the first reaction of feeling fooled and cheated is over, it
is perfectly willing to go on pretending for the sake of little brother
and sister, and when it grows up and has children of its own, it will go
on pretending for them.

In the present generation, what is happening in the case of many people
with regard to religious beliefs, is only one step removed. At a little
later period of development, no doubt, but almost as inevitably, the
moment arrives when the childhood teachings and conceptions begin to be
called into question.

Is there really an all-wise Lord, looking on and listening when you say
your evening prayers? How many ears and eyes He must have, when so many
people are doing the same thing at the same time--hundreds, thousands,
millions--all talking to Him at once--in different languages and about
different things!

It was the same way about Santa Claus. How could he be bringing so many
presents to so many people, all over the world, and delivering them
personally, on the same Christmas eve? It would have taken him years to
get through with all the houses in New York City alone--without thinking
of London and Paris and all the other places.

In the past, when such a question came to mind and found expression, the
answer was comparatively simple and direct. Religion is a matter of
faith, not argument; the ways of the Lord surpass the human
understanding: the Bible and the church are the authority, what they
teach and ordain is to be accepted and obeyed. To doubt, or question, or
disbelieve is the beginning of sin, and the consequences may be
terrible.

When the individual was trained to the habit of obedience--when the
attitude of the spirit within was one of respect and reverence for
established authority and established traditions--that was one thing. If
mothers and fathers and neighbors and wiser heads everywhere accepted
this great mystery unqualifiedly, on faith, as the guiding light of
their lives, was it not enough for their sons and daughters to follow
their example and do likewise?

But in the new generation, as we have seen, the twig has already been
bent in a different direction. Before the time comes for the young
person to be bothered with thoughts about religion, he or she has
already acquired the notion that the example of mother and father does
not need to be followed in many things. Some of their ideas and
traditions have become antiquated and more or less ridiculous in the
light