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July 9, 2015
Christian or not, children need to be taught right from wrong, so that Bible passage applies world wide.
July 9, 2015
True, Marsha, that the words from the Bible can apply to mankind across the board as a teaching tool. And, the words found in What about gods? and myriad other books can assist parents in teaching children right from wrong. However, this only rings true when we can look outside the box of our own beliefs and see the good in all books as value, not just those which apply to our specific belief system.
July 7, 2015
Thank you, Ruthi for a fair and informative review. I wrote this book for my children as an antidote to the ubiquitous Children’s Bible Stories and the proselytizing of their little friends. I preferred to let the subject of God come up on its own, but religion is so deeply ingrained in our society and so relentlessly pushed on us, that my kids were being overwhelmed. At the time, there was no book anything like What about gods? so I had to create one. I chose a straightforward approach that will help children understand where gods come from and why. It has been for sale continuously since then by Prometheus Books and is a minor classic.
July 9, 2015
As a Christian, Chris, I feel shame when I see/hear others of my faith shoving it down the throats of non-believers. I believe my god to be a loving god and more often than not I experience less than love coming from the words and actions of many in my faith. I can only imagine the extremes you have experienced. I think you did right in seeing a need for this book for kids and publishing it. I treasure my copy as one of my favorite children’s books. I feel we should teach our children to think for themselves, no matter what we personally believe and sharing “What about gods?” with a child is a good way to direct them on the pathway of thinking.
July 7, 2015
What a great review of his perspective. I am a firm believer there is a God. It may not be the one I think there is. However, I do believe there is a stronger higher power than me, who helps me rear and teach my children right from wrong.
July 7, 2015
I believe there is a god too, Sandy, and feel each of us have our own understanding of what that may be. I wonder, too, if there are others of faith who might find Brockman’s book an important teaching tool for their children.
July 7, 2015
Ruth, excellent work with this article and interview. I understand this man’s reasoning well, because it speaks to my own philosophy. I’ve believed for a long while that the only “GOD” is the one within you, but it’s not a popular viewpoint with most of my friends, so I usually don’t talk about it. Good work, sharing!!
July 7, 2015
Thank you for sharing your personal view of gods, Nancy. I believe in the Christian god as well as other gods and certainly embrace the beliefs of others. To me, that is the humanity in our world–embracing the diversity, the good of all.
May 8, 2016
Nancy, I think if people can accept that “the Kingdom of God is within you,” it’s not much of a stretch to understand that God is also within.
Ruth, beautiful review! It’s refreshing to see this topic approached with such respect.