UFOs & GOD

I have recently begun a Phillip Stahl book "Atheism: A Beginner's Guide". I am about half way through the book and I am struck by a comparison he uses. He begins by asking the reader to imagine seeing something in the night sky. The object does not conform to any known airship. Now how does one respond? He gives 4 choices:

• It's an unknown pure and simple. (This is the atheist mindset.)
• It's a UFO, a flying saucer and I believe this is evidence for visiting aliens. (This is the believer mindset.)
• It was most definitely and alien craft....I didn't see the aliens up close but I believe. (This is the fundamentalists mindset)
• Without knowledge of the sky...it is impossible to make a determination. (This is the agnostic mindset)

Although I have paraphrased, I think one can understand the idea. I do not completely agree with all that he writes but Stahl has given me much food for thought as I continue on my journey. It seems that each of us, if not predisposed, develop a mindset that guides us through life.

He writes of his youth in the Catholic church and how he found his way out. His story is like many others I've read over the years and not entirely unlike mine. He states that children are blank slates and natural questioners....yes, but what happens to that natural nature when religion becomes the daily diet? The are taught to close up and not question.

What a tragedy.

Children and God

I recently started a new job. Although I have worked with children in the recent past, my exposure to them was limited to 30-45 minutes a week. Now I have the total responsibility of 17 little darlings all day long, 5 days a week. I don't know what I was thinking!

All that aside, I recently over heard several students in a heated argument about the orgin of man...MAN...not mankind. Now please keep in mind that these students are 8 years old.

A very snappy little girl said, " I don't care if god did make the man first, he saved the best for last ."

Then a rather indignant young man retorted, "Well, you still have to do what we say because you are made with one of our ribs."

An then the conversation starter, " You're both wrong because people were born from monkeys and that makes us all equal."

Of course, the bell rang and I had to put a stop to the dialog but oh how enlightening to find that at least one of my students has been exposed to reality.