seen a single department store or shopping mall or hospital santa who wasn't a big man with a loud voice. Of course, this is only if you really need to have a santa in the first place.
Why not teach the children about family and love during the holidays and take the focus away from santa and gifts? My son, nieces, and nephews actually liked our family gatherings while they were growing up. As parents and adults today, they still do. When my son was a teenager, friends and strangers would ask me how I got my son to go anywhere with me so often. Their own teenagers preferred going with their friends and had to be dragged to family gatherings. I asked my son why he came to our family get togethers instead of going out with his friends. His answer? "I can always go out with my friends but I want to see my cousins and my aunts and uncles." He had many friends but he preferred to spend the holidays and birthdays and general family gatherings with me and the family. Today, when I talk with my nieces and nephews on the phone, they always end it with "I love you, Aunty." They all grew up knowing it was Mom and Dad who got the presents, not santa. In the years when money was scarce, not having gifts was no big deal. They still enjoyed the company and love of their cousins, aunts and uncles and had fun singing and playing games together. When I was a kid, adults stayed separate from the kids at family gatherings. In my generation, adults and children stayed together and did nearly everything together. Children could have their own time together...whenever they wanted and not because they had to. Being with the adults was their choice more often than not. It was better, much better. Today, they're raising their children the same way...with a strong love of family.
I do not believe in an omnipotent god but I do indeed believe in love and family. I don't believe in life after death; I believe in the here and now. I don't believe in the occult as fact as most humans do. Gods, spirits, angels, witches, magic, reincarnation, luck...those are all stuff of the occult and superstitions created by man. I believe in people and human nature, the good and the bad of people. I believe each person makes his own choice as to which path his life will take. Each person creates his own heaven or hell by his choices. It isn't the "mysterious ways of a god" that decides a person's fate. As parents, it is our ultimate responsibility to teach our children to have the utmost respect for themselves and for every other person they encounter throughout their lives, to have a healthy respect for ALL life and not just to certain people we like and choose. To do less is to fail our children and create problem adults who will, in turn, have problem children. Though many disagree, parents ARE responsible for how they children turn out. Many young people today mistakenly equate Fear with Respect as though the two actions are interchangeable. They think that if someone is afraid of them, then that someone is showing respect. Where in the hell did they learn that cockamamie idea? True respect is wanting for the other person the same things you want for yourself. Simple as that.
No comments:
Post a Comment