Satan and a Virus Will Not Stop Us from Worshipping

As a Sunday school teacher I try very hard not to implant or nourish anything in the minds of the children that will need to be removed later. Unnecessary fears are in this category. So are unsupportable ideas like every word and story contained in the scriptures is literally true. Children often misinterpret what their teachers say to them and later on they feel they have been lied to.

To give an example, in the mid fifties we were introduced to the atomic theory according to the Dalton model. "Atoms are indivisible units of matter". A year later, after learning a good deal of elementary chemistry we were ready for some refinement and we moved on to subatomic particles and later still to the idea of nuclear fission and fusion and quantum states. It isn't a cop out to begin simply and refine later. It is good pedagogy.

I remember some of us challenging out teacher and accusing her of lying to us about the indivisibility of the atom. I have never forgotten her response. "Sufficient unto the day was the accuracy thereto", she said. Even then I understood that when teaching the young it is important to match the lesson to the cognitive and emotional development of the learner.

Little children should not be made fearful by talk of Hell, Satan or demons. The subject should never arise. From the age of ten onwards they can begin to understand these ideas can be discussed as attempts to explain things that are basically inexplicable - the WHY questions that humanity has struggled with since we first walked upright. Most of these questions are embedded in story telling methods including myths, art, dance and music. And in religion. They cannot be avoided but very young children should never be overburdened with them.

Heaven is something else. Some version of this idea is embedded in most cultures. It is a vision of hope that has sustained many people through times of utter wretchedness. It represents release from pain and suffering. It comforts little children to hear that Grandma, Daddy, the dead pet dog etc is now happy in some other place. It offers justice, reward for goodness and retribution for injustice. Even if all of the churches stopped talking about heaven, the idea would not go away. I'm not even sure that it should and I don't feel entitled to tell little children that there is no heaven when they ask the question. For older students I do say, "I don't know" and encourage discussion and debate about why the three tiered concept of the universe, Earth, Heaven and Hell, is a nonsense if taken literally. Then we turn our minds to what to do about injustice in the here and now.