Raising children in a fable immersed society opens the door to skepticism and can lead them on a life long search for reality. The search can end in a Pyrrhic victory of which there are long term repercussions.

The tooth fairy and Santa Claus are rather minor dubious characters in the lives of most American children. Parents have continued these fables as a means of both reward and reproof. Religious fables have a much more serious context; yet still are based on the reward and reproof scenario. Words such as sin, salvation, redemption, commandments, forgiveness and exaltation are followed by archaic rules that have been passed down through the ages. By attributing these rules to an all-knowing God, the effect is to limit any thought of error. Accepting these rules as being given by an omniscient being has the effect of stifling any discussion of the matter. When discrepancies arise, the common response is to eliminate all questioning with such statements as: God’s ways are not man’s ways - God uses the foolish things of the world to confound the wise - and other such terms or word play that are, in fact, not answers. Questioning is often linked to unworthiness and apostasy. Guilt is a powerful inhibitor and often prevents further investigation.

As children mature they are confronted with evidence that indicates there are questions concerning these unquestionable facts. Their journey then requires either a blind faith in the information they have received from those most trusted individuals in their life or a questioning that, with little effort, shows the flaws in the fabled facts. If the individual comes to the conclusion that they have not been told the truth or that their parents/teachers are in fact mistaken, the effect is to cause doubt in all things and this can lead to a life long cynicism.

The Pyrrhic victory occurs when the former believer loses all respect for convention - both good and bad. Having lost trust , it then becomes a matter of relying on personal standards that are devoid of historical knowledge. In other words, the individual lives for now. Happiness is a fleeting entity because the evolutionary need for God has been ruptured and replaced with an empty cynicism.

What is a parent to do?

I think it is important to teach children the benefits of wanting to believe in concepts that are impossible to know for fact or proven in a Koch based postulate. Wanting to believe satisfies an inner need for stability and has a calming effect on the stress of unknowing.