Why Do Kids Loose Faith?
- Categories: Comparative Religion -
"I used to believe . . ."
- Did the Easter Bunny really lay colored
eggs?
- Can Reindeer Fly?
- How come Santa is in so many places at the same time?
- Why doesn't Santa retire to Florida like my grandparents
did?
Find out why children grow up believing (or misbelieving?) from
their parents, teachers, friends and television. Some is pretty
funny, others are a bit sad. Take a look - Check out "Kids
Beliefs"
Question: "How old were you when you found out, there is no Santa
Claus?"
Answer: "What do you mean, 'there's No Santa Claus??'"
We asked young people what things their parents and teachers taught
them to believe...
When I was a kid, I had a lot of questions about Christmas, like,
"How does Stanta come to children who live in houses with no
chimney?" And when I came running home from school crying: "Mom,
the kids at school said there is no Stanta Claus." Without even
looking up at me, she said: "Don't tell your little
sister".
When I asked my dad where milk came from he said, "White cows", And
when I asked about chocolate milk, he told me: "From brown
cows."
Terrance
The Easter Bunny's Classified Source
for Eggs?
I was only 8 years old when I asked my dad the big question about
the 'Easter Bunny' - "Where does the Easter Bunny get his colored
eggs?"
My dad said: "This is a very interesting question, so ask your mom
when she comes home."
When mom came home I asked her the same question. She said: "This
is a very impressive question, so you must ask your teacher at
school."
So, I asked my teacher where the Easter Bunny got his colored eggs
from. She said, "That is a very curious question and you should ask
the priest at church about it."
Next Sunday, after church I asked the priest where the 'Easter
Bunny' got his colored eggs from.
"This is a very complicated question. You must ask the bishop when
he comes because he is higher up than me."
After several weeks the bishop was in town and I waited for a long
time for the right chance to ask my question. Finally, I found him
on the walkway outside the church.
"Sir," I began, "Could you tell me where the Easter Bunny gets the
colored eggs from?"
He replied, "This is a very serious question. Have you asked anyone
else?"
"Yes, I asked my dad and he said it was a very interesting
question, and for me to ask my mom. She said it was a very
impressive question, and told me to ask my teacher, and she said it
was a very curious question, and to ask the priest. The priest said
it was a very complicated question and to ask you because you are
higher up than he is."
"I see," said the Bishop, "Well, you see the Easter Bunny and his
colored eggs are not actually mentioned in the Bible."
"Wow!" I shouted, "This means my question is so interesting,
impressive, curious, complicated, serious that it is not even in
the Bible. So it means the place where Easter Bunny gets the
colored eggs from is someplace classified right?"
"Ahh, yeah, that's right. So, one day when you do find out where
the Easter Bunny really gets the eggs from, don't tell
anybody."
Good advice, I did find out and I am still not going to tell
anyone.
Fran
While riding in the car with my dad I noticed a lot of birds were
jumping out in front of our car and flying away. I asked why birds
did this. He said it was a game all birds play, like the game
'chicken'. If a bird made it across the street, he wins. But if he
gets hit, he looses and dies.
Now I am 19 and I still don't really know the answer to why birds
fly out in front of cars. But when I see them do it and "win", I
still congratulate them.
Active Image
Mattie
Three is One & One is
Three
Our priest at Lady of the Lake Church school taught us God was
three and one at the same time (trinity). They said there was no
difference in the One God and the Three who were Father, Son and
spirit.
So, when I failed my math test, I tried to argue saying they should
not mark any of my answers wrong if either a "one" or a "three"
could have been the correct answer; after all, "One and three are
the same thing." (It didn't work, and I got in trouble. Oh well, it
was worth a try.)
Coleen.
When I was a small child people told me you could hatch an egg and
get a chicken out of it if you sit on it like a hen. You can
imagine what our sofa looked like after a dozen tries at being a
surrogate mommy chicken.
Elizabeth
Speaking of Eggs -
A preacher tried to explain to me and my small sister what he
called the "Simple concept of Trinity".
Using the example of an "Apple being like the three parts of the
Holy Trinity", he said, "The skin of the apple is "one" and the
white part inside is "one" and the center part with the seeds is
"one" and all of these three parts go together to make the whole
apple - "And these three are one!"
I had to laugh when my little sister asked him: "How many seeds
are in the apple? Or do you count them? And what if it has a worm
in it? Do you count that too?"
The preacher made a quick comeback with another example - the
egg:
"Nevermind the apple, let's use the egg. The egg has three things
that all make in one egg. There is the outer shell, that's one; and
the white part inside the shell, that's one; and the yellow part
inside the white part, that's one; and all three of these make one
egg. Got it?"
Just as I was about to agree, my little sister asked, "What if
the egg has double yoke (two yellow centers)? Does that make it
four is the same as one? And what about if the egg is rotten and
smells bad?"
I was trying not to laugh when the preacher said: "NO! Forget the
apple, forget the egg - God is like the water; when it is ice, it
is a solid. Right? And when the ice thaws out, it is water, a
liquid. Right? And then when the water is heated it turns to a gas
and goes up into the cloud. Right? So, ice is a solid; water is a
liquid; steam is a gas and all of it is still from the same thing
and these three are one."
This time I watched my little sister while she was looking up in
the sky thinking about what the preacher had just told us.
