This  image is making the rounds on Facebook:

I understand what they are saying, and it is wrong.  It is an encouragement to indoctrinate children and warp their minds with fairy tales.

The one thing most Christian parents are afraid of is that their children will not accept the same fairy tales as the parents, or even worse, not accept any at all.  Eventually children grow out of the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. When they see their parents haven’t given up their imaginary friend Jesus, the children keep on pretending Jesus is real too.

To Christians “the world” represents all that is wrong, evil, immoral,and corrupt.  Christians are generally afraid of “the world”, and all those ungodly “worldly” influences.

The reality is that the world doesn’t teach children not to believe in Jesus. Exposure to, and experience in, the world teaches children they simply don’t need Jesus.  This is a good thing. Just like we raise an eyebrow at adults who still believe in Santa Claus, so too we should raise an eyebrow at those who still believe in God, or Jesus, or any other mythical character.

The world doesn’t have to teach children not to believe in fairy tales.  All the “world” has to do is be its normal natural self, to be real, and children will have no need for make-believe nonsense.  Children (and adults) who accept reality as it is will not have a need or desire to escape into fantasy worlds of their own imagination as a coping mechanism.

There is a difference between entertainment (movies, books, theme parks) as a form of escapism, and living in a fantasy world.   When the movie is over, when the book is read, when the park closes, we accept that it was just a passing fantasy and we turn our attention back to the real world.  People who believe in God, or Jesus, don’t separate  fantasy from reality and live as if their imaginary friend is real.

The picture above suggests it is better to indoctrinate children to live in a fantasy realm instead of living in reality.  How sad is that!  How sad for parents who are afraid to let their children grow up.  How sad for children to be denied the privilege of living in reality.