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The mission of the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science is to support scientific education, critical thinking and evidence-based understanding of the natural world in the quest to overcome religious fundamentalism, superstition, intolerance and suffering.
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In my opinion the value of fantasy figures, such as Santa, is not in the fact that children will come to believe in 'magic', but rather in the fact that they will gain something through the later realization that their initial belief was untrue.
It is important for children to grow up knowing that they will be told some things that are untrue, even by people speaking with the sincerest of voices. This linking of supernatural/magic with pure imagination is an important defence against religious notions that are based on the same level of evidence as the tale of the three little pigs (the holy trinity of fairytale land).
Permalink Mon, 27 Oct 2008 01:56:00 UTC | #258465