Jayjay

I consider myself to have been an atheist all my life, in the sense that I can't recall ever identifying with a religious group or seriously believed that there are magical beings out there watching for us. However, in the strictest sense this isn't quite true... when I was a child and didn't really know how stuff really worked, I tended to at least consider supernatural explanations. When I say "child" I mean 0-7 years old or so.

For example, I have a vague recollection from my grandfather's funeral that I used to actually visualize huge invisible ladder from the grave to the sky because the priest said that he's going to heaven. I was three years old at the time. Another example I can think of is figuring out how scratches and wounds heal... I had gotten an idea from somewhere that Jesus has something to do with it, so I deduced that Jesus must be able to become invisible and shrink in order to get under the bandaid I had in my arm. I think I even peeked under it to see if Jesus was working on it. I don't remember how old I was then.

So, I was wondering, how do young children is general perceive religious concepts? I know that some fundie parents apparently rejoice when their children "accept jesus" at an early age, but how serious can this kind of conversion be? What kind of jolly childhood memories do you guys have about God, Jesus, Santa Clause and similar supernatural authority figures?

CaptainOfOuterSpace

Re. Santa Claus: I caught my parents.

Ab_Normal

Same here! I don't recall raising a stink about it... it was like, "Oh, well, that makes sense," and off I went. I was about six years old at the time.

I didn't give up on that Joe Hoevah fellow for another twenty years, though... silly me.

Mageth

That's Joe "Ho Ho Ho" Vah, Santa Claus for adults.

BioBeing

My 3 year old (who goes to a Church Mothers Day out) asks questions like "why does God make lightning" and "why did God make the lake", but I don't think he any real concept of God, any more than he does of Santa. Its just that he has been told at school that God made everything.

As to the answers - I tell him God doesn't make lightning - it is a natural phenomenon; and for the lake - well, you've all seen the movie "O! Brother" haven't you? Yes - we sometimes go to Pickwick lake, which was created by flooding the Tennessee River valley. So I tell him the TVA made the lake, not God. I'm gonna get in trouble with my wife for that one...

I always had at least a little bit of respect for the Baptists however, since they do wait until you are old enough to decide if you want to be baptised.

tdekeyser

JayJay,

Where in Finland are you? I have been to Turkku, Helsinki, Salo and Olu.

I noticed that most of Finland is non-believers which is great.

Also, you can figure I work for a Finnish company, can you guess which one? I think it employs 40% of Finns..

Abel Stable

Growing up in a big textbook irish catholic family, it wasn't too hard to accept everything I was told. All those sacraments (=rites of passage) were very exciting as well. When I finally learned all the words to mass & when to stand, when to sit, etc etc -- religion was more of a routine than anything else. I rarely thought about it when I wasn't at church. And even though it was thrilling to be "in the know" & part of the community at church, I never liked attending. It was such a huge disappointment when I had to go to Sunday school in the morning, then straight up to mass afterwards.
All-in-all, I took everything I was taught for granted. Going to a jesuit middle & high school (which most of my uncles & my grandfather attended) just reinforced things further. By the time I was 10, it was obvious that the OT was a bunch of lunacy, but I just picked what I liked from the NT and was satisfied. It wasn't until after I moved away for college that I began to really think for the first time.

Jayjay

That's "Turku", and "Oulu". I'm currently living in the latter. Yup, most finns are pretty apathetic to religion, especially the engineering/scientific minded folks you might have encountered in your line of work. I think we can thank the lukewarm, politically correct state religion for that. Maybe you guys should try it too?

Ah, so you "work" for the Finnish social security?

Harumi

I was raised in a family of Old Chinese Folk religions. I continued to believe until just two years ago. (Now I'm 18 )

There was a time when I was on an airplane. I vividly recall trying to look for the Jade Emperor's Palace but was disappointed because I couldn't find it. At other times I would talk with the Water Gods and Rock Gods and pretend that they were talking back.

It wasn't until later when I finally realized that it was all a joke that I stopped believing. I can't say that I dislike it though. My religious life holds very fond memories for me, rather than embarrassment.