That 'now I lay me down to sleep' prayer. When I was a kid, it had death in it. Did you know that got changed? I think a lot of what's wrong with the world can be explained by a whole generation of kids who go to bed NOT thinking they'll just as likely die before morning.
I mean really, along with free jazz and the novel, eternal damnation is probably one of the cultural gems we should really preserve, even if we're atheists.
Message to kids: God put you in the care of your parents; therefore if you disobey your parents, you are defying God. If you defy God, you go to Hell. Hell is a terrible place, almost as bad as a Sunday school classroom, and they never let you out. Only Cuba rivals Hell as a bad destination, and if you die you can get out of Cuba.
There's some adults I think would behave better if they spent more time worrying about eternal damnation, too. But if you don't plant the seeds in the child, what hope is there?
3 comments:
I clearly think side-stepped (if not squashing) the whole prayer/gawd thing to children is the only sane approach.
If they want to turn to Delusionism upon reaching a beyond-brainwashing (well, for those with more than a few working brain cells) age, then that’s their CHOICE.
Until then, just tell them to empty their bladder before going to bed.
Yeah, well, the childless might think along those lines. But in a world where razor-strops have been replaced with 'time out,' it'd be good to have a bit of psychological terror to help out. As a parent.
it'd be good to have a bit of psychological terror to help out.
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for terror and psychological fucking, but this can be done without the god game.
And look, I may be onto something:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1798944,00.html
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