I was taught to believe in Santa Clause by both parents (atheist father and catholic mother).
One particular year (I think I was five) my mother told to me to pray the night before Christmas to get everything I wanted for Christmas. And I did. And I got everything I wanted for Christmas. Awesome! This prayer thing apparently really worked. (I had also written a letter to Santa a few weeks earlier)
The next year, my dad suggested I write another letter to Santa. I said “nah, I tried this prayer thing last year and it worked pretty well.” Dad said “um.....”
I prayed, fully expecting to get everything I asked for. I got maybe a third of it.
That was when I stopped believing in God.
A few years later, during Summer (I think I was seven) I asked my dad where the universe came from, and he showed me a book called “The Universe” which explained how huge clouds of gas had condensed to make the sun and planets. I asked my dad further questions about why the outer planets were gaseous ane the inner planets were solid, where black holes came from and a bunch of other stuff. And I was like “holy crap, the universe is awesome and supremely elegant and logical and stuff.”
A few months later it was Christmas time, and I suddenly realized I didn’t believe in Santa any more. Not because of any particular anti-Santa evidence, but just that he didn’t really fit with the otherwise orderly and logical nature of the universe. (It was a few years before mounting empirical evidence led to finally give up the belief completely. Until then it was more of a “I notice that I am confused” thing).
That said, even after realizing I was being lied to, I loved the idea of Santa Clause and was glad to have that magic in my life for as long as I could. In fact, I think he teaches an important lesson that any atheist should be perfectly fine with teaching their child: magic is fun, but it isn’t real, and you can’t trust authorities to always tell the truth.
I was taught to believe in Santa Clause by both parents (atheist father and catholic mother).
One particular year (I think I was five) my mother told to me to pray the night before Christmas to get everything I wanted for Christmas. And I did. And I got everything I wanted for Christmas. Awesome! This prayer thing apparently really worked. (I had also written a letter to Santa a few weeks earlier)
The next year, my dad suggested I write another letter to Santa. I said “nah, I tried this prayer thing last year and it worked pretty well.” Dad said “um.....”
I prayed, fully expecting to get everything I asked for. I got maybe a third of it.
That was when I stopped believing in God.
Well that little trick totally backfired on her. The road to (your mom’s perception of) hell was paved with her good intentions.
This is an excellent anecdote to illustrate the value of ethical injunctions. Even though she (presumably) had no moral problem with actively misleading you on the power of prayer her dark arts ability is nowhere near the level required to consider all the possible consequences of her deception. She would have been better served by adopting an ethic for purely practical purposes.It may have delayed your apostasy a year or two.
I was taught to believe in Santa Clause by both parents (atheist father and catholic mother).
One particular year (I think I was five) my mother told to me to pray the night before Christmas to get everything I wanted for Christmas. And I did. And I got everything I wanted for Christmas. Awesome! This prayer thing apparently really worked. (I had also written a letter to Santa a few weeks earlier)
The next year, my dad suggested I write another letter to Santa. I said “nah, I tried this prayer thing last year and it worked pretty well.” Dad said “um.....”
I prayed, fully expecting to get everything I asked for. I got maybe a third of it.
That was when I stopped believing in God.
A few years later, during Summer (I think I was seven) I asked my dad where the universe came from, and he showed me a book called “The Universe” which explained how huge clouds of gas had condensed to make the sun and planets. I asked my dad further questions about why the outer planets were gaseous ane the inner planets were solid, where black holes came from and a bunch of other stuff. And I was like “holy crap, the universe is awesome and supremely elegant and logical and stuff.”
A few months later it was Christmas time, and I suddenly realized I didn’t believe in Santa any more. Not because of any particular anti-Santa evidence, but just that he didn’t really fit with the otherwise orderly and logical nature of the universe. (It was a few years before mounting empirical evidence led to finally give up the belief completely. Until then it was more of a “I notice that I am confused” thing).
That said, even after realizing I was being lied to, I loved the idea of Santa Clause and was glad to have that magic in my life for as long as I could. In fact, I think he teaches an important lesson that any atheist should be perfectly fine with teaching their child: magic is fun, but it isn’t real, and you can’t trust authorities to always tell the truth.
Well that little trick totally backfired on her. The road to (your mom’s perception of) hell was paved with her good intentions.
This is an excellent anecdote to illustrate the value of ethical injunctions. Even though she (presumably) had no moral problem with actively misleading you on the power of prayer her dark arts ability is nowhere near the level required to consider all the possible consequences of her deception. She would have been better served by adopting an ethic for purely practical purposes.It may have delayed your apostasy a year or two.