Comments on: 4-Year Old Skeptic

By: Sharon

Sharon — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 06:11:01 +0000

SOOOO happy you posted again. I haven’t been in here in a while, but was pleased to find this marvelous post about your wonderful family and your wonderful son. I wish there were more people like you in the world. It seems so odd to me that the religious people are the ones so full of negativity and sadness. I would love to have your family visit with ours some day. Thanks again for writing this great stuff, keep it coming!

By: Lori

Lori — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 17:56:54 +0000

“It turns out he really does prefer the questions, the theories, the evidence collecting, over hearing the answer from someone else.”

You are raising a VERY bright little boy, who…if continually allowed to USE his brain…will grow into a very bright young man. This gives me hope for the future of this planet. Seriously. Thank you.

By: Nan

Nan — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 14:40:49 +0000

I’ve been listening to Paperclipping and found this blog from an old interview (Something Happening Here) I found on iTumes. Glad to see you blogging here again. What was the name of the book you contributed to? All the articles you had on The Humanist Network are not there anymore. The web site seems to be having a redesign. Are they available elsewhere?

By: Mary Ann

Mary Ann — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 16:58:16 +0000

I have a boy, nearly 4. This recent EasterBunnyseason had him exclaiming that he knew who the bunny was. “It’s mommy and daddy.” Wow.
For years I have agonized over lying to my kids so my husband gets the Winter ho-ho guy. If he aks me about santa, I tell him to ask his father. Let HIM do the lying.
Then Easter comes ’round. I am a SUCKER for bunnies. I found myself pulled into the game! Telling the kids that the Easter bunny will come felt foreign to me – I am lying – but I told him before we headed out the door to collect eggs that it is a game.
I too felt that pang of guilt when he said we were the EBunny and, like you, asked him why he thought so. He’s not at that level of sophistication yet so he said he didn’t know. Your post has helped me realize that knowing doesn’t counts so much as the journey.
Thanks for being online with your thoughts and experiences. Makes the lonely atheist (what’s in a name?) feel less alone.

By: Greg100

Greg100 — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 17:24:18 +0000

Clearly a very bright boy and what a pleasure to welcome and nurture that kind of person into the world. For the other commenters that are interested in the agnostic world view, I would like to suggest that they look up “igtheism” in Wikipedia. It has some advantages over agnosticism.

Very often agnosticism is interpreted as meaning “I just don’t know what to believe.” This gives a somewhat negative/confused connotation and suggests that such a world view is highly relative as opposed to taking a more absolute postion.

Igtheism, on the other hand, takes the position that being and atheist or a theist is impossible since the term “God” is undefined so one can’t possibly believe or disbelieve in “God’s” existence. This presents the advantage of being very positive, clear and absolutist which is a great postion to stake out for oneself. I doubt that you will change the way you live from an agnostic position but it does provide a measure of comfort for yourself. However, I don’t recommend that you broadcast the fact that you are an igtheist since no one ever heard of it and usually confuse it with ichthyist and think you study fish!

By: kitty

kitty — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 22:23:32 +0000

So cute, I can’t wait till my boy starts asking questions and collecting evidence. I’m so excited to help him explore and find things out on his own.

By: Amy C

Amy C — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 21:05:58 +0000

Agnostic Mom~
Thanks for your hilarious posts and insight. I am a new Agnostic mom. Both sides of the family are very religious. This should be an interesting journey! I love reading your thoughts. Thanks!

By: S.

S. — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 23:39:02 +0000

I’ve been a Mormon my whole life and have been recently rethinking my beliefs. I’ve been leaning towards agnosticism and stumbled across your blog. Let me just say that reading your posts has been a breath of fresh air. I especially appreciated your story about leaving the church.

I’m still struggling with my position and am not quite sure of how I want to make the transition about from Mormonism. I’ve started a blog about it and would love your insight/advice as well as that of your readers.

My blog

Thanks so much for writing this wonderful blog!

By: Jason

Jason — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:55:05 +0000

How touching and beautiful! And VERY perceptive for his age… Either that, or my nieces and nephs are a little behind the curve, LOL! It’s so awesome that you can continue to challenge him, yet keep magic and mystery alive without the need for dogma and doctrine.

BTW, welcome back! You keep us filled with mystery and magic as well, wondering when you will make a most exellent appearance, LOL!