Is it better to have a religion?

Each week I talk about an article in a kid’s newspaper called Kids Times with one of my older classes. We usually spend about 15 minutes going over one of the articles which usually has some contradictory subject as its main point, which makes it easy to start a debate. My kid’s have really enjoyed it recently and these ‘debates’ have become a fun activity for my class this month.

 

 

The topics lately in the articles have been very interesting. One article was about ‘how to treat people with disabilities’ which the children knew nothing about. I jumped at this opportunity to teach them about a topic that is often taboo in this country but very near to my heart. The following week it was about ‘destiny.’ We talked about the pro’s and con’s about knowing your own destiny and how that would affect your life decisions. Two of the children argued that they would not want to know their destiny because they like surprise parties and not knowing what their Christmas presents would be. They also argued your life would be boring instead of a mystery, and since they like mystery books they would want their life to be full of it!

Two other children argue that they DO want to know their destiny because then they would not let bad things happen. They would know when something was wrong or about to go wrong, and they could change it. It was argued that we could also avoid stupid mistakes and you would know what people in your life really cared about you. Soon the other side of the debate chimed in and said that ‘if you always knew when people would be mean to you, and you chose not to be their friend from the start, then you would never learn how to defend yourself.’  This was a valid point that I was very proud of them for finding which provoked a comical response from the other side. “I take taekwondo.” I couldn’t help but laugh and smile at that one.

This past week the topic was about religion. The question they were asking was ‘Is it better to have a religion?’ The article brought up some typically used conversation points between believers’ and nonbelievers. The nonbeliever in the article argued “I’m still a good person and I don’t need God to help me make decisions”, and “religions can cause many problems in the world, such as war.” The believer in the article argued “When I’m having a hard time it is good to know I have someone to protect me”, and “I live a happier more secure life by having a religion.” I was anxious to see what my children would think of this article as I already knew which side of the fence I would fall on.

All the children agreed that it is better to have a religion because we can pray and ask God for things. I was pleasantly surprised by this answer, as I was not sure of these kids view on religion, so I continued the conversation. “Do you think you need God’s help to make decisions in your life?” I asked them, and then they began to debate.

Two of the children decided that they do not need God’s help to make decisions but they do believe in God, and the others were against this train of thought. They began to go back and forth saying that if you pray you will make the right decisions, but if you don’t then you don’t know your decisions are right. One child chimed in “but only good people can ask for God’s help, not the thieves or people who kill other people.” This comment was interesting as this is often how people view God and religion. Do we have to be ‘good people’ to be able to ask for God’s guidance?

Before I could say something as a response a boy stood up and said “GOD LOVES EVERYBODY!”

Response, “Even the thieves?”

“Yes God loves everybody, no matter what, that’s what my Mom told me. God loves you no matter what. Oh, and Jesus too.”

The other child got quiet as if thinking this over for a minute and the little boy just kept speaking as this was clearly something very near to his heart.

“God loves you, and he loves me, OK? I know this.”

The debate ended shortly after this comment, and we moved onto our spelling test. But for me, this whole conversation really stuck in my mind. Why do we have question God’s love and loyalty to us? Why do we feel undeserving and why do we think we are ok without him? We need him, it’s plain and simple, and he loves us no matter what we do.

Somehow, as we get older these thoughts that were never clouded with doubt as children, begin to seem harder to digest for us. Why can’t we all just remember what we learned as a kid, that God loves us and he is there, always? Why do we let the wicked ways of the world put doubt and fear into our minds and the ever so tempting thought that we are in control. That we can somehow live without God as part of our lives?

Sometimes kid’s have the simple answers us adults are searching for. Not some self-help book, or some website, or any advice a friend could give us over coffee. Sometimes it’s as simple as how a 9 year old views religion. “God loves you no matter what. Oh, and Jesus too. OK?”