Well, this is interesting. I think we as adults tend to forget that children have the incredible ability to challenge the norm. I think that's because they always tend to ask the question "but why?". Although the constant "but why" question can get a bit annoying some of the time, I really think its fabulous overall. The conversation I had with my son on Friday just blew me away. Here's a recap:
First, he started asking about God in general. He knows we're Muslim, but I'm not sure he fully understands what that means. (Ok- At times, I'm not fully sure even I understand what that means). He understands that there are different religions and that we often use them as our moral compasses, governing our behaviour and guiding us, but that is truly general for a 5 year old. So, on Friday, he started by asking:
"mommy- God is good right?"
"yes honey he is."
"and all the good people go to heaven right?"
"yes honey they do."
"and all the bad people go to hell, right?"
- OK- I'm not sure where he picked that up from cuz I never taught him that (school maybe??), but ok, I figured let's see where this goes...
"well, honey- who told you that? Um- well I guess some bad people do, yes"....
"and only bad people hurt people right?"
- well this one was easy:
"oh yes, its bad behaviour to hurt others."
...AND- Here's the kicker guys-
"Well mommy, if God is good, why did he make bad people if he's just going to send them to hell anyways?"
....OH DAMN. How the heck do I answer that one? The kid is a genius.
"Um....you know what honey? That's a really good question"...
And then there was question #2. This one is funny (in my opinion). My son says "well mommy- we're Muslim right?"
"yes honey we are."
"and some people aren't right?"
"well yes honey, there are lots of other religions in the world."
"So mommy are all Muslims good?"
OK- There is only one answer to this...but I was starting to fear where he was going...
"No honey- some are and some are not."
"and what about the not-Muslim people, are they good?"
"well, yes honey- many of them are, and some are not- there are good and bad people in all religions..."
"So mommy- do all religions have alot of rules?"- hmmmm this was getting tougher...
"well yes, all religions do have rules...some people follow them, and others don't. We try to follow as many of them as we can."
"So mommy- if there are good people and bad people in all religions, and the good ones end up in heaven, why don't we just take the religion with the least rules and do that?"
Ha! The kid is a genius. The straight line is the shortest distace to your destination, right? My little 5 year old is trying to convince me to do just that. Its hilarious, and facinating all at the same time. Religion is a funny thing. You can't exactly explain "blind faith" to a 5 year old kid yet....he's kind of got an interesting line of reasoning. I'm dreading the day he starts really seeing the polarity in all religions (especially ours), and starts asking me those questions. Cuz quite honestly- I'm still trying to figure them out for myself, I don't think I'm ready to answer them for a 5 year old yet. Heck who knows, maybe he's going to help me figure out a few of my own along the way.
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