A Sunday School teacher I know has to follow the basic curriculum set by her church. How she presents the material is up to her.

Recently, her 3rd and 4th 5th and 6th grade students were told to draw pictures of what people look like when they have Christ versus when they don’t. They were given a blank “gingerbread man” type outline (below) and told to fill it in.

Think about that for a moment.

How can you tell if people are Christian (or not) just by looking at them?

You can’t.

And the Sunday School teacher knew this. She wasn’t a fan of the assignment, but she had to teach it. So she spent some time stressing to the kids that they cannot know if someone is a fellow Christian simply because of how they look.

At least one of the children missed that point.

Here’s the picture he drew of someone who has Christ in his life:

Let’s see here…

Holding a cross.

Saying, “I LOVE GOD!!” (They teach the Christian kids to use ALL CAPS when making their points early in life, I see).

And what’s that in his hand…?

Oh. My. God.

It’s a banana.

Ray Comfort has invaded the church.

Ok, ok. Enough of that. What did this child draw on the person who didn’t have Christ in his life?

Wow.

Drugs in the form of alcohol.

Barbed wire tattoo.

Crazy wild hair.

Unibrow (truly the mark of an atheist).

Cigarette in hand.

Brow piercing.

Multiple, asymmetric ear piercings.

A mouth “cussing! God isn’t real!”

No sleeves (because we all know sleeves are too damn Christian for us).

The guy’s clothes aren’t even colored in all the way! (What’s up with that?)

…

In my friend’s defense, she was appalled by this. She did what she could to teach the kids that the very idea of drawing these images was misleading from the start. Christians, atheists, and people of faith come in all types. You can’t label people unless you talk to them and find out what they believe.

Somehow, though, this kid has these perceptions. He got them from somewhere. Maybe his parents. Or church. Or Kirk Cameron.

Is it any surprise that so many children from religious households grow up to fear atheists?





[tags]atheist, atheism, Christian, Jesus[/tags]