I recently went to Disneyland with my nephews. On the way there, one was reading his Picture Bible (my favorite bible when I was a kid and, actually, still is). He asked my husband (an atheist, born & raised) when the last time he read the bible was. My husband and I try to be respectful of my sisters’ faiths (even when they aren’t) and the way they want to raise their kids. Since we have none of our own, we’re in a bad position to tell them they’re doing it wrong… So, my husband tells our nephew, “Not in a long time,” a technically true statement. My nephew nods sagely and says, “Because you work so much.”
Another of my sisters used to live in Mexico and is committed to her children being bilingual. She recently found what she considers to be a great language series, Muzzy. It’s got a cast of five characters and it’s only in the language of your choice. In (Spanish as opposed to Mexican) Spanish, one of the characters, a lion in robes and a crown, says, “Yo soy el Rey.” 
His wife, who is a snout in robes that make her look either Muslim or like the Virgin Mary, introduces herself as “Yo soy la Reina.” Their daughter, a character of indeterminate gender and species, has a small crown and roller-skates. I was watching it with a different nephew and, as la Princesa skates around the screen (“Yo soy hermosa!”), he turns to me and says, “The only thing I don’t like about this movie is that whenever we see la Princesa, she’s immodest.”
One of the few holy texts that I can quote says, “But Jesus said, ‘Allow the little children, and don’t forbid them to come to me; for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to ones like these.’” (Matthew 19:14, World English Bible Translation)
So: intended discussion for the week: such as what? What is it about childlike faith that lends itself to holiness? Lack of doubt? Blindness to other options?
Secondary discussion: is it, a la Sam Harris, irresponsible for parents to raise their children “knowing” (a) that God/dess exists and (b) that their parents worship the Divine in the only way that is correct?
When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child. Now that I have become a man, I have put away childish things. (Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, 13:11, same translation).
