Susan Doris Wrote:
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> children need to know as
> much as possible about what people believe AND
> WHY, they should not be told, in this modern day
> and age when they have access to objective
> information, that the deity/god/s people pray to
> worship are verifiable facts because that is a
> falsehood.

I agree wholeheartedly. One of the virtues we should be cultivating in children is critical thinking. However, I would add that I think there's a pitfall on the non-religious side that many fall into - a purely materialistic view of reality, with the assumption that the laws of nature can account for everything, there are no limits to science, and everything in reality will ultimately be reduced to equations.

A lot of people see only two positions, monotheism versus naturalistic atheism, with no nuance in between. Monotheists wrongly elevate man by saying that we were made in the image of God, but atheists also wrongly elevate man by putting the human intellect above everything. Myth is the tool that we can use when we become aware of the limits of the intellect. And that's why words like "God" don't quite disappear in philosophy.

Darryl