Every time we talked about religion, he felt it was a difficult subject. He used to say, "This business of religion is nonsense." He was an old friend from childhood, and I knew him well. Surely he believed in God; he was not an atheist. Then, one day, I realized why he did not want to talk about religion: he was afraid of God.
All he knew about God was what he had learned at the age of six in special classes on religion. He became so afraid of God's punishment that he no longer wanted to attend those classes. His parents did not insist, so he grew up with very little spiritual education. If he had learned what God really is, he surely would have had a happier perspective on life as an adult.
That is why it is so important for children to learn the correct and true facts of God's loving relation to man. Often people are afraid of what they do not know. Their fear is the result of ignorance or the wrong information they have received. In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy writes, "It is our ignorance of God, the divine Principle, which produces apparent discord, and the right understanding of Him restores harmony." Science and Health, p. 390
