children

here is an experiment: raise a child in isolation, without ever mentioning God or Heaven. will the child yet access these concepts from some mysterious place within?

i could not conceive of abusing a child in such a manner, but my suspicion is that they would.

does this mean that these things are true? or simply that our urge to believe them is innate?

accurately, a concept isn't really "true"; it's like saying "wet" or "ordinary" or "East" is "true". "God" and "Heaven" are descriptive qualities for states of being that we recognize when we experience them. in that sense, there can be no "Atheism" without "God"; and therefore, belief in "God" or "Heaven" are purely a choice, the choice of a child that arises from instinct, and how we define them are equally chosen.

if one's spiritual beliefs are chosen, shouldn't one take care to choose wisely and with discrimination? but that only holds if you have great faith in the wisdom and discrimination of adults. perhaps it is best to choose with the heart of a child.

wars are never declared by children, and if you were to ask them, the most important feature of any professed faith is love, and kindness, not law.