Jeopardy champion and author Ken Jennings comes to “Starting Point” this morning with the facts behind his new book, "Because I Said So!: The Truth Behind the Myths, Tales, and Warnings Every Generation Passes Down to Its Kids". In "Because I Said So!", Jennings humorously confirms or debunks common myths parents tell their kids to get them to behave. Jennings shares some of these on set.
When my son was little, he fell while running with a stick in his mouth. The stick jammed into the roof of his mouth and left an actual hole. What followed was a miserable week for a little boy who couldn't eat! Yes – it CAN really happen.
These are all trivial lies that parents stop after sometime and most of us get over it. On the other hand, lies about God, prayer, afterlife, sexual orientation and other supernatural superstitions continue to form a web that last with us till we are old enough to implement them in policies, rules and laws.
Religion had better be the first thing on his list.
There's no better scam than parents telling their children that if they're not good, an invisible all-powerful, all-knowing being will punish them in the afterlife.