Fairies

I always get stuck at the 4th word in the Bible: “In the beginning GOD… “.
At that point I always think  “In the beginning, er… What?”

What is a god? There is no definition given, no information about this new word. It is a huge assumption made by whoever wrote this passage. What exactly is a god anyway? What is it made of?

It could quite easily read: “In the beginning a Blurg created the world.” Or “In the beginning fairies created the world.” (Or a Flying Spaghetti Monster, or an Invisible Pink Unicorn)

That’s the trouble with the supernatural. It is mere words: misty imaginings that disperse and fade when you try to define them.

We imagine things and it is very hard to unimagine them, to make them go away. (See "Making a Religion")

Here is a little anecdote that shows the huge power of Belief.

The other day I was enjoying a meal with my 13-year old daughter. She is intelligent and quite street-wise. During our meal she accidentally struck a glass with her knife and made it ring like a bell.

“Everytime you ring a bell, a fairy gets its wings,” I said, vaguely remembering that I had been told this during my childhood.

She smiled.

Then I added: “And if you ever say you don’t believe in fairies, a fairy dies.”

She smiled again. But, to her dismay, I continued: “I don’t believe in fairies, I don’t believe in fairies, I don’t believe in fairies…”

Suddenly she frowned, agitated by what I was doing. “Stop!” she cried. “Don’t, dad!”

Think for a moment exactly what I had done. I had taken her, in a matter of three sentences, to a state of emotional attachment to a non-existent being. She was genuinely disturbed by my murdering of the fairies – even though she knew it was a non-rational feeling. I had taught her a “taboo”. Even while I was pronouncing my disbelief in fairies, I too felt some emotion. And I am a skeptical adult. It wasn’t strong emotion, but I felt some guilt, some disgust at what I was saying. Their deaths were my responsibility!

This truly shows the power of words and cultural traditions.

First I gave a “fact” about fairies, while completely assuming their existence. I spoke about them as though they existed. Then I gave the second, scarier “fact”. Then I exploited her imagination.

I didn’t need to define a fairy. There is a cultural knowledge already there; we all know roughly their size and appearance. There are even some who are famous, such as Tinkerbell and the Tooth-Fairy.

I didn’t need to explain how they died. She didn’t ask whether some other being was doing the killing or whether they just died automatically. No autopsy was necessary. It was enough that I spoke the words, and “magic” would then account for their deaths.

This goes some way to explaining the difficulty people have in saying “I don’t believe in God”.

Christians mentally abuse their children by teaching them about invisible beings – with absolutely no evidence that such beings exist. When you hear teachings from your parents, as a young child, it is very difficult to reject them. They become part of your personality and identity. It takes a strong person indeed to reject these beliefs later on in life.

Along with the beliefs come taboos: “You must pass these beliefs to other people – especially your own children.” “Disbelievers go to Hell, believers go to Heaven.” Again, the use of imaginary places and concepts, without evidence or justification beyond the religion’s own Iron Age writings.

So even those who are rational enough to see the huge problems and contradictions inherent in “the god concept”, will still find it difficult actively to come out of their childhood beliefs. It takes strength to do so. Much easier to drift along, unquestioning, going quietly to church and only experiencing the vague disquiet that many Christians shelter – knowing they are completely uncertain yet feigning certainty. And continuing to tell their children the myths as though they were true.