Why Don’t We Go To Church?

Posted on May 26, 2010 | 15 Comments

Saw this recently and it immediately thought this would be a great book for my youngest granddaughter. She told me recently that she had been picked on by some of here school friends because she said she believed in evolution. This discussion quickly turned to belief in a god. It ended up with her having to pretend to believe in a god otherwise here friends would refuse to play with her!

Kids can be nasty.

The website for the book is Why Don’t We Go To Church? Here’s how they describe it:

About the Book:

Dan walks right into the evolution vs. creation debate with his science project. He is excited about “Primeval Soup” and how it tells the story of evolution but now he has to worry whether he will lose his new, best friend, Alex. Alex believes in God and creation and wants Dan to change his project. Dan never gave church or God much thought until their friendship is threatened.

This book is written for atheist parents or other non-religious families whose children may face difficulties when their non-belief in a deity is questioned.

About the Authors:

Gail Miller, Social Worker, and Rosalind Eagle, Registered Nurse, both live in South Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. They wrote this book to help children and atheist parents deal with questions and conflicts about religion.

See also: New Book Helps Atheist Parents And Their Children Deal With Religious Conflicts

Permalink

Similar articles

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Share

This entry was posted in agnostic, agnosticism, atheism, belief, Christianity, creationism, culture, diversity, evolution, faith, god, intelligent design, religion, SciBlogs, Science and Society and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

15 responses to “Why Don’t We Go To Church?”

  1. Dale Campbell | May 26, 2010 at 11:10 am |

    Almost as tragic as kids being teased for affirming evolution (I agree – it’s sad) is the groundless assumption that affirming evolution has any necessary conflict with believing in God. Oh, for a childrens book that could help them frame the issue more accurately.

    Like

  2. Max Whitaker | May 26, 2010 at 11:49 am |

    This story must be set in the USA? I can’t see kids being teased for that in NZ. But perhaps they are? Any one had an experience like this?

    Like

  3. Ken | May 26, 2010 at 12:09 pm |

    Yes Max. As I said my ganddaughter (9 years old) was attacked for believing in evolution. This lead to demands that she declare belief in a god (she doesn’t currently believe in gods). And she goes along with it otherwise her friends won’t play with her.

    And yes, it surprised me too when I heard of it.

    Things certainly weren’t like that when I was a kid.

    Maybe my granddaughter’s friends come from Muslim families, new immigrants, etc.

    Dale, my simple analysis of polls and census data suggests that around 40% of NZ Christian do not accept evolutionary science. Even theologians like Matt equivocate – so I am not surprised. Sometimes I suspect that many people who accept evolution don’t really understand how revolutionary it is at the philosophical level so this reticence may be well-based.

    But, yes, a book like you suggest would be helpful. Why, oh, why aren’t some Christian teachers producing them? After all creationists books for Children are common.

    I reviewed Danile Loxtons book Evolution: How We and All Living Things Came to Be recently (see One for the kids). He is not a Christian and had only a small reference to religion in the book. He wasn’t dissing it.

    Like

  4. Mareike | May 26, 2010 at 12:20 pm |

    If only someone could explain to these people, that the bible is not a textbook. It was never ment to be taken literally!
    I am living proof, that believing in God, and “beliving in” evolution theory does not contradict each other at all.
    For me science is a way to really apprechiate creation. The more we find out about how our world works, the more wonderful becomes this great peace of art that our world is!

    Why do so many people feal threatened by science, and think it might proof their religion wrong?

    Religion has to do with believing. Either you do believe something, or you don’t. If you do, it should not be that easy to take it away from you…

    (And just in case someone is intrerested in how it fits together for me: I do believe in long-term miracles. They can happen over thousands, even millions of years…)

    Like

  5. Max Whitaker | May 26, 2010 at 12:27 pm |

    Oh Sorry Ken! I thought that that was an introduction from the author… I did not realize it was your story. Sorry to hear that – and hope your granddaughter is not too upset 🙂

    “Why do so many people feal threatened by science, and think it might proof their religion wrong? ”

    I often wonder this – and almost have to conclude that they believe in a small and limited sort of god.

    Like

  6. Cedric Katesby | May 26, 2010 at 12:34 pm |

    Why Don’t We Go To Church?

    You don’t go to church because…there is no fox in the box.

    Like

  7. Watching the Deniers | May 26, 2010 at 1:00 pm |

    I guess it starts early. I remember as a teenager “coming out” as an atheist. I was surprised by the anger and vitriol thrown at me by parents, friends and others. I wasn’t even a “militant” atheist, when the conversation did come up I’d say I did not believe.

    I was surprised none of them actually went to church, read the bible or reflected on the issue.

    Tribalism – the desire to fit in with the group, and to see others fall as well – is deeply ingrained in our consciousness.

    I hope your grand daughter maintains her intellectual courage.

    Like

  8. Max Whitaker | May 26, 2010 at 2:49 pm |

    Actually I remember being shouted at by a headmaster (in around 1984???) because I wrote an assignment about science and it contained the line “God did not just snap his fingers and create the world”…and then a description of how a 9 year old(ish) understands evolution…

    Like

  9. Cedric Katesby | May 26, 2010 at 4:00 pm |

    I wasn’t even a “militant” atheist, when the conversation did come up I’d say I did not believe.
    I was surprised none of them actually went to church, read the bible or reflected on the issue.

    Family Guy.
    Episode 711: Not all dogs go to heaven.

    “God did not just snap his fingers and create the world”…

    Ka-zing!
    For a 9 (ish) year-old it’s pretty damned impressive.
    😉

    Like

  10. Max Whitaker | May 26, 2010 at 4:48 pm |

    I was severely reprimanded and told to go read a Bible and find out what really happened…

    Like

  11. Cedric Katesby | May 26, 2010 at 5:09 pm |

    (…and told to go read a Bible and find out what really happened…)

    LOL.
    Now THAT was funny!
    🙂

    Max, I think I’ve misjudged you.
    Please accept my apologies for any offence I might have given before.

    It’s sometimes not easy to gauge somebody’s character over the Internet.
    One tends to develop a hair-trigger.

    Like

  12. porno | May 26, 2010 at 7:59 pm |

    Please accept my apologies for any offence I might have given before.

    Like

  13. Diane | May 27, 2010 at 8:03 am |

    The book was actually written in Canada, but — other than use of the phrase “grade four” instead of “fourth grade” — it could easily be set in the USA or anywhere else in the English speaking world.

    Like

  14. Biscuitnapper | May 29, 2010 at 7:57 am |

    That’s a really horrible thing to happen to someone at any age but for it to happen at primary school really sucks.

    I have a new respect for writers like Miller and Eagle. Sad to say, but it they’re needed until this ‘culture war’ calms down.

    Like

  15. Pingback: Kids – it’s OK to be different! « Open Parachute

Leave a Reply: please be polite to other commenters & no ad hominems.