Posted on 06/06/2014 3:33:04 AM PDT by markomalley
Fairy tales and believing in Father Christmas could cause children harm.
This is according to controversial biologist Richard Dawkins who warned an audience at the Cheltenham Science Festival about the dangers of make-believe.
In typically incendiary style, Dawkins suggested it was 'pernicious to instil in a child the view that the world is shaped by supernaturalism.'
The 73-year-old acknowledged that the appeal of fairytales lay in their magic but believes they may be causing more harm than we think.
He also questioned whether we should let children believe in the myth of Father Christmas at all.
'Is it a good thing to go along with the fantasy of childhood?,' he said. 'Or should we be fostering a spirit of scepticism?.'
Speaking about his autobiography ‘An Appetite for Wonder’, childhood formed a large part of the talk as he recalled his first eight years growing up in Africa.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
This wouldn't be worth posting except for the fact that there are plenty of folks who would take this nut-case seriously.
Every morning I wake up and every morning the world has gone a little more insane.
Richard Dawkins is such a sad little man. All I can say is...Lighten up Francis
It’s a Marxist idea, don’tcha know?
More evidence for the theory that atheists know perfectly well there is a God and they are furious with Him.
CS Lewis used to pulverize guys like Dawkins in debate all the time. It’s a shame he’s not around anymore, or someone like him.
Some Christians believe this.....a good friend of mine refused to allow his kids to believe in Santa. They didn’t want to lie to the kids. Ugh! They still celebrated Christmas but the presents came from the parents and Christmas was focused on the birth of Christ and not Santa Claus. My family celebrates both. My 16 year old doesn’t believe anymore, but would NEVER speak of it because he knows that Santa won’t bring gifts anymore. lol.
I don’t know how much damage is done - that sounds a little far-fetched.
I always told my kids the truth. We never did the whole Santa routine, or the tooth fairy, or anything else. I just figured that I’d want them to be able to believe me, so I didn’t bother with such sillyness.
An atheist who is obsessed with religion isn’t an atheist.
I stopped believing in Santa Clause when I was 8 or 9. My mom always told us that when we stopped believing, Santa would stop bringing presents. We had no long-lasting psychological damage as far as I can tell. Dawkins may be intelligent, but he’s an idiot.
You are right. I was the oldest so in order to insist that I keep my big mouth shut my parents told us the same thing. My son 16 has 3 siblings and I want them to “believe” for as long as possible. It just makes it nicer in my opinion. We definitely focus on the Birth of Christ, but we also celebrate the spirit of Santa Claus who was a Christian himself. I think they both can work together.
Santa Claus serves many purposes. First, he brings joy and love into children’s lives. Then as children grow older, they learn that he doesn’t exist - which is a soft introduction to the disappoints that a child will face later in life. In other words, Santa Claus builds character. To deny a child that experience is to create soft, prissy children - which may exactly be what leftists want.
Dawkins is a true fool.
Dunno. In a way, the story of Santa kinda prepares them for the real world. I.E. America is a democracy where citizens enjoy freedom. Surprise!
Love Santa and love Christ! Like most atheists, Dawkins is determined to take all the beauty and joy out of life. A real killjoy! Bah, humbug to him and his fellow killjoys.
I’ve always wondered what the reason was for all my problems. It was that darn Santa Claus thing. Dang my parents!
O.o
Surely the man contradicts himself - his autobiography is entitled “an appetite for wonder” and yet he advocates scepticism and rationality, neither of which are particularly conducive to generating “wonder”.
Let’s see... parents tell kids there is a Santa Claus... as the kids grow older, they begin to notice contradictory evidence. They then form a hypothesis about the existence of Santa Claus, and test it through observation. Eventually, the evidence leads them to determine that their parents are actually playing the role of Santa Clause.
It sounds like a good introduction to the scientific method, to me.
I disagree. I'm an extremely rational and logical person, who must be convinced of everything through solid evidence before I accept it as real. Yet I find wonder in the world all around me. The world contains plenty of material that captures the imagination.
Santa Claus certainly does exist. And he exists whether people believe it or not. He was a bishop in southern region of Turkey in the 400 s the fifth century
He took pity on children of poor families and gave them money anonymously
He was canonized ( after his death) As a saint catholics believe that he continues to take special care of, especially, people and petitions which are in his patronage ie children and sailors and monetary difficulties
He lived before the Orthodoxy and the Roman Catholic Church split so he is recognized in Orthodox Church as well
He continues to help at Christmas and his legend of coming through the chimney exists as he actuAlly does infuse the atmosphere with miracles, from God, to whom he and all saints, petition
I believe it’s where all mothers get energy and finances to properly present Jesus’ charity to kids and fathers the grace, energy and willingness to go along with setting up the house putting together toys etc
He existed long before the Brit poet personified him as santa and before corporations used him to sell stuff
His image in Europe is of a bishop not the fat jolly guy, who is just fine, in doses
Little kids understand mystery vey well and that is how they learn about the world. They learn faith early on in the mystery stage where they can get a sense of control and to take advantage of their way of learning is the opposite of abuse and lying. It is forming them in the belief of Jesus at the level they can learn it
St Nick is there to help that. As Jesus is there for all kids so is st Nick
As they get older they figure out the big guy doesn’t come through the chimney but that’s when they figure out the reality of a lot of their faantasies
But it is not a lie. Santa exists. Go to a gift store or a book store Christmas Eve and you can feel it. The place is full of men praying they get it right and have enough money
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