More Confessions of an Agnostic

As I was getting breakfast ready this morning, my daughter came down and said, "You know, Mom, there's no way anyone can know if Santa, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy are real."

Uh oh. I was silent for a moment, then asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"We just don't know if they're real."

"Why do you say that?" I asked her, getting a little nervous about where this was going.

"Well, no one can see them, so no one can really know for sure that they're real."

"I suppose you have a point," I replied, and before I could stop myself, I said, "I guess you could say the same thing about God." I kind of cringed a little because I want her to come to her own conclusions about God and religion.

"Yeah...exactly," she said. "Just like God."


It's funny...I want her to ask questions about God and religion. I want her to question it all and come to her own conclusions and form her own set of beliefs. But on the other hand, I want her to keep believing in Santa and the Tooth Fairy (Easter Bunny is a lost cause: "Really, Mom, how can a rabbit hold a basket with its paws?"). At least for a little while longer.