A few weeks after my kindergarten CCD (Confraternity of Christian Doctrine) sessions began, our instructors took us into a classroom to teach us the Ten Commandments. This was the first time we were exposed to a serious, extended lecture style lesson. Our two instructors also took on a serious demeanor we had not yet seen in them, and so we were all a bit nervous and not quite sure what to expect.
One by one, they went through the Ten Commandments and explained them in terms that five year olds could understand. It was made very clear to us that we were not just being told a story; it was required of us that we learn them and begin to follow them.
At first, they seemed to make good sense, although I felt as though good people were supposed to do things like honor their mother, and refrain from lying, stealing, and killing. Why did we need God to tell us to do these things? And where was the kind and loving God (of the New Testament I think) I had been taught about until this day?
The adults were so serious about what they were doing that I didn’t want to go against what they were saying. However, the other children in my class had questions for each commandment. It is hard for me to remember them, but I think some of them resembled questions like “Why do we need someone to teach us how to be good people again? Our parents already teach us (to be moral)… Why does God need to command us to do things if he is all powerful?”
Their questions resonated with me, and our instructors were at a loss to tackle some of the advanced philosophical questions that were being asked. I am still a bit amazed by the ability of these children to question their elders like that. Maybe even five year olds are able to think like an atheist before they are indoctrinated. I, however, stayed silent. I was quite impressed by some of the questions that were being asked.
After several questions for each Commandment, and more after all were taught to us, our instructors began to become frustrated. Eventually, one simply began to insist that we should try to follow the Commandments because God required it of us, and the other instructor followed her lead. After a stern lecture about how it was alright for us to think about the Commandments, but that we still needed to learn them and follow them, our CCD session moved on to another matter.
I remember thinking that the instructors would probably avoid the topic of the Ten Commandments in the future, because they would face the same barrage of questions and become frustrated again. I believed it was okay for me to simply ignore that lesson, since although the instructors were supposed to be more knowledgeable than us, they lacked acceptable answers to our very important questions.
The next week we had our next CCD session. As soon as it began, our instructors verbally quizzed us on what the Ten Commandments were. This time, they would have no more questions. They simply wanted us to recite them. We children obliged them, although at first I still thought that all of us considered it a waste of time. As we went through this new routine, alarm began to creep into me. The other children had many questions that the adults did not have satisfactory answers to, and yet we were now simply going along with them. I grudgingly mumbled the Commandments along with the other kids, filled with anger and resentment towards the adults for forcing us to do something we clearly had demonstrated to them was frivolous.
The weeks went on, and my anger and resentment about the Ten Commandments became directed towards the other children. I was filled with a sense of betrayal as well. Why had we abandoned our skeptical stance towards these pointless commands? Why did the adults simply need to insist on something for us to agree to it? What was wrong with these kids? I do not think I ever voiced my thoughts and feelings about the issue to anyone. I do, however, remember that this same resentment surfaced later when we began to have prayer and doctrine testing done on a regular basis.
Hi Andrew:
I just read your blog about the Ten Commandments. It sounds like a rather unfortunate experience. I’m sorry to hear it.
I teach at a Christian school here in Texas. I welcome children’s questions about the Bible and yes, they have some good ones. It is unfortunate that some adults are uncomfortable fielding such inquiries.
Over Thanksgiving, I was reading to my four-year old neice the story of Jesus feeding the multitude. Her father (my brother) is in seminary training for the pastorate. When we got to the part about Jesus giving thanks to God, she noted, somewhat playfully, that Jesus was giving thanks to Himself.
I think that overall there exists a lack of thorough equipping in the “mind” department for many Christians. I see so often people become frustrated and engage in ad hominem arguments.
I myself try to stay on my intellectual toes, especially as a teacher. I read philosophy, history, science, etc. And while you perhaps wouldn’t agree with me, I think the Christian faith is in a phrase, “Scriptural, miraculous, incarnate, historical truth.”
We have to have some sort of truth in order to function as humans.
While I wouldn’t agree with you that the Commandments are “pointless”, I do however believe that what you’ve described above happenes more than it ought to.
I don’t think that Christianity in the U.S. has witnessed an emphasis/impact on the mind in a cultural sense from the perspective of the Christian faith really since the First Great Awakening Jonathan Edwards.
Thanks for the post. Again, I’m sorry about your experience. It is a shame.
Perhaps the truth is that nobody can prove there is a god. In general, religion excludes, and divides people from one another. Bigotry is formed when religionists believe that they have another (etenal) life and that non-believers (destined for eternal hell) do not. Why do good things for bad reasons when good reasons exist? Do we really want to stone adulterers or keep slaves as prescribed in the Bible? It’s time to let religion go the way of superstition and mythology. Until there’s compelling evidence to the contrary, I believe this is the only life we’ve got and I’m not going to waste it following some ancient text that didn’t reveal anything that couldn’t have been written by someone living in that era.