Lies We Tell Our Children

Why do we teach our babies that animals can talk human talk? Why do we want our children to be convinced that there is a Santa Claus and a tooth fairy? Why do we let children believe in trains and giant red dogs that think and talk like humans? I am not comfortable lying to my children.

Perhaps society wants its children to think that farm animals are cute and cuddly and can sing and dance because society wants to conceal the grim reality of death on the farm. Most farm animals are raised to be slaughtered in high-speed killing factories which contaminate the meat with e. coli. Maybe they should have tours for kindergardeners at those slaughterhouses. I'm not a vegan but I haven't eaten beef in years.

And teaching children to believe in Santa sure is a convenient way for religious people to convince them that there is also a god. Get them while they're young, very young, and impressionable.

I'm not trying to take away the joys of childhood. Pretending is fun. I wonder how much is really lost of a child's trust in his parents when he realizes that he's been lied to all those years, and how much active life-learning time has been lost spent believing that Santa exists?