All This Praying is Making Me Tired

The preschool I am sending Mr. P to is a religious one, Lutheran to be exact. Even though I'm not Lutheran, I am cool with them and religion in general.

I am of the mind that a background of religious instruction is important for a young mind. If he chooses a different religious path later in life, that's fine. But at least he will have the exposure and firsthand knowledge of what religion is.

Anyhoo, he tells me on the way home that a classmate was sick, and so they prayed for him.

There was an ambulance that went down the street during class, and they also prayed for the person whom the ambulance was going to pick up.

And without warning, from the backseat of the car comes this rant:

"Pray, pray, pray! That's all we do all the time is pray! Somebody is sick, we pray. Somebody died, we pray. We pray too much!"

Trying not to laugh, I told him that the school he will be attending next year will involve no praying at all.

"Yay!"

My friends, he actually cheered.

"No praying! I will like it there!"

What do you think the odds are that I'm going to have a future atheist on my hands?

Comments

Family Adventure said…
LOL! I say the chances are not low.

Praying must seem incredibly dull, though, to a little boy. I mean, it's not exactly action-packed, is it?

Heidi
12:52 AM
Liz said…
Too funny. Forced prayer is definitely no fun, but someday he'll figure out what it is he believes in. It could even be atheism.
4:36 AM
dgm said…
My daughter's at a Lutheran school, too (though we don't embrace any particular faith), and last year she had a teacher who prayed about every dang thing. We meet her for the parent/teacher conference, we have to sit in a tiny desk and pray that it will go well. She talks to the parents about an upcoming field trip? Pray first. I go in to ask her a simple question? Pray 'bout that, too.
Enough already.

My oldest is a budding atheist as well. But she never believed in Santa, either.
5:57 AM
Sunshine said…
When you were starting his rant, I was hearing in my head the cartoon voice, like Fievel Mouskewitz in American Tail when he goes "Cats, cats, cats, everyone knows there's no cats in America".

Cartoon Mr. P, dissin on prayer. It was wicked funny in my head, wish I'd heard it for real.
6:39 AM
Maternal Mirth said…
Well, better an atheist than a Scientologist. MUCH better.
7:19 AM
Nance said…
Sigh. Could be worse. He could be a ... republican.

shudder!
12:38 PM
Scout said…
I have to agree there is an overuse of prayer in some settings—kind of takes the sting out of it, or maybe power is a better word than sting. Like nagging. Smart kid.
9:48 AM
J said…
There are worse things to be than an atheist, in my mind. ;)
10:17 AM
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