Oops. The lottery on child birthing foreordained spirits has just placed the next Einstein in a Christian home. His room, all ready for next months due date, is blue. Above the crib sits a mobile with jesus and twinkles with children’s hymns. The walls are adorned with bible verses and pictures of Moses parting the Red Sea, Jesus praying in the garden of gethsememe, and Abraham praying up to a cloud. The boys name will be Daniel, after the prophet.
—fast forward 12 years. After showing excellent aptitude for math and science, his parents question his devotion to god and distract his convictions with innuendos and smugness. They correct him with comments about pseudoscience and how faith is the answer to all of life’s questions. They openly criticize climate science, and other ungodly, intrusive left wing conspiracies. Those who believe in science have more faith than Christians. They continue to read select bible verses and tell the creation story, and that we all know that truth comes from the Bible and from god—the answers to life’s questions are in scripture. Bible camps and Sunday worship, youth choir and is now president of his Sunday school class. He can quote 50 scriptures. He is a good boy. His neurons are off the chart smart. He memorizes the King James Bible. He is a prodigy.
At graduation he leads the school in an unsanctioned prayer, even catching his parents by surprise. They are so proud. He is a leader. Perfect GPA and smart as they come—he will do just fine in life and be a good husband and a godly man. On the side he is applying the sciences—quantum mechanics—his true love. He’s been accepted to Liberty University and plans to major in divinity. His parents are so proud.
At 21 his love for science remains, but the pace of college life and an early graduation, student debt and a baby on the way, he takes a job at a church in Tulsa. Moving expenses paid and a little house on the property, he begins the rest of his life. His ideas of quantum mechanics are never published or reviewed. His math is getting rusty, and the equations he had memorized he can no longer decipher. They sit in a “get to it later” moving box as his life begins. He now does a local Christian radio show Saturday nights. Q and A and a memorized bible. He’s fantastic!
Religious side-tracking is delaying progress in the world. Statistically, 80% of the greatest scientific minds we’ll never hear of. Distracted with faith, belief, and fable, the windows of opportunity close and what could be, would be great, becomes mere baggage to the few that are pulling us along toward greatness. Fill the mind with something great, but anything will do if you’re starving it.
And if you think christians are indoctrinated, what do you think of their cousins?
“Is it true that Muslim children can RECITE the whole Quran? How?
Yes! It is true. Our children can recite the Quran by age 5–12 years. Around 90% children in Muslim households memorize more than 6000 verses and can recite Quran from memory”. Literally millions from each Muslim country have done this. And the cultural pressure for these “Hafiz” is great. They must maintain the memorization through there life leaving little time for advanced learning.
Although an impressive feat, it is also a discouraging look into the future of practical knowledge from the former breadbasket of higher learning.
When that’s all you know, it must be true. There is no time for anything else when culture dictates a life filled with one topic that designs your every thought.
TheCommonAtheist 