Raising skeptics

So I have been totally digging on this song since it played on my Pandora - Abiola by Ellis Paul. The lyrics are below. But it made me think about how much I want my mini-me to be that kind of skeptic, to not believe things just because we or any authority figure says so. And then I thought, well how the fuck do you raise your kid to be skeptical without being a totally pain the ass (because in my head I swear a lot).

So being a nerd I went searching for some books. I found these two books and have ordered them. The first one arrived this weekend, "Parenting beyond belief", and so far I find it kind of lame. It seems geared more towards non-religious people who have never given any thought to the fact they are non-religious until they have children or to people living in highly religious communities. My little western hippie city is most definitely not highly religious and I was raised atheist so not going to church isn't exactly a surprising desire to me. I haven't gotten all the way through the book yet though so maybe it will redeem itself.


LYRICS TO ABIOLA BY ELLIS PAUL

In a far and distant country,
lived a strange and a fearsome beast
They said he killed the farmers' cattle
and laid waste to the farmers' fields,
laid waste to the farmers' fields

So the King sent out his criers
and they roamed from town to town
pledging a plot of land and his daughter's hand
to him who laid the Monster down,
to him who laid the Monster down

Now Abiola, the shepard's daughter,
hadn't heard of the King's decree
She never paid much heed to rumors
and she headed out into the fields,
She headed out into the fields

When she came across the creature,
she could not believe her eyes
Cause out of all the things she had ever seen
she'd never seen a monster cry,
Seen a monster cry

The Monster said to the young girl
I never did those evil deeds
but the King has tried to blame me
and no one dares to not believe,
no one dares to not believe"

He wants the pastures for his horses
He wants the orchards for his thieves
and if the farmers come to fear me
then the King gets what he needs,
Yea, the King gets what he needs

Abiola said to the Monster,
"We are going into town
and till then we'll cry
from the rooftops high
and we'll spread the truth around,
Yea, we'll spread the truth around"

Well, the children all believed them
but the grownups took their time
to break their fear
though it was clear
that the fearsome beast was kind,
Oh, the fearsome beast as kind

Then the people stormed the castle
and they drove the old King out
and for her bravery, truth, and kindness,
they gave Abi the crown,
Yea, they gave Abiola the crown