One of my son’s friends had said to him, “There has to be a God, because how else was the universe made? Looks at the world – who made it? Had to be God.”
我儿子的一个朋友对他说，“上帝一定存在，因为如果不是这样的话那宇宙是如何形成的？看看世界——是谁创造了它？一定是上帝。” “Well, what do you say to that?” my son implored.
“好吧，你对这个问题有什么看法呢？”我的儿子恳求到。
“Yeah, that’s a good point. Buy Jimmy had an answer for that. He said that everything has a cause, and at some point, it had to start somewhere, and so he just takes it on faith that the cause of it all was God, and that nothing caused God. God just is.”
“是的，这是一个好问题。 Buy Jimmy回答了这个问题。他说每一件事情都有起因，并且一定程度上，事情一定是从某处开始，他仅仅就是将其作为一种信念，这种信念就是上帝创造了一切，并且没有什么创造了上帝。上帝就是这样。”
“That really makes no sense. How can God – a magic, invisible deity with the power to create aardvarks -- just be? Talk about a troublesome leap of logic. And heck, if one can take on faith that God ‘just is,’ why not take on faith that the universe ‘just is’? If one chooses to believe that God is uncreated, one could just as easily – and with just as much evidence (zero) -- believe that the universe is uncreated.”
“这真的说不通。上帝怎么能做到呢——上帝是一个奇迹，一个看不见的神，它拥有能力创造出食蚁兽——仅仅就是这样吗？谈论一下这个逻辑上令人费解的跳跃。但是，如果一个人能将上帝‘就是这样’当作信念，那么为什么不能将宇宙‘就是这个样子’当作信念呢？如果一个人相信上帝是非受造的，他可以简单地——并且有很多的证据证明（0个证据）——相信宇宙也是非受造的。”
“That’s so true! You’re right! Thanks – I can't wait to tell that to Jimmy!”
“真的是这样！你是对的！谢谢——我等不及要告诉吉姆了！”
“Is Jimmy a nice person?” I asked.
“吉姆是个很好的人？”我问
“Yeah, why?”
“是的，为什么这么问？”
“Well, I just hope that as you debate God with him, that you remember that it is less important what a person believes and more important how a person behaves. After all, I’d rather be friends with someone who believes in God and is a nice, kind person than with someone who doesn’t believe in God but is mean and unkind. In the end, judge people on their actions, not their professed beliefs.”
“我只是希望当你和他谈论上帝时，你要记住一个人如何举止表现比他相信什么更重要。毕竟，我更愿意和虽然相信上帝存在但人品好、很善良的人做朋友，也不愿意和一个虽然不相信上帝但为人吝啬不和善的人做朋友。最后，要根据他们的行为评判，而不要依据他们的信仰做评判。”
“Yeah, but c’mon – how can Jimmy believe in God? It makes no sense.”
“好的，拜托——吉姆如何能相信上帝存在呢？这说不通啊。”
“You’re probably only saying that because I don't believe in God. If I did, you’d most likely be siding with Jimmy and think that atheists are nuts.”
“你这样说可能仅仅因为我不相信上帝。如果我相信，你极有可能站在吉姆那一边并且会觉得无神论者都是疯子。”
“Huh?”
“啊？”
“The truth is, most kids – especially around your age – believe pretty much what their parents believe. It’s just the way it works. We call it socialization. If me and mama were Muslim, and taught you that Islam was true, you’d most likely buy it. So your skepticism about God and Jimmy’s belief in God are both directly tied to who each of you have as parents. Think about it: Jimmy believes in the Catholic version of God, and his parents are Catholic. Doug believes in the Quaker version of God and his parents are Quaker. You don't believe in God, and neither do me or mama.”
“事实上，大部分的孩子——尤其是你这个年纪左右的孩子——很相信父母们相信的。这是世界的运行方式。我们将其称之为社会化。如果我和你妈妈是穆斯林，并且教育你伊斯兰教是真的，你也会买账的。所以你对上帝的怀疑和吉姆对上帝的信仰都直接与你们的父母相联系。思考一下：吉姆相信天主教的上帝，并且他的父母是天主教。道格信奉公谊会教的上帝，他的父母是公谊会教的教徒。你不相信上帝，并且我和你妈妈也都不相信。” “So we just believe what our parents believe?”
所以我们仅仅是相信爸爸妈妈们所相信的吗？
“That’s pretty much how it works, especially when you are young. But it can change. As you get older, you will hopefully form your own beliefs about this and that. Hopefully you'll read a lot, ask a lot of questions, talk to people with different viewpoints, have different life experiences, and then come to conclusions based on things beyond me and mama. Your beliefs may stay similar to mine, but maybe not.”
这就是世界运转的方式，尤其是当你们小的时候更是这样。但是这种状况会改变。当你再大一些，将有希望形成自己这样那样的信念。希望你能多读一些书，多问一些问题，多和不同观点的人谈论，经历不一样的人生体验，然后在超越我和妈妈的事物基础上得出你的结论。你的信仰也许和我保持相似，也许不同。
And then we were back to comics or soccer – two things that can be readily, undeniably proven to exist. Unlike…um…well…you know.
然后我们回到漫画和足球——这两种事物是可以轻易的、无可否认地被证明是存在的。不像……呃……好吧……你知道的。