An Easter bunny experiment.

100percentAtheist
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An Easter bunny experiment.

Hi all.

 My daughter (8yearold) conducts an experiment today.  Last night, when we informed her that we will hide eggs in the house and she will try to find them in the morning, she said "no no wait.  Let's make an experiment.  Don't hide the eggs, and if in the morning they are still in the same place then the easter bunny isn't real." 

Side note.  Sometime ago she told her schoolfriend that she wants to be an astronaut, go to the space, and then proof to her friend that there is no god in the sky. 

 

... a few minutes ago, she came to the kitchen room, found the eggs, didn't say much....  I asked her, so what does she think about the E.B.'s reality?  And she said "I don't know"!  Then when I asked if she thinks the E.B. is rather real or not, she replied with "No, I don't think he's real.  Because how could he enter the house if all doors are closed."  ... indeed.

 

I think I could easily tell her that the bunny is a magic holy ghosti creature, and that if she doesn't believe in this creature, the bunny will come and eat her soul, and then she will go to hell....  or along such lines...  

I am so surprised that loving parents still do such indoctrinating things to their kids.  Are they panishing their kids for their own lost childhood?  Or what?

 

 


Sandycane
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I'm having trouble with my

I'm having trouble with my family over imaginary beings, too.

My daughter, who just yeaterday got baptized into the Catholic church  has two girls, 6 & 9. We met yesterday for lunch and I gave the girls their presents - from Grandma, not the bunny.

I do the same thing at x-mass time - presents are from me, not Santa.

While I don't want to make their parents look like liars with their imaginary beings stories, I also don't want to be a part of the lies either.

It's fun to pretend and play make believe but, they need to be taught the difference between pretend and reality, imo... but, that's just my opinion since I've become an atheist.

I told my daughter the same bs stories when she was little... as my parents told me.

'Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.' A. Einstein


Sandycane
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Btw, it sounds like your

Btw, it sounds like your daughter is using logic to determine the difference between what is real and what is not. Good for her (and for you).

'How does the bunny get in through locked doors?'

Duh! The same way Santa does - through the chimney.

'What if there is no chimney?'

Duh! he poofs one temporarily into existence.

'Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.' A. Einstein


Beyond Saving
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 Easter bunny? Nope,

 Easter bunny? Nope, haven't seen him. Would you like some rabbit stew? Just made it this morning...

If, if a white man puts his arm around me voluntarily, that's brotherhood. But if you - if you hold a gun on him and make him embrace me and pretend to be friendly or brotherly toward me, then that's not brotherhood, that's hypocrisy.- Malcolm X


Neoatheist
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I had the same feelings

I had the same feelings around Christmas time. I refused to tell my children that the presents that he was getting were from magical fat man. My wife on the other hand believes that there is some value in keeping these sorts of illusions alive for children. We compromised. I told my son and daughter that the presents that they received were from Santa, but instead of explaining to him that Santa was magical, I used science and an illusion of advanced technology (ie warp drive and active camouflage) to explain just how Santa could accomplish such a feet. I have friends that are atheist that have different ideas about the harm that could be done by explaining things away with magic for young children. They suggested that it's possible that you could use Santa and the Easter Bunny to test their critical thinking skills. In other words, when they realize that they are not real, they are using the same logic that one would use to disprove the idea of gods. But as for me and my house Eye-wink I see no value in teaching my children that magic is real and I refuse to allow others to inject their delusions into my impressionable children's minds. 

If you use the bible as your moral compass, chances are you're lost.

When Jesus said "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone" he wasn't saying that people shouldn't be stoned. He was requesting the first pitch.


Sandycane
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Beyond Saving wrote: Easter

Beyond Saving wrote:

 Easter bunny? Nope, haven't seen him. Would you like some rabbit stew? Just made it this morning...

Well, that's one way to kill a myth.

'Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.' A. Einstein


cj
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Santa was easy.  I (and my

Santa was easy.  I (and my mom) would fill out the gift tags - some from "Mom & Dad", some from "Santa".  When he was about 5, my oldest said, "Thanks Mom" when he had just opened a present from "Santa".  I asked how he could tell, and he said the handwriting was the same as mine. 

The easter bunny was never a big deal.  We often had new easter outfits that we would help pick out - once we were old enough.  My sons never cared about new easter outfits - so that never developed into any kind of tradition.  And for the rest, when the children are very small, there would be an egg hunt.  But that stopped when they were old enough to start fighting over the eggs, or weren't interested in hunting, or help color the eggs.  Coloring the eggs was more fun than hunting for them.  And there was a basket of goodies beside your bed when you woke up in the morning.  With chocolate bunnies to eat - way better than some fantasy bunny.

And, too, my grandma raised rabbits - so we were all ready indoctrinated into the realities of rabbit husbandry and wouldn't buy into a fantastical rabbit.

 

-- I feel so much better since I stopped trying to believe.

"We are entitled to our own opinions. We're not entitled to our own facts"- Al Franken

"If death isn't sweet oblivion, I will be severely disappointed" - Ruth M.


robj101
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I don't have a problem with

I don't have a problem with the santa easter bunny toothfairy monster under the bed whatever. As long as it's done in fun that's all it is. Kids are fun to mess with and they will grow out of fun soon enough. The thing is they are supposed to realize that it was all in fun, religion doesn't allow for that.

Faith is the word but next to that snugged up closely "lie's" the want.
"By simple common sense I don't believe in god, in none."-Charlie Chaplin


Sandycane
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robj101 wrote:I don't have a

robj101 wrote:

I don't have a problem with the santa easter bunny toothfairy monster under the bed whatever. As long as it's done in fun that's all it is. Kids are fun to mess with and they will grow out of fun soon enough. The thing is they are supposed to realize that it was all in fun, religion doesn't allow for that.

...and that's because when you stop believing in Santa and The Bunny you are praised for growing up and called normal. When you quit believing in the other fairy tale, heaven/god, people call you a heathen and curse you straight to that other imaginary place, hell.  Go figure.

 

'Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.' A. Einstein