"So when the cloud turns the gas into water, how come it
doesn't come down in one big splash instead of millions of small
drops? Does that mean God can break up into millions of pieces too?
And how could the water be all three things at the same time? Would
that make God only One thing at the same time?"
He replied: "You are just a child and you can't understand the
complexity of the simplicity of God's Trinity because it is just
too simple for your complex young mind."
"That's OK. Don't worry about us, "replied my little sister,
"We don't need to know how three can be one or one can
be three, and we don't need a god that can have a worm in it or be
rotten, or fall from the sky in tiny parts. We are OK with just One
God - without any gods besides Him. Anyway, that's the First
Commandment, you know?"
O Well, as they say, "From the mouths of babies comes great wisdom"
(I love my little sis)
Terrance
Road Runners?
Before we moved to Arizona, the only Roadrunners I had seen were on
Bugs Bunny cartoons. When I grew up my husband and I had moved out
to the western part of the United States and I saw a farm with
"roadrunners" on it.
I asked him, "I thought roadrunners were purple?"
He said, "Oh, that's just on TV."
OK, I thought, "So roadrunners are not purple. But why were those
roadrunners back there so large?"
Then he showed me a postcard with a real roadrunner on it and said,
"This is a roadrunner. Those were Emus."
Television - I think it is false advertising.
Victoria
Double
Crossed?
Jesus was the focus of our family life as I was growing up. The
images of the crucifixtion were everywhere. Jesus carrying his
cross and being nailed to it was our belief. One day someone asked
me, "If someone killed your kid with a pistol, would you
wear a miniture gun around your neck?" I said, "No way, man". He
said, "Then why do you have all of these images of the cross
everywhere?" Hmmmm, good question.
Leon
My mom told me there was a "knife sharpening man" who went around
the neighborhood sharpening knives for people to use to kill little
kids who ask him for ice cream. Please, whatever you do, DON'T ASK
HIM FOR ICE CREAM!" I was horrified and never did I ask the knife
sharpening man for ice cream. By the way, the rest of the kids
heard his bells and went to him for ice cream, because they thought
he was the ice cream man.
Amy
In your heart?
I was raised Catholic, and had the idea of "inviting Jesus into
your heart" but was a bit confused about this. They said, "He
knocks all the time and when you answer he comes inside of your
heart."
The symbolism of this was lost on me, because I was always trying
to "Kick Jesus out" of my heart right before I would do something
bad. I would tell him to leave and when I was done with my
mischief, I would say, "All right, Jesus, you can come back in
now."
This went on for many years.
Mark
I used to believe royal people like kings, queens and dukes had new
spoons for every bite of food they ate and never had to use the
same silverware twice. I counted how many bites I took at meals and
thought of how many spoons or forks a queen needed to eat one meal,
and how many in a day. I still wonder if this might be true?
Betty
I was told: "Jesus died for your sins", I asked: "What
sins?, I didn't do anything?", And the preacher said: "All children
are born guilty and in sin."
Then one day my mom was looking at a woman's little girl and said:
"She is so sweet and angelic, innocent as a new born baby", I said:
"Mom, don't you know, babies are guilty as sin?"
Leroy
Oops - these ducks are quacking
up
"I was told this when I was younger all brown ducks were female,
and green and grey ducks were male. I believed it and did not find
out until after growing up, these were two different kinds of
ducks.
Am I stupid or are my parents, for making me believe this?"
Zaki
Our teacher told us: "School is only for education and no place for
anything about religion, it just doesn't belong in school". So, I
figured that must be why you don't have to make sense when you add
up the Trinity. You know, one plus one, plus one, plus one, still
equals one.
For sure you fail that one on a math test.
Sandy
When I was little I found a tiny robin's egg in our yard. I thought
all eggs came from bird's but since this one didn't look like them
and was so pretty and blue, I thought it came from the tiny blue
flowers it was laying close to!
Greg
"Chicken Feathers"
My parents used to humor me when I was little, I used to try and
grow chickens by 'planting' their feathers in the ground and they
would come out and water them everyday for me.
Matt
I was taught to believe an owl can turn his head all the way around
forever without pain. I could not figure out how they did it. Maybe
I saw it in a cartoon on TV. Who knows?
Arthur
When I turned 8 years old, I wanted a small parakeet bird. My mom
and I made a list of things the bird would need. But I wondered why
a bird needs a "cuddle fish". It was a long time before I learned
the word was "cuttle fish" and it was a stone for the bird to keep
his beak sharp by rubbing it.
Teresa
My dad use to tell me: "If you point at things, you are poking
holes in the air and the angels and birds will trip over these
holes. So, don't point."
Alex
Our church really pushed the idea of "Jesus had to die for your
sins, because he was totally and completely innocent". When I got
caught putting garbage in the neighbor's mail box, I cried out to
my mom as she was about to whip me: "Why don't you punish
my little brother? Can't you see, he is totally innocent?" - It
didn't work and now I am wondering if it would really work on the
Day of Judgment. I doubt it.
Kylie
We were told if you sprinkle salt on a bird's tail he can't fly and
you can catch him and keep him. But now I think it comes from an
expression saying: "If you are close enough to put salt on a bird's
tail, you might as well catch it."
Kathy
At age 17 my sister thought another name for a bird's nest was
"pigeon hole".
Brad
bridgetofaith website
Written by Kids Page Editor
Sunday, 07 October 2